Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-01-21

forces Of correction OUTSIDE !Ae COURT
are inadequate to adjust the remedy tt
the wrong in a way that will meet al
the equities and circumstances Of the
case.
Producing industries, for example,
which have passed the point up to
which combination may be consistent
with the public interest and the free
dom Of trade, cannot always be dis
sected into their component units as
readily as railroad companies or
similar organizations can be.
Their dissolution by ordinary legal
process may often times involve fl
nancial consequences likely to over
whelm the security market and bring
upon it breakdown and confusion.
There ought to be an administrative
commission capable of directing and
shaping such corrective processes, not
only in aid of the courts but also by
Independent suggestion, if necessary.
Penalties and Punishments.
lnasmuch as our object and the spir-
1t of Our action in these matters Is
to- meet business half way in its
processes of self correction and dis
turb! it's legitimate curse as little as
possible we ought to see to 1t, and the
judgment Of practical and sagacious
men of affairs everywhere would ap.
plaud rs if we did see to it,, that pen.
alites and punishments should fall,
not upon business itself, to its con.
fusion and interruption, but upon the
individuals who use the instrumental.
tiles Of business to do things which
public policy and sound business prac.
tice condemn. Every act of business
is done at the command or upon the
Initiative Of some ascertainable per-
son or group of persons. These
should be held individually responsi.
BILE and the punishment should fall
upon them, not upon the business or.
ganization OF which they make illegal
1t should be one of the main OBJ
jects Of u legislation to divest such
persons of their corporate cloak and
deal with them as with those who do
not represent their corporations, but
merely by deliberate intention break
the law. Business men the country
through would, l am sure, applaud us
it we were to take effectual steps to
see that the officers and directors of
great business bodies were prevented
from bringing them and the business
of the country into '%disrepute and dan.
ger. .... '
Holding Companies.
Other questions remain which will
need very thoughtful and practical
treatment. Enterprises, in these mod.
ern days of great individual fortunes,
are often times %interlocked, not by
being under the control Of the same
directors, but by the fact that the
greater part of their corporate
stock is owned by a single person or
group of persons who are in some way
related in interest. we are
agreed, I take it, that holding com.
should be prohibited, but what
Of the controlling private ownership
of individuals or actually cooperative
groups of individuals. Shall the pri.
vate owners OF capital stock be sui.
fered to be themselves in effect the
companies? We do not wish,
I suppose, to forbid the purchase of
stocks by any person who pleases to
buy them in such quantities as he can
afford, or in any way arbitrarily to
limit the sale of stokes to bona flde
Shall we require the
owners Of stock, when their voting
power in several companies which
ought to be Independent of one an
other would constitute actual control,
to make election in which of them they
will exercise their right to vote? This
question | venture for your considera.
ton. ''.
Injury to the Individual.
There is another matter in which
imperative considerations Of justice
and; fair play suggest thoughtful
remedial action. Not only do many
Of the combinations effected or sought
to be effected in the industrial world
work an injustice upon the public in
general; they also directly and seri-
ously injure the individuals who are
put out of business in one unfair way
or another by the many dislodging
and externlinating forces of combina-
ton. / hope that we shall agree in
giving private individuals who claim
to have been injured by these pro-
cesses the right to found their suits
for redress upon the facts and judy
ments proved and entered in suits by
the government where the govern
ment has upon it's " initiative sued
the combinations complained Of and
won its suit. and that the statute of
limitations shall be suffered to run
against such litigants only from the
date of the conclusion of the govern:
ment's action. 1t is not fair that the
private litigant should be obliged to
set up and establish again the facts
which the government has proved. He
cannot afford, he has not the power
to make use of such processes of in.
Guiry, as the government has com
Inand of. Tins shall individual ius.
tice be done while the processes of
business, are rectified and squared
II iih ll,n nnnornl noncnionco -