The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-08-06

upholder of privilege, every hired agent or beneficiary of the special in terests, including many we'll meaning 'parlor reformers, will denounce all this as Socialism or 'anarchy'-the same terms they used in the past in denounc- ing the movements to control the rail- ways and to control public utilities. As matter of fact, the propositions make constitute neither anarchy nor socialism, but, on theScontrary, cor Nctive for socialism and an antldote to anarchy
 t Constructive Control of the Trusts.
 In addition to punishment for wrong doing by. the trusts, the imperative de mand is effective and complete regu- lation. The views of President Van Hise of the University of Wisconsin in his scientific work on trust regulation are in harmony with the program of the National Progressives. "The pres -ent conditions of business cannot be accepted as satisfactory" The reason for'thfS is explained, in MT. RooSevelt's opinion, by the fact that those dealing with the subject have attempted to di- vide into two camps, each as unwise as the other" One camp has fixed its attention only on the need for pros perity-''prosperity to the big man on top, trusting to their mercy to let some thing leak through to the mass of their countrymen below, which, in effect, means that there should be no attempt to regulate the ferocious scramble in which greed and cunning reap the largest rewards The other camp has so fixed its attention upon the injus- tices of the distribution of prosperity, "omitting all consideration of having something to distribute, and advocates action which, it is true, would abolish most of the inequalities of the distri- button of prosperity, by only the un- fortunately simple process of abolish ing the prosperity itself" The ten dency of thqse now in control of the Republican party is to give special privileges to ''bfg business and to cor rect the evil of such course when they become crying by sporadic law suits under the antitrust law: The OI l1C ACCAAOOAoS91t JUNcNO both by their record in congress and by the Democratic platform, is to abol- ish all business of any size or efh ciency, on the ground that all bigness is badness and littleness and weakness a sign of virtue What is needed is action directly the reverse of that thus confusedly indicated
 There should be applied to all indus trial concerns engaged in interstate commerce in which there is either monopoly or control of the market the principles already adopted fin regulat- ing transportation concerns engaged in such commerce. The antitrust Mw should be kept on the statute book to be invoked against every big concern tending to monopoly or guilty of anti social practices. At the same time a national industrial commission should be created which should have complete power to regulate and control all the great industrial concerns engaged in in- terstate business which practically means all of them in this country. This commission should exercise over these industrial concerns like powers to those exercised over the railways by the interstate commerce commission and over the national banks by the comptroller of the currency and addi- tional powers if found necessary" The commission should have free access to the books of each corporation and power to find out exactly how it treats its employees, its rivals and the gen eral public ** Any corporation voluntarily coming under the eommis- sion should not be prosecuted under the antitrust law as long as it obeys in good faith the orders of the commis- sion: The commission would be able to interpret in advance to any honest man asking the interpretation what he may do and what he may not do in carrying on legitimate business. When cor porations not submitting themselves to the regula lions of the commission or clearly evading or violating it's orders are prosecuted under the antitrust law and convicted, the commission. should have the duty of seeing "that the de- cree of the court is put into effect com pletely." Only. in this way can there be avoided "such gross scandals as those attendant upon the present ad- ministration's prosecution of the Stand ard Oil and the tobacco trusts,'' pros ecution which has merely resulted in increased prices to the public, injury to the small competitor and actual f1nan- cial benefit to the trusts themselves.
 sThe Progressive proposal is definite. it is practicable. We promise nothing that we cannot carry out, we promise nothing which will jeopardize honest business. x Our proposal is to help honest business activity, however extensive. and to see that it is reward ed with fair return, so thatsthere may be no oppression either of business men or the common people. We pro. business men to develop the most eff cient business agencies for use in inter national trade, for it is to the interest of our whole people that we should do well in international business. But we propose to make those business agen- cfes do complete justice to our own peo- pie. Where these concerns deal with the sneressaries of life the commission should not shrink. if the necessity is proved. from going to the extent of ex- ercisin,s regulatory control over the conditions that create or determine monopoly prices.
 Tt is imperative to the welfare of our