The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1922-08-24


gan opened his campaign in Mill
waukee county this morning with a
slashing speech on price fixing and
trusts.
Zone reason that want to be gov
ernor," he said, rs that ! want to see
continued the vigorous enforcement
of our laws against trusts and price
fixing combinations that ] have in
augurated as attorney general. Now
| am gonig to answer an unspoken
question in your minds. You may
wonder why Morgan did not stay on
the job as Attorney General and fin
ish the work he has started. have
no doubt that many of my present
opponents would have supported me
for reelection as attorney general
upon my record in that Office, but l
want to tell you that if you give me
John F. Baker as attorney general, l
can do more as governor to finish the
work that I have started than ! could
do in any other way.
"NowI am going to take you behind
scenes and tell you why. When l
went to the Legislature and asked
them to amend our Antitrust laws,
and increase the penalties against
price fixing combinations and to give
me special appropriation of $4,000
to hire a special assistant to get the
evidence that was convinced existed,
did | get the cooperation of the adj
ministration? j did not. When my
bill came before the Legislature from
the committee it was with report
against it five to three. One of the
two administration leaders in the
Assembly was one of the five of that
committee. / had to go before the
Assembly sitting as committee OF
the whole one evening to- argue for
this appropriation. When | finished
a member of the governors political
family, who is a part of the Gov
ernor's political machine, took the
floor and said that as state official
he would have to favor my bill as
necessary amendment to the Anti
Trust laws, but that if he was a
farmer or a laboring man, ne would
have to vote against it. They told
the farmer members of the legislature
that if / got this appropriation l
would use it to prosecute farm or
CARNATIONS. Well, | haven't done it,
have I? They told the members of
Milwaukee county that if | got it l
would use it to prosecute the labor
unions, but / haven't done that
either, have I? But, you see. they
gave me the most poisonous kind of
opposition that they could.
Don't you think, also, that my
opponents enthusiasm for this kind
oe law enforcement against trusts
and price fixers is best judged by his
own record while he was in the att
torney generals Office? You know
that he was attorney general before
/ was, yet in all that time he never
prosecuted single trust or a single
price-fxing combination successfully.
Did you ever hear of him making any
attempt to bring these law breakers
to justice? ooh yes," someone will
say, "Don't you remember seeing
something In the newspapers about
his getting ate. the coal combine :"
In August, 1920, there were head
lines in the newspapers, Attorney
General Blaine Is About to Investi-
gate Coal Combine" My opponent
was attorney general then, you know,
and there were some pictures in the
newspapers, but after the primary
election, month later, there was
never anything else heard about this
newspaper prosecution.
"Some months ago wrote a letter
to the governor, asking his authority
to bring a suit against the Cement
Combinations on behalf Of the state
and such counties as would assign
their claims to the state for damages
under the Sherman Act. You know,
under the Sherman Law, after a COM
bination has been proved to exist, the
party damaged can recover treble
damages. We helped the attorney
general of the United States to get
an Indictment of the Cement Com
binations in Chicago, and l wanted
to recover for the state and the
counties that had assigned their
claims to the state treble damages
three times the difference between
what they held us up for and the real
market value. Now, UP to that time,
the state had purchased very little
cement. The great bulk of the pur-
chases had been by the counties