The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-20
SOME INCONSISTENCIES" IS TOPIC
TAKEN BY MR. PERKINS LAST NIGHT

BY MR.. PERKIN
it themselves. Another reason advanced
Is that we would be fostering and pro-
noting monopoly.
HAS any one heard of the railroads
dominating the interstate commerce COM
mission? Has any one heard of our bank
ers dominating the controller of the cur
rency? Has any one heard of a success
ful attempt to control our pure food bu-
reau? Yet we are told that il we had
an industrial commission to regulate our
interstate industrials the heads of these
commissions would be dominated by the
great industrial leaders of the country.
How Inconsistent AS for fostering
monopoly, no one is advocating any such
course.
"AIr. Knox was taken by President Nc
kinley almost directly from a great In
dustrial law practice and made Attor-
ney General. Mr.. Wickersham was taken
by Mr.. Taft almost directly from a great
corporation practice and made Attorney
General. Has the charge ever been made
or even hinted at that either one or
these men was in any respect controlled
or dominated by the great industrial
leaders of this country? There Is not a
particle of evidence and no real ground
lOT DtueNl1S OF SuSpeCtlIS llidt dHS pdi L
of our federal governments operations
In regulating business up to date has
been in any respect controlled by. the
branches of industry affected.
IF the people who are now SO strongly
arguing against the regulation and con-
traol of the interstate industrials are
consistent, they will either move at once
commission, the controller of the cur
rency, and the pure food bureau, or they
will admit that our great industrlais
might be regulated and controlled as
these other great branches of business
have been regulated and controlled, and
proceed at least to try to regulate before
they strangulate.
Return to Past Days
I'VE are urged to return to the days
of destructive competition and are told
that competition alone will preserve our
individuality, our industrial liberty, and
general commercial supremacy. While
this is being urged most strenuously, we
are being beset on all sides to suppress
child labor. to wipe out the evils OF
the sweatshop, to pay a living wage to
women in industry.
How inconsistent, Nothing in the world
but competition carried to its extreme.
The fierce struggle for supremacy be-
tween merchants caused them to cut the
corners wherever they could; to reduce
wages as long as they could with men,
and then employ women; to reduce as
long as they could with women, and then
employ children and then proceed to
adulterate food. In short, it caused them
to resort to every possible method to
win out in the game they We're playing
the game of competition. And now we
are being urged one minute to return
to competitive methods and the next
minute to pay living wages to women,
stop child labor, and correct many abuses
that are a shame and disgrace to our
civilization. How very inconsistent!
1--WE now have a government composed
of As states. Our forefatehrs set up this
government more than a hundred years
ago when there were but 10 states. They
practically formed a holding company OF
those 13 states, and this great holding
| company has grown from the original il
| subsidiary companies to 48 subsidiary
companies. IT was organized to secure
cooperation between the various states,
and the saving in conflict, the saving in
waste the saving in having but one cur
rency, one centralized government with
which to negotiate with foreign powers
and promote and protect our foreign reia-
tions, has been of inestimable value and
is well recognized and appreciated by us
AN. And now a somewhat similar method
of doing business, is tabooed and decried
and proclaimed menace to our people.
How inconsistent
Urged to International Peace
We are urged by many of our lead
ing statesmen and men of thought and
by some executives, to work for inter-
national peace. We organize peace So
cieties, endow them with millions Of
money one day and the next day In
Weigh against anything resembling
peace in the business world. Il
irving 70
find some middle ground between the
grinding heel of monopoly and the
ruthless hand of competition are being
drawn and quartered, while the men
who are doing all they can to bring
about disarmament among the nations
are looked upon as great patriots.
Since when did any sane man regard
bitter competition as anything short OF
the wickedest, cruellest sort of war?
Did anyone ever hear of two merchants
competing furiously with each other for
the purpose of benefiting their GUS
toners. of paying better wages to their
employees, of shortening hours of labor,
of providing better sanitary conditions
for labor, of producing better article?
Certainly mott They go into their COM
mercial war for the sole purpose of in
juring each others business--the usual
result being that one or the other
fails, to the profit of the survivor. In
the meantime. while the war is bit
terest, labor suffers keenly, and when
1t is over, up go prices and the public
pays the bills.
I'VE can have the Hague tribunal,
we can advocate a great court to~set-
tie international disputes, to regulate
and supervise international affairs. so
to speak; but we cannot have a busi-
ness court. a trade commission, that
will, at least in some degree. relieve