Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-12-16
MEDICINE
TO CURB MONEY TRUST
UNITED panss lnAsnp wian.1

New York, Dec. 16.-" Compel bank
ers, when issuing securities, to make
public the commissions or profits they
are receiving. Let every circular let
ter, prospectus or advertisement of a
bond or stock show clearly what the
banker received for his middleman SER
vices, and what the bond and stocks
net the issuing corporations.
This, accorning to Louis D. Brandeis,
is the crux of the publicity medicine'
which should be applied to rid the coun-
try of the evils of "money trust. :"
Attorney Brandeis III the fifth of his
series Of articles on Breaking the
Money Trust" which appears in Harp
er's Weekly today discusses, "What
Publicity Can Dc"
Publicity is justly commended as a
remedy for social and industrial dis
cases." claims Brandeis. "And public
ity has already played an important
part in the struggle against the Money
trust. Through the disclosure of facts
by the Pujo money trust investigation,
concerning financial concentration At
torney Brandeis believes an important
step has been made toward ultimate
attainment Of the New Freedom. Pub
licity attending these disclosures, ac-
cording to Brandeis, has meant that
"the battlefield has been surveyed and
charted; the hostile forces have been
located and appraised" But there
must be further call upon publicity
for service, pleads Brandeis. "That
potent force," he says must in the
impending struggle, be utilized in many
ways as continuous measure" Point
ing out that combination and control
of other peoples money end business,
and the wealth Of the Investment bank
er are the main factors in the develop.
ment Of the money trust" Brandeis de-
clares that it has been the great wealth
of the House of Morgan that has made
possible the powerful alliances with
great financial institutions. The main
cause of such large fortunes, he asserts,
is the huge tolls charged by those who
control the avenues to capital and in
vestors-"a toll that is literally all
that the traffic will bear " Con
tinuing Brandeis says:
'The question is asked why have
these excessive charges been submitted
to9 Doubtless because Of bankercon.
troll; exercise through interlocking di'
rectorates, or kindred re lations, and in.
! directly through combinations among
bankers to suppress competition. The
investors servility is due probably ia
his ignorance of facts. Coming to the
vemedy for these evils, Brandeis says;
"The bankers compensation should
Of course, vary according to the risk
he assumes. Where there is large
risk that the bonds or stock will not be
promptly sold at the issue price, the un'
derwriting commission (that is the in.
surance premium) should be correspon
dingly large. But the banker ought
not to be pair moro for getting invest
ors to assume larger risk. Now the
law should not undertake Except incl
IDENTIFY in connection with railroads and
public service corporations) to fix bank
ers profits. And IL should not seek tC
prevent investors from making bad bar
gains, But it is now recognized in the
simplest merchandising, that there
should be full disclosures. Require q
full disclosure to the investor Of the
amount Of commissions and profits paid
and not only will investors be put Oh
their guard, but bankers commissions
will tend to adjust itself automatical
ly to what is fair and reasonable"