Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-12-02

large and small In England, France
and Germany big business Is unmo'
Tested, except that the potash industry
in Germany Is regulated In detail by
a statute law. Otherwise, Germany en-
courages business, both big and little
in every way and practically becomes
partner in some industries in Its ef'
forts to keep it's working classes
steadily employed and to advance
Germany industrially. England, OF
course, has its common law against
contracts in restraint Of trade, but IN
practice this law Is not applied
against corporations or combinations,
nor is there much need of applying 1t.
There being no protective tariffs In
quence and hence no evils to be got
England there are no trusts OF conse-
ten rid of
"The captains of industry, together
with skilled labor employed, nave
built up an enormous export trade.
Our exports of manufactured goods
for the year 1900 were $4S4,S46,27o.
In 1912 we exported manufactured
goods to the amount Of $1,02O,417,6 S7.
This is a remarkable showing when
we take into consideration the handl-
cap to which large corporations have
been subject by prosecutions anu
prosecutions by both national ana
state legislation. There seems to be
mania on the part Of some or our
politicians to urge legislation winch
would result in penalizing success:
Our people should do some sounl
thinking along these lines. Our poll
ticians should be made to understand
that business destroying legislation IL
no longer popular. These large co.,
porations who have built up such a
successful export business give steady
employment to many thousands OF
skilled workmen and pay the highest
scale of wages in the world. IL they
are broken up into units there is dan
ger that labor will be the first to
suffer as the small businesses cannot
give as steady and profitable employ
ment as the large corporations.
"All that the people seek to have ac'
complished by antitrust laws Is the
restriction or removal of the evils of
private monopoly. They do not want
business harassed or impeded when
there is no monopoly about 1t. 1t Is
damaging to. interfere with and dis
courage a great many industries that
are free from any sort of monopoly for
the sake of restricting some bust
nesses that are monopolistic."
1.-THE sensible business-like thing to
do, in my opinion, is to establish a
commission which may fairly be called
an industrial commission to study and
classify our industries with reference
to this matter of monopoly. There is
now of course some confusion and mis-
understanding as to just what mon
opoly is and what it Is not. Let the
administration define and specify if 1t
will what monopoly Is. Then its mem
hers will have clearly before them the
nature of the evil to be remedied. Then
this commission basing it's work on its
own scientifically established def1n1.
ton may If the administration prefers
review the whole field of our actual In
dustrial affairs as related to carefully
defined monopoly. 1t can classify all
lines of business activity. Some lines
| it would naturally determine to be
essentially or entirely monopolistic.
| These could form the first or highest
class. Other lines might be classed
as semi-monopolistic others partly
monopolistic and so on. For each of
these classes it can he determined by
careful study what sort of legislation Is
needed to remove the evil of monopoly
from that class. Then with all the
carefully arranged classes in mind and
definite knowledge of the actual situa-
ton of the industries in question the
needed legislation can be intelligently
prepared" =.
IT would provide that no suits should
he brought except on the recommends
ton of this commission
after such a scientific survey 1t
might be concluded that for a certain
class, say the highest, or most monop'
olistic, some kind of federal license
ought to be required. That and other
questions Of regulation or control could
be intelligently settled If 1t were clear,
ly known that just such and such in
dustries would be affected and not
others. Measured correction could be
applied in this definite careful way
which if applied blindly or generally
would be in effect like scattering dyna'
mite in the dark"
IF such a business-like considera'
ton of our industries should be made
| it would be clearly shown that great
many lines of business must be left
outside of any class of monopOlistic
business. For these businesses free
CT any monopoly no attention or legis'
lation is required. Such businesses
are far more numerous in the aggre
gate and their work is vastly more i'm