New-York tribune., 1912-02-17
FEDERAL POWER TO
CONTROL TRUSTS
Mr.. WiCkerSham Says That Is
the Only Solution of
the Problem.
NO MENACE TO BUSINESS
Enactment of Some Adequate
Law of Association" Urged
Days of Small Trading
Past, He Says.

e,71'T orlis. Feb. l6.-Attorney General
,,,.ksrsnam,. addressing members OF the
C,o,rnercial Club here tonight, advocated
t.ds,sl control of corporations as the next
s.sn IN be taken in dealing with the trust
r,oblern. He began with reference TO busi-
,sss conditions in the thirteenth and four
zenith centuries, when merchants and
trade guilds created problems much like
The trust questions of to-day. He traced
,bA growth Of business in this country
through the period Of railroad building, and
described the abuses of the railroad bust
ness which led to the interstate commerce
act in 1857, which, ne said, resulted in a
victory for the people.
n. remained. he said, for the federal
government TO face its problem courage
ously by regulating corporate interests
through the enactment of some adequate
law of association
Under such a statute" he said, there
NAV be retained the great advantage Of
cooperative effort in the conduct OF busi-
ness-which in our day and generation
must be great in volume TO meet success
fully the needs Of the people-while at the
same time protecting the people from the
consequences Of unrestrained association.
which in the past has resulted in unfair
competition and grossly unequal fortunes.
Nothing but continued confusion can
result from leaving the creation and reg
uation Of these associations to the varying
oaprices Of forty-eight or fifty states
1'rtil the national government courageously
faces the question and accepts the respon-
flbHity which the assertion of power In
wolves the proper equation between busi-
ness and the law cannot be adequately
settled"
TIE days Of small trading were gone, he
added, and the wages reasonably demanded
by the standards of living in this country
could only be paid through the conduct Of
business on large scale and by the use of
great capital.
Must Recognize Federal Power.
The essential principle upon the enforce
r1ent Of which alone can the welfare OF the
people permit the continued existence of
artificial bodies with large capital" Mr..
Wiokersham continued. lis the recognition
of the power of the government as greater
han that of any corporation or group Of
men. and the constant exercise of that
pover to preserve the rights of the hum
6lest citizen as well as the richest.
Probably negative restrictive legislation
has gone as far as is necessary. The great
principle that the highways of commerce
thall be open to all on equal terms under
ike conditions and similar circumstances
and that men may not band themselves
together by unfair methods TO destroy COM
petitors is now fully recognized by law, and
adequate means are provided 10 prevent
violations Of that law"
Nr. wickershan said that surely a gen
sration which had witnessed the abuses of
corporations should not pass away with
out enacting legislation ard securing meth
obs Of so enforcing law as forever 10 pre-
vent the recurrence in the future Of any
such results.
This could be accomplished, the Attorney
General asserted, only through federal
legislation, which would regulate the or
ganization Of corporations so as to prevent
deception concerning their capital and
business, which would give 10 every per-
son investing in them the right TO all In
formation regarding their operations. and
would prevent them from being used as
engines Of unfair competition and destruc-
ton OF others.
mo limit" Mr.. Wickersham said, "can
or should be ser TO the capacity Of such
an association for legitimate normal
growth, but il should be impossible for 1t
70 initiate itself by mythical values based
upon nothing but expectation, hope or
Misrepresentation.
NO individual carrying on business as
such, and no mere partnership, has ever
yet succeeded in absorbing so large a share
Of the trade or commerce of the country as
70 accomplish OF threaten to accomplish
monopoly The great evils which have
arisen have always operated under cor
porste form, and only by means Of con-
trolling corporate organization can the
national government effectively prevent the
recurrence Of evil and introduce that GER
tsinty into the law of the conduct of busi-
ness by association which is so requisite
70 stability In national trade conditions"