The Washington herald., 1914-02-13
REASONS ron SENTIMENT
AGAINsr "BIG BUSINESS
GIVEN By F. 2, FISH

private fortunes, oABBef e~s s.s
should have, and great corporations,
abuse OF their power in going outside OF
their own fields into politics. were blamed
for the present public sentiment against
..bix business by Frederick p. Fish.
former president of the American Teie-
phone and Telegraph Company. in his ad-
dress, In which he attacked the sherman
law and added that the bills which have
been designed TO supplement 1t viii. II
enacted in their present form. work irrep-
arabic INJURY to the business interests OF
the nation.
Mr.. Fish believes thorough research
should precede all legislation to determine
the actual facts and necessities Of the
business situation. In many respects the
views of Mr.. Fish. who represented
strictly big business" were at variance
with those of the other speakers.
lie said in part:
For reasons based upon our views as 10
the social and political well-being OF our
people. we may not want monopolies in
the sense in which that word is used
In the Sherman law. in which case We
should work to suppress them 20 Just that
extent which the public interest requires.
but we should not deceive ourselves Dy
the pretense that there have been special
opportunities for monopoly not open 10
all in accordance with the laws of the
land.
Few Real Biz Monopolies.
There are at the present time few
/ instances IL any, of real monopolies In
any sense of the word that are important
| in size or character. Some business en-
| terprises are large but few, II any, have
a monopoly.
| ITO find today monopoly, outside oi
4 those for individual inventions granted
| for a short period under Letters Patent
| as a reward to the inventor. one mus
| look not among the large but among the
small industries of the country wher'
they are occasionally to be found. Some
times they are based merely upon th'
small demand. for a particular produc
and the skill and honesty with which
single manufacturer has been able 4
produce and market the same; but FIRE
auently they are founded upon trade
mark or other insignia of good will whicl
has been brought home to the public 81
| Thoroughly that IL will take goods Of
| certain character only when marked wit
that trademark or associated with thos
insignia
substituting for the sake of accurac
the phrase large enterprises for mon
opoly,' I fail to see how. from tn
| point of view of the public interest, the
} can be harmful unless they result in a
improper increase OF price to the cor
| sumer except possibly because of politi
, cal or social considerations. Such con
. siderations must never be overlooked. bu
we shall have nothing except intolerabl
confusion unless in determining our fact
! and settling upon our policies, We sharpi
separate the economic questions from a
!. | others When we have mastered II
= economic side Of the problem. and NJ
| until then. can We safely take into AZ
: count social and political necessities an
a determine how far they should be alIowe
/. to modify our views and actions base
! upon sound economic considerations
!. II do not believe that there Is a sing
= particle of evidence that prices to Il
!, consumer are now greater because of Il
+ existence of large business organization
: than they would have been IL all busine
had been carried on by small units.
fact, It seems to me that the eviden'
is all to the contrary. Moreover. muc
OF our modern achievement would clear
have been impossible IL business had bee
carried on only in a small way.
Public Mind Inhamed.
THE phrase restraint of trade is al.
one that undoubtedly iniames the pu
n lie mind which approaches IT with I
definite idea as to its meaning.
What is the restraint of trade TIL
is so Objectionable at present? Tt
again only a natural development OF Il
free and unrestricted competition
J. brains, capacity and resources whit
gives to those who have succeeded uDd
the conditions imposed upon them by Il
% facts OF modern business an advantal
over their less successful competitor
Trade is restrained in a true sense
every sale that is made and by eve
honest and praiseworthy effort that
business man makes to enlarge his bu.
ness, for every sale made by one pr
ducer or distributor restrains the 81
of the same goods by others, and eve
successful effort on the part Of one.
duces the chances of others to do bu
ness in the same field.
THE Sherman law has clearly operat
| to interfere with the natural and norm
DEVELOPMENT of Industrial organizati
and industrial methods by undertake
arbitrarily to say that there should be
i | monopoly or restraint of trad
l Whether il was a natural product of
conditions of the times or purely ar
ftrary, whether beneficial or harmful,
enforcement has resulted in the disin
grafton of many large organizations a
i in the great embarrassment of ma
more. II the principles underlying
n were logically applied, there is no lii
III to the Transformation il could make
II our business conditions or the extent
which it could force them to proceed
arbitrary and unnatural lines of dey
opment.
Wants Facts Analyxcd.
Even at this late day, when We Sc
. absolutely committed to the proposit
that there shall be no approach to a n
!, nopoly in trade and that there shall
no restraint of trade except that VII
is reasonable according to standa
which are and will continue to be
vague, uncertain, and Illogical as to
almost unintelligible, would it not bt
rs good thing for US il We should anal
@ @Lor the facts and the situation scientific;
ses and automatically so as TO determine