The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1913-03-06
A PLACE FOR 1.-THE
RULE OF REASON. "

Commissioner OF Corporations Conant
in his official report on the organiEa'
ton and operation Of the International
Harvester Company, fails 10 agree with
the opinion Of one Of the presidential
candidates last year that it is "a good
trust" This is the combination, it
will be remembered, against which
President Roosevelt stayed proceedings
about to be inaugurated by the de-
partment Of justice. Such proceed
ings were later instituted by order Of
Mr.. TAFT and a suit for the dissolution
Of the combine is now pending. Mr..
Conant's official report derives its
chief importance, accordingly, from
its statement Of facts upon which public
opinion will be able to draw its own
conclusions as to whether President
Roosevelt or President Taft took the
proper course under the Sherman anti
trust law.
Commissioner Conant reports that
this is one Of the few great trusts which
has not been oyercapitalized. Its
directing powers have not watered the
volume Of its securities in the conf
dence Of a monopoly that it can create
and maintain fictitious values through
the exercise Of power to control sup
ply and fix prices arbitrarily. But its
monopoly exists, and the commissioner
states its source in saying that it was
financed especially through its ex-
ceptional command Of capital, itsel!
the result OF combination" statement
which, taken in connection with the
other statement that J. P. Morgan and
John D. Rockefeller are among its
heaviest hackers, can mean nothing
else than that it was financed, in its
inception, by the so-called money
trust"
When il is claimed by the friends OF
the trust in answering the commission
er's findings, that the report acquits
the trust OF extortion, a reading Of the
report shows this TO be true only in
part. The general policy Of the
company" says the report, is to
maintain high prices in the monop-
olized lines. In the principal new
lines, however, where considerable
competition is encountered, unusually
low prices and long terms have been
employed" Striking an average be-
tween the unusually low prices" and
the highest prices charged by the com,
pany, with view to proving that the
average price is not excessive, is no an
swer to the fact that unusually low
prices" have always been weapon o.
highly financed industrial corpora
tions against competitors less highly
financed, until the competition is de
stroyed. The trust directors complain
that this report should not have ap
peared while the governments sui
against them is pending, but Mr., Co
nants explicit statement that PreSiden
Taft had denied a request to withhold
it and had ordered its immediate pub
lcation, indicates that the retiring
president sees in il full justification 70
his prosecution oil the suit which MI
Roosevelt had suspended. We see n
harm to the defendants cause in H.
action the president has ordered
Without assuming, as Mr.. Roosevelt
did, that this is "a good trust" an
worthy Of encouragement, the suprem
court will, without prejudice, apply I
: it and its management the same "rul
d Of reason" it has been applying ]
ie other cases. II it cannot meet such
'e test, it ought 10 60, and it will &,
III Globe. Democrat.
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