Little Falls herald., 1912-10-18
Two Big ISSUES,
SAYS GOLFERS
The Tariff and the Proper Treat
ment of MonopoIies. =
WON'T TIE TO ROOSEVELT

sActlveIy D1sasrees" With He Views
About Trusts and "Wastes Of Com.
petition" and Supports tho candl'
dacy Of Wilson and Marshall.
Golfers is out for Wilson and Mar
shall. It refuses to support Theodore
Roosevelt, plus George w. Perkins.
Elbridge H. Gary and the rest of the
steel trust-harvester trust magnates.
Its open opposition to the third term
ticket was indicated in the issue Of
Sept. IA. In the Issue Of Sept 21 ita
reasons for espousing the Democratic
cause are clear and forceful.
The leading editorial, "The Wastes
Of Competition" says:
more and more the campaign il
coming down to two pressing issues.
the tariff and the proper treatment Of
monopolies. Golfers actively dis !
agrees with the view of monopoly be-
ing urged by Messrs. Roosevelt, Per
kins and Gary.
"They talk a great deal about the
wastes of competition. The necessary !
wastes of competition are relatively
insignificant, and the wastes of unfair
and destructive competition are wholly !
unnecessary. They will be largely
eliminated when competition IL regu' ;
lated.
1.-THE La Follette-Lenroot and the
Stanley bills to perfect the Sherman
law and the Newlands- -Cummins pro- !
posals for an interstate trade commits.
sion are all directed in part to that
end. The remaining wastes Of compe.
tition may be nkened to the wastes Of
democracy. These are obvious. but We
know also that democracy has com.
pensations which render It more efn.
cient than absolutism. So 1t is in in
dustry. The margin between what
men naturally do and what they can
do is so great that the system which
urges men on to effort is the best sys'
TEN.
"The necessary wastes of monopoly,
on the other hand, are enormous. Some
of these can, of course, be eliminated
by regulation. An efficient interstate
trade commission, acting under appro'
pirate legislation. could put an end to
much of the oppression Of which trusts
have been guilty. It could prevent un.
Just discrimination. It could prevent
ruthless and unfair use Of power; but
4 government commission would be
powerless to secure for the people tho
low prices commonly attendant upon
competition.
"As no means exist for determining
whether greater net earnings are due
to greater efficacy In management or
to excessive profits, large net earnings
would be followed by compulsory re-
duction Of prices. which in turn would
create q sense of injustice suffered,
paralyze individual enterprise and pro-
duce unprogressive, slipshod manage
ment. The attempt to secure loo
prices through price tring toould
prove as tnapotent as the statutes
sOhich haze sought to protect the pub
lie in railroad rates by limiting tho
Dividends.
1.-THE interstate commerce commits
sion has been invoked as an argument
in favor of licensing monopoly. That
commission has stopped many abuses;
it has practically put an end to cor
rupt and corrupting discrimination in
rates; it has protected the shipper
nd ND In
Justice; it has prevented unreasonable
advances in rates; but It has secured
comparatively few notable reductions
in rates, except those involved in
stopping discrimination between per-
sons, places or articles. 1t has been
powerless to reduce operating costs,
and greater reductions in rates can
of producing transportation. The in
justice and corruption attending the
earlier railroad period we're extremely
serious. But we must not forget that
the s1veeping reductions in American
operating costs and rates belong to the
earlier period Of competition among
railroads. In the ten years from 1888
railroads was active, the freight rate
per ton per mile was gradually re-
duced from .941 to .724. The years
1899-19OO marked the great movement
for combination or community of in
terest" in the railroad world as well
as in the industrial world. The freight
rate per ton per mile began to rise. II
each of the eleven succeeding years II
was higher than in 1899, and in 1917
It was .753.
1.-THE deadening effect of monopoly
is illustrated by its arrest Of inven
tion. The shoe machinery trust, form
ed in 1899, resulted in combining, di
rectly and indirectly, more than 10'
shoe machinery concerns. It acquired
substantially a monopoly Of all the es
sential machinery used in bottominl
boots and shoes. as well as many 9th
~ ,,,o ohSnoa II ho1iovod ifao1P ,,no