The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1914-03-26
BORAH ONCE MORE LANDS ON
TRUST REFORMER PERKINS
Senator Replies with "ot Shot to the Trust Magnates
Declaration that He VIII Put Him Out
OF Business

loure, according to the practice
adopted for the change of shift. y ~
It is therefore in striking contrast t.
this general tendency (shorter hours)
in other industries to find in a great
basic industry. such as that part of the
iron and steel industry covered by this
report. that approximately only four
teen per cent of the $4,000 employees
work less than sixty hours per week |
and almost forty three per cent work |
seventy two hours or over per week"
Yet Mr.. Perkins claimed then and |
claims now that there was no cause
for complaint as to labor conditions, |
that they were satisfactory and not
subject to criticism. This is not to
be regarded as surprising, however.
because his theory of the regulation of
monopoly means the establishing of
classes in this country and the build
ing up of an impossible barrier be-
tween the man who tolls with his hands
and the man who works with his brains,
system which would say, give them
seven days week and twelve hours
day and when they are gone there
are plenty more.
Shortly after this resolution WAS in
troduced l was informed by several
of George w. Perkins. | paid but little
attention to it at the time, but from
time to time until now l have been
informed in different ways of his en-
nifty, which L am bound to say, I hope
with all due humility, / have regarded
in some ways as a certificate of char
acter
On February IL. 1913, 1 spoke before
the Union League Club at Ba ,imore on
the subject of monopoly. In these re
marks, among other things, said
speaking of monopolies:
"They are here largely by the fault
of the whole people, and they will be
to the full import of the menace. When
We as a people understand that this is
not a question of economics alone, but
that Institutions and citizenship are in
volved when we understand that mon
opoly undermines governments, estab-
fishes and enthrones classes. demoral-
the sturdy virtues of men and women
then and not until then will we deal
with the matter successfully n
Whether all men shall share their just
proportion of the blessings and comforts
of our civilization or be deprived of 1t
through this law of modern mortmain
and monopoly is not alone question
of the market or the price of corner
lots and stocks, but 1t is also a ques-
ton of government and of morals. Mon
opoIy is at war with democratic institu-
tions, and the conflict is as irrepressible
as was the conflict between freedom
and slavery"
After this speech, which did not seem
to be a straddling speech from the
standpoint of monopolies. l heard not
only from Mr. Perkins indirectly but
from several others. One gentleman
prominent in one of the moropolies
which has been under court !7vestiga-
tion visited me and argued with me very
earnestly that 1 was making a great
mistake, that / had a career of useful
ness. etc, and that / could not sue
ceed upon that plan.
= also heard indirectly that Mr. Perk-
ins regarded me as more or less crazy,
which | must confess gave me a feel
ing of renewed intellectual exhileration.
On February 12 1914, l spoke before
the Republican Club of New York and
while | was not discussing at thai time
. particularly this subject, l was not will
ing to let the occasion pass Without
reverting to it and l said, referring to
those who insisted upon a progressive
republican party:
We ask for nothing more and will
be reconciled with nothing less than a
free, full expression and the full flow OF
opinion in party council and party af-
fairs from its voters and members, to
the end that this great code of humane
and progressive laws, of wise ard per-
manent institutions. may be extended
that the work may go on until political
freedom shall be at the beginning and
| industrial freedom at the end of the
party story. until monopoly, ten thous-
and times worse than black slavery
shall understand that between it and
republican institutions there is .terna
war-Mexican war, where all the captur