The Washington herald., 1913-02-23
BY 4. ID. JACOBSON.

THE NEW FREEDOM: By Woodrow Wilson.
Doubleday Page & Co. Garden City. New York
\ great many persons will be inter
,sted in the latest work by the Presi-
dent-elect for obvious reasons. though
the book is merely a compilation of a
number of his campaign speeches. or as
Mr.. Wilson puts it himself. "A discus
sion of a number of vital subjects IN the
free form of eNtcmporaneOusiy spoken
words
Of course all that the next President
mas or mad to say is of significance as
il relates to subjects with which he will
have 10 deal in his official capacity. The
hook reveals his Views on the tariff, pro
lection or special privilege" monopoly
and trust problems, sc. Mr. Wilson says
that his New Freedom" is merely the
old revived in the strength Of modern
America.
The most important chapter related to
trusts and monopolies. for it indicates
:he policy he Will pursue toward COM
Einations. The reader will be enlIght-
ened by the following excerpts:
Big business is no doubt to a large
extent necessary and natural The de-
upon a great scale of cooperation, is in
evitable, and. let me add. is probably
desirable. But that is a very different
matter from the development of trusts,
have been artificially created: they have
been put together. not BY natural pro-
cesses. but by the will the deliberate
planning will. OF men who were more
powerful than their neighbors in the
business world. and who wished to make
their power secure against competition.
The trusts do not belong 10 the period
Of infant industries. They belong TO
very recent and very sophisticated age.
when men knew what they wanted and
knew how TO get IT by the favor of the
government.
II take my stand absolutely. where
every progressive ought to take his
stand. on the proposition that private
monopoly is ndefensibIe and intolerable
And there l will fight my battle. And
! know how 20 fight il. Everybody who
has even read .he new Spapers knows the
means by which ,hese slen built up their
power and created these monopolies. Any
decently equipped lawyer can suggest 10
YOU statutes by which the whole busI-
ness can be stopped. What these gen.
tlemen do not want is this: they do not
want TO be compelled TO meet all corners
"n equal terms. am perfectly willing
10y fair means: but know the foul means
they have adopted. and I know that they
can be stopped by law. If they think
that coming into the market upon the
basis of mere efficiency. upon the mere
basis or knowing how TO manufacture
goods better than anybody else. and to
sell them cheaper than anybody else, they
can carry the immense amount of water
that the have put into their enterprises
in order to buy up rivals, then they are
perfectly welcome TO try it But there
must be no squeezing out of the begin
ner no crippling his credit: no dscrim-
iration against retailers who buy from a
rival: no threats against concerns who
sell supplies to a rival: no holding back
of raw material from him: no secret ar
rangements against him. All the fair
competition YOU choose, but no unfair
competition Of any kind. And then when
unfair competition is eliminated. let US
see these gentlemen carry their tanks of
water on their backs. All that I ask and
all I shall fight for is that they shall
come into the field against merit and
brains everywhere. n they can beat
other American brains, then they have
got the best brains"
The whole book being just a reproduc-
tion OF the next Presidents utterances
while on the stump for his nomination,
its contents are fairly WELL il not alto
gether known to most of the readers of
The Washington Herald To repeat them
in these columns would be a mere repe-
tition. for this is hot the place TO COM
ment upon political problems or issues
But the Nolumne is filed with epigra-
matte sentences md some of these we
will give space. in order to show more
plainly the workings of Mr.. Wilson'S
mind:
Il believe that the time has come when
the governments of this country, both
State and National. have to set the stage,
and sat II very minutely and carefully.