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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1902)
1. The Commoner. WILLIAH J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. Vol. a. No. S3 Lincoln, Nebraska, Sept. 5, 1903. Whole No. 85. qJm wmnmMMwywyvwww ROOSEVELT ON THE TRUSTS MMMIWMWWWAMVWW TDroli1r4- T"rkertTH- I net- nmnctanf1 ATI Ml rrn t X IVOIUUUI. ivuwbufoh. 1W i,lUbl0VU i ww-o- In his campaign tour to show that he appreciates .the seriousness of the trust issue and his discus sion of the subject gives evidence of a complete I change in his method of treatment since his olova- i tion to the presidency. It was quite certain from :his Minneapolis speech, delivered just before Pres ident McKinloy's assassination, that ho expected the administration to have a pro-trust candidate , and that he (Roosevelt) expected to make his fight t against the trusts and appeal to the anti-monopoly isentime'ht in his par.ty. But he was suddenly I ushered Into the White house and given a chance kto "shackle cunning" and he has ever since been ;apologizing for rather than denouncing trusts. ffTako his Providence speech as an illustration; he spent more time trying to pacify those who criti cise the trusts than in pointing out a remedy. rffhe speech will bo found on another page. Through It runs the idea that tho onormous for- tunes wrung from the people by monopoly are a latural and necessary result of good times a re- pult that wo can not prevent. "We may like this r not, just as wo please, but it is a fact, nover- Ctheless, and as far as, we can see it Is an inevit- iblo result of the working of various causes, prominent among which has been tho immense im portance which steam and electricity have as sumed in modern life" that is the way he an- i-aounces his submission to the man-made Inequali- :ties which have grown up under republican rule. k 'Again he says: "For some of the evils which f have attended upon the good changed conditions wo can at present see no complete remedy," and Kin tho next breath he finds fault with those who k try to find a remedy, saying: "Much of the corn 's' plaint against combinations is entirely unwar- ranted." He even tries to confuse the privato fe monopoly with the labor organization In order to ' soften the laboring man's hostility to trusts. He I says: "Exactly as labor organizations, when man's- aged intelligently and in a spirit of Justice and fair play, are of great service, not only to wage-earners, but to the whole community, as the history of many labor organizations has shown, so wealth, i not merely individual, but corporate, when used h aright Is not only a benefit to the community as I' a whole, but indispensable to the upbuilding of the conditions, which at tho present the country V has grown not only to accept, but to demand as I? normal." The president fails entirely to distin guish between an association of God-made men, with bodies toeed, families to provide for and with consdondPto guide them and a fictitious person calledjR corporation organized for gain, having no ijfart to restrain it here and no soul If, to punish,!ereafter. Ho falls to discriminate be- tween the labor organizations which havo not yet h succeeded in securing living wages and reason I able conditions and the overgrown corporations which declare enormous dividends on watered stock and enable tho managers to become multi millionaires from enforced contributions collected from the people. This hiding behind the labor or- t tranizatlon is a favorite nevlno of tho Tnononniisrt and the president betrays his leanings when he falls into the same habit A careful reading of the k president's speech will convince any candid man that tho executivo is more alarmed lest tho people may injure themselves morally by hating tho trusts too much than he is lest they bo hurt by tho trusts. Note his solicitude: "Wo are passing through a period of great material prosperity and such a period is as suro as adversity itself to bring mutterings of discontent." Again: "If in a spirit of sullen envy they (tho people) insist upon put ting down those who have profitted most by tho years of fatness, they will bury themsolves in tho crash of a common disaster." And still again: "Probably tho most serious harm resulting to us, the people of moderate means, is when wo harm ourselves by letting the dark and evil vices of envy and hatred toward our fellows eat into our na tures." No trust magnate could havo made a more abject and servile plea for lawless wealth and heartless greed. When we see great corporations violating tho laws of tho land and riding rough shod over the rights of the people, instead of ap plying a remedy we must constantly restrain our indignation for fear "the dark and evil vices of envy and hatred will eat Into our natures." . In stead of trying to catch the horse thief would he lecture the man who lost his horso? And does ho think the horso raising industry would be jeo pardized by the complete extermination of tho horse thief? No one finds fault -with wealth that results from honest toil whether it bo toil of the hand or toil of the head, and na one but an apologist for tho trusts would confuse such wealth with the illegi timate accumulations that come from monopoliz ing trade, strangling competition and cornering the markets. Every honest man is benefitted, not Injured, by the prosecution of dishonest men; every legitimate industry Is helped, not hindered, by the elimination of the illegitimate concern or ganized not to furnish a fair product at a fair price, but to prey upon the people at large. When the president finally gets through with his multiplied warnings against "Ignorant med dling," and approaches a remedy he exhausts his energy in pointing out tho difficulties in the way and has no strength left to urge effective means for meeting those difficulties. He insists that -It is "highly undesirable to at tempt too much or to begin by stringent legisla tion." Those who are looking for "strenuosity" in dealing with the trust evil will not find it in tho president's speech. It Is weak and puerile. In stead of a warrior leading his men up San Juan Hill we see the politician anxious for a renomina tion and afraid either to ignore the subject or to deal with it firmly and aggressively. He need not have protested against "stringent legislation," his failure to enforce the criminal law against the beef trust while his marshals scour the country for pet ty offenders Is proof positive that he will not err on the side of severity when influential law break ers aro to be dealt with. The only -definite suggestion he makes Is in regard to 'publicity and even this must be "non inquisitorial." Publicity as an aid to other rem edies would be useful, but publicity alone would be of no benefit To expect any real relief to come from mere publicity is as absurd as" it would be to proposo tho ropcal of laws against larceny and the substitution of a law simply requiring the-thiof to filo a schedule of tho things stolon and then keep them. Publicity would glvo somo protection to the stockholders, but none to the consumers of trust controlled articles. Not only docs ho fall to proposo any real rem edy, but he advocates a constitutional amend ment that would take from the states tho powor they already havo. While state remedies are woo fully Insufficient they must not bo surrendered, for If tTaoy aro surrendered tho people will then havo to depend entirely upon tho federal govern ment for protection. Tho federal remedy should bo added to, not substituted for, tho state remedy. Tho republicans two years ago attempted to pass through tho house of representatives a resolution submitting such an amondmont as tho president now advocates and tho democrats opposed it on tho ground that congress already has power to exterminate tho trusts and should exercise that power instead of" trying to rob the states of their power. In the summer of 1900 tho republicans brought an anti trust bill to a vote in tho house of represjentatlvcs. and tho democrats supported it, b uTltaTed" m '' the " ' senate. This year congress adjourned, without getting an anti-trust bill through tho house. Why talk about an unnecessary constitutional amend ment when the republicans In congress refuse to use tho power they already havo? The republicans are in absolute control of the federal government; they have the president, the senate, the house and tho supremo court They have It in their power to enforce existing laws and to make now ones, but the trusts grow rich while the attorney general, whom they selected, goes through tho farce of enjoining two combinations. The rest of tho trusts enjoy immunity from all attack and the two referred to aro not disturbed by criminal prosecution. While the injunction suits languish the trusts go on making money and use tho railroads, tho malls and the telegraph lines to control interstate commerce. A republican must be dull indeed If ho cannot discover from the president's recent speeches that he has como to an agreement with tho trust mag nates. From now on republican speakers and re publican editors will devoto their energies to praising the benevolence of trust-made million aires, to asserting the necessity for great combina tions of capital and to threatening dire calamity if radical action against the trusts Is attempted. The republican leaders went through the same maneuvers on the money question and on Im perialism. They first denounced the gold stand ard, then apologized for it, and then defended it; they at first denied that anybody wanted Imper ialism, then defended It as a necessity,, and now they are preparing to praise It. as good thing. To be a republican today one must sleep 1 his fatigue uniform and be ready to march ia any direction at tho command of the officers tem porarily In charge. It was not always so, and it Is only a question of tlmo when farmers, laboring men and small business men will demand of the republican party fidelity to tho people's interests and, falling to compel fidelity, will desert the party. i j. '" M