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The Commoner!
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P&F!? && V w look fe thfaenf
f the trusts for rttiaC w mJtfjfc m wG look fe
fh trust itsctttw Erikst To-iy that thi uen!
gtbo trust win ragulat tl tart U tanttanoanJi
aayin that ft trart win regulat ltsolL .which
jto an absurdlt
"Tho republican party 1 th array of qranpfl
tor the trust. At Ami head of the taWt t a mat):
Trf the highest character, of mmnpeachabla Integ
rity, against whom then Is no breath of scandn
ffhe trusts for their chief counWL nrrer employ
teheap skates.' They have money and they hav
honors to bestow. They get tho best They ear
pect honest advice from their, attorneys, and they
receive tt Their clilef counsel a short time ago
told tho railroads that they had better submit
themselves to the law that they had better ad
,viso their senators to pass a rate bllL That if a
rate bill was not passed the people would
demand public ownership, tinder advice from
their chief counsel tho trusts had a rate biU passed
with holes in it
"If the array of counsel prove recalcitrant to
their trust they are discharged and other counsel
aro employed by tho predominating form of
wealth to conduct tho affairs of government If
tho democratic party can convince this predom
inating form of wealth that they wUl do a better
job than tho republican party, tho democratic
party will be called to the table. It Is foolish
ness to denounce the republican p'arty. That party
is conscientiously performing its duties as the rep
resentative of this predominating form of wealth.
In fact the republican party should be compli
mented for the adroitness with which it performs
the work. Whilst Its class-conscious principal
the Interlocked directorate Is closeted In a room,
fixing the prico of everything the people have to
sen and fixing the price of everything the people
must buy, the republican orators are on the stump
addressing the people who aro exploited and
robbed, about our destiny as a nation, our great
ness as a people, our battleships. They will even
give us an apostrophe to the flag and wind up
' with a peroration on prosperity. The prosperity,
my friends, they speak about is not our pros
perity, it is not the prosperity of our class, It Is the
prosperity of those who own the wealth represented
by the interlocked directorate. It Is riot tho pros
perity of the people. It 1st the prosperity of a
.class, and a class to which we do not belong; The
adroit attorneys of -this predominating form of
wealth resort to other expedients to keep the peo
ple divided and prevent them from becoming class
conscious, and prevent them from uniting and
overthrowing the power of tho interlocked director
ate. They appeal to every prejudice and passiou,
sectional, racial, religious and partisan. They
., have kept us divided up until this time, and as
long as we aro divided we will be exploited and
robbed.
"When the democratic party is led and com
manded by trust captains, any pretended flgllt be
tween the democratic party and the republican
party is a farce. It is nothing more than the pre
tended fights of attorneys in a court room repre
senting different interests. If the democratic
party Is led by men other than the hirelings of
tho trust, .and the people as a mass know their
own enlightened Belf-interest, then the fight will
be genuine, and the fight will not be between
parties, but it will be between the people and the
trust, the power behind the republican party.
The people of the United "States at last know tho
truth. They know their economic status. They
know that the price js fixed for them both ways.
They know that if present conditions exist much
longer the boys of ten today, when they meet
each other fifteen years from now, will not ask
each other: 'What business ore you in?' They will
ask each other: 'Who are you workin' for now?'
The time, in my judgment, has finally arrived
when every man must take sides in this
struggle."
.Washington Letter
" ; Washington, July 22. The long delayed
"Harriman report," prepared by the interstate
commerce commission has at last been made
public. Mr. Harriman contends that it is re
plete with gross errors, and announces that he
will reply to it later. Inasmuch, however, as all
the charges contained in this official report were
. contained in the preliminary document issued
by "the commission's counsel, Mr. Kellogg, eight
weeks ago, Mr. Harrlman's decision to postpone
his reply sounds a bit lame.
The report is disappointing In the mildness
with which it condemns Mr. Harrlman's clearly
criminal methods. , "While it is clear that the
criminal clause of the federal anti-trust law has
been violated with impunity, nowhere is there
,t. a' word in the report urgingrthat Mr. Harriman
I. proiocuted or that tho attornoy genoral bo
rfB. proceedings to Mt aside his Illegal comblna
tfoni and mergers, Tho word "prosecution can
not ue found in ttu report A fow rocommond
ationj of a purely Ifcgialativo character are mado
ami much historical data Is carefully compllod.
Bat feat i aU.
tt the lntewtat commorco commission Is
tatiaflod It has properly diagnosed tho Harrl
fnah casa, it Is very certain from reading its
jreport jEhat ih commission Is unwilling or un
ablo to prescribe mh proper remedy. It may bo
very well for the commission to contend that
it is only called upon to report facts, and that
It is not justified in making recommendations
of legal prosecutions becauso that Is a matter
for tho department of justice. Of course It is
a matter for tho department of justice, but tho
commisison has spent considerable time and
treasuro upon this Investigation, and it certain
ly ought to ho in a position to advlso and recom
mend remedies. It has, in fact, recommended
severa) legislative reforms. Why not be con
sistent? If its opinion on legal proceedings
can not be given with propriety, why its opin
ions on legislative proceedings? If it must
leavo law to the lawyers, why not leave legisla
tion to the legislators? Why advlso congress
and refuse to advise tho department of justice?
There seems to bo something strangely incon
sistent in such an attitude. The interstate
commerce commission is a body which ought
to recommend a prosecution when necessary.
The commission's counsel, Mr. Kellogg, in his
preliminary report, did not think It Improper
to recommend the prosecution of Mr. Harriman,
and he has from the start insisted that such
a recommendation be inserted in the final re
port It is said that Attorney Genoral Bona
parte protested against this on the ground that
the matter of prosecution was purely a ques
tion for the department of justice. It is hinted
that with the aid of the "big stick" the mem
bers of the commission wore led to desert their
eminent counsel who so ably worked up tho
Harriman case upon this proposition. All this
leads one to Inquire why federal funds should
be so lavlshl; expended to get the expert ad
vice of an able lawyer if that advice is to be
ignored.
Tho matter, however, Is - now up to the
department of justice, and one awaits with inr
terest td see if the present" administration. 'has
the courage t6 send to jail one who has so
clearly violated the federal criminal laws with
impunity.
A failure on the part of the federal gov
ernment to prosecute Harriman in view'' of the
evidence at hand would be a national disgrace.
But it would only be a further evidence"of tho
apparent Inability of the federal government to
deal effectively with our corporate abuses. The
criminal clause of the Sherman anti-trust law
has been on the statute books for something
over ja decade and a half. And yet the pres
ent attorney general is forced to make the un
fortunate admission that Its Imprisonment pen
alty has "been used but in two minor instances;
in fact, the non-enforcement of the criminal pro
visions of our federal statutes in regard to ille
gal combinations In restraint of trade, especially
the enforcement of the imprisonment provisions
of those statutes becomes almost odious when
compared with what has been accomplished by
similar statutes in the several states.
Out In Ohio they have what is known as
the Valentine anti-trust law. It has been on
the statute books there hardly as many years as
the Sherman law has been on the United States
statute books decades, but its application differs
from that of the -Sherman anti-trust law in that
the Imprisonment provision Is utilized to the
best advantage. Only the other day some two
dozen representative and wealthy business men
of Ohio were sentenced to -six months In jail
for a violation of this law It Is safe to say
that these sentences will do more to prevent
the illegal combinations In restraint of trade
than all the fines that could be imposed, and
all the injunctions that might be Issued.
The federal government recently conducted
an expensive Investigation of the Standard Oil
company. The investigators found the trust
guilty of the grossest violation of both our fed
eral criminal and civil laws, but as yet the fed
eral government has taken no steps, and as far
as it is concerned the Standard Oil is as power
ful as ever. Compare fats with the action of
the state of Texas. It has fined this company
over a million and a half of dollars, and forbade
it to operate within the state. Why Is It the
several states seem to be able to cope so effec
tively with the trusts while the national gov
ernment seems so impotent? Is it any wonder
then that our mighty corporations are crushing
with unsoomly hasto to subscribe to tho Rooso-voit-Itoot
doctrlno of centralization, and to go
upon thoir knees boforo tho national authorities
at Washington wlUTtho plea of "savo us from
tho states."
Perhaps tho silliest story of tho silly sea
son Is that which suggested that tho prcsldont
is angered with tho Hon. James Bryco, ambas
sador of Great Britain, becauso of tho latter's
applause of tho proposed Oklahoma conntltur
tlonu It has boon rumorod that an Investigation
into tho actual uttoranccs of tho ambassador
is under way In tho stato department. The de
partment denies It, and while as a rulo no one
believes what is said in that homo of diplomacy
and evasion, everybody bolloves this particular
denial.
American politicians aro not fond of Brit
ish ambassadors or ministor3. President Clove
land drove out tho lucklosa Sackvlllo-WoHt
President Roosevelt elbowed out Sir Henry Du
rand, and was not much pleased when Mr. Bryce,
whom tho American people love to honor, came
in his stead. But it Is inconceivable that with
all his woll known desire for a British favorite
of his earlier days, tho presidont should permit
oven tho suggestion of an affront to Mr. Bryco.
Mr. Bryco's book, "Tho American Common
wealth" is today tho text book for Americans
w.ho desire to study their own political organiza
tion. It is, done bettor than any work by an
American writer, partly because of Its author's
notablo ability, but chiefly because his dotached
point of view enabled him to study our institu
tions as thoso of us who have lived under them
never can. His hook is that of a truo democrat',
a truo republican, ICyou wish; namely a man
who believes in tho government of tho peoplo
and for the peoplo. It Is a matter of history
that tho one serious error In the first odltion of
tho book was committed by a Columbia college
professor of economics to whom Mr. Bryco com
mitted tho chapter on Tammany Hall, The Pro
fessor printed a gross libel, which Mr. Bryco acr
cepted as truth. Tho person libelled, th'p idto
Oakley Hall, of Now York, sued for libel in Eng
lish courts, whore tho penalties aro oneroid,
and Mr. Bryce practically was mulcted of all the
earnings of the first odltion of his book,.
All of which is beside tho fact of lmmodiato
import. Bryce, being, recognized throughout; th'fc
whole world as a student of governmental Insti
tutions;,' and a specialist on thoso of tho Unite'd
States, happened to visit Oklahoma. Naturally
he was asked what he thought of its prop6aod
constltutIon--now being held up by tho admin
istration. He applauded it specifically as to
certain sections, but generally as to Its whole
tone. Now the partisan press Is trying to force
a diplomatic Issue on tho ground that an am
bassador should not express opinions upon a
matter still under consideration by tho presidont.
It may be accepted as a fact that It by do1
lay, subterfuge or positive opposition Mr. Roose
velt can prevent the 1,000,000 peoplo of Okla
homa and tho Indian Territory from voting for
the next president, he will do so. Just now his
policy is delay. He has ordered a census of tho
territories, though by what authority from con
gress or urider what appropriation none can tell.
But that will put off the dreaded election for a
time. His appointees r.ro governors, judge,
marshals, collectors of revenue, Indian agents,
yet his party fears the admission to statehood
of these communities lest their people voto
agaipst the administration that has so favored
them with Rough Riding officials.
In the end it is the business man; tho
speculator learns first of '.hat Is likely to
happen in cases of this sort. Washington is
overrun with men of this type from thd two
territories. With one accord whatever their
personal politics, they say: "I'm making my
business arrangements with perfect confidenco
that there will be no statehood while Roosevelt
is in power."
But oven accepting the truth of this It is
Incredible that tho administration should seek
to discipline the ambassador of a friendly power
for saying pleasant things about a constitution
adopted by a convention of Americans by a vote
of one hundred to ten.
WILLIS J. ABBOTT.
John M. Crutchley, prominent for more
than fifty years In democratic circles, died at
his home In Canton, 111., June 25, age seventyr
two years. Mr. Crutchley never held an office,
but he was ever a zealous worker in the counsels
of the democratic party. In recent years Mr.
Crutchley was an invalid but he never lost his
interest in the political principles to which he
had contributed so generoi sly and even during
the years of his affliction he contributed ma
terially to his party's cause.
VI
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