Evening star., 1913-10-31
Bureau of Corporations to
Make Scientific Invest!ga-
ton to Aid Legislation.
TOLD IN SPEECH By
COMMISSIONER DAVIES
Addresses National Association of
Hardware Dealers at At
lantic City.

ATLANTIC CITY, N. j., October 81
The beginning of a new, scientific In
vestigation of the industrial situation.
under the direction of President Will
son, which will contribute to the ad-
ministration's trust legislation program
at the session of Congress beginning
December 1. was announced here to-
day by Commissioner Joseph u. Davies
of the bureau of corporations, in an
address before the National Association
of Hardware Dealers.
Whether IL competitive system of
large units or a monopolistic system
as the most advantageo to society is
he ques. lion the bureau will attempt
to determine.
1T is characteristic of the quality
of mind of the President of The United
States that he should desire facts on
which to base his judgmen,." said Com
missioner Dawes. There is now no
governmental or other agencies en-
eageu IN attempting 10 get scientific
N ormation on ,his fact. We shall
enter INTO th,s investigation with me
sole interest OF working out In a scien
inc and fair-mlnaed spirit the facts
.,usoIute,y as lney are. So vital and
so tunuamen,al IS this problem that
20 attack 1t In any oLher spirit Woulu
pe CRIMINAL Whit Is neeoed Is light,
not heat. The problem brlstles With
difficulty. 1t will demand an in
creased appropriation from Congress.
The results may no. coincide WIN all
ne hope 20 procure, but we can, now
,yer, OBTAIN facts that VIII contribute
toward correct Interpretation of IN
Austrlal conditions as they exist
Commissioner Davies declared that the
ultimate soluuon OIL the trust propieln d.-
penoed upon the determinauon of the
question his bureau is ABOUT to insesI,-
sate. That he believed to be a funua-
mental behind wnetner the proulem
might be So.yed by amendments TO the
sherman law, by an industrial trade COM
mission or by acuon looking to reguia-
ton by the individual states.
Vast Growth of Business.
Reviewing arguments for and against
monopoly, Commissioner Davies declared
that one of the chief concerns of the
great body OF people for whom the gov
ernment exists is, which form of pro-
duction, competitive or monopolistic, can
produce and sell what the puolic buys
most ..cheaply, consistently with fair
standards of living tor workers. He
skefched the business growth OIL the coun-
try and the rise of the corporations. Si.s:s..
within the last decade ana q half"
said he. two hundred corporations have
come into property OF more than tWeny-
tWO pililOH Two nulQfeQ artincldl
persons own three times as much wealth.
as the country owned in 1850 That sum
is three and one-half times as great as the
pubic dept. The gross income of one of
these artificial persons Is equal to the
total revenue Of the government from in
ternal revenue and customs. Twenty four
OF these corporations have three anu one
half times the gross income of the 1euera.
government.
These facts are not cited as an indict-
ment against the men engaged In these
enterprises, but simply to show the way
In which We are growing. The period of
greatest development in this movemer.
occurred in the face Of the Sherman law
and prior to 1904, when 1t was first sough.
to be made an active agency for the gov
ernment.
An Economic Revolution.
There has come an economic revolu
ton. The unorganized many are demand
ing that law shall protect their rights
from the encroachment of the organized
few. Government or society is concerned
with these tremendous industrial units
on several different angles. What effect
have these gigantic concentrations had
upon the question Of representative gov
ernment and its perpetuity? Is there
danger of the child becoming greater
than the parent? What safeguards must
the state throw about itself so that the
powers OF government may not be sub
verted by the greed of men and the in
herent human seliishness?
IAN investigation only recently con-
Quoted by Congress has given evidences
of certain insidious influences that at
tach the integrity OF government itself
THE economic aspects Of the problem,
the fair just attitude of government to
capital invested and men interested in and
directing these great enterprises as wei,
as to the pupblic at large. and what sha
be done to preserve freedom of oppor-
tunity for business, is the problem to
which Congress will address itse.f in the
immediate future"
Commissioner Davies reviewed various
suggestions for amendment of the Sher-
man law. many of which have been intro
duced as bills in Congress, looking to the
prevention of the issue of watered stock,
interlock.ng ownership, common direc-
torates, and other similar cond tions tn
which many economic evils are attribut-
cd He spoke particu arly of the conten-
ton that the government should regulate
and control prices.