Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1903)
'"Jj. " "T . 5f tw - -1 r J vf r.- -Triflfc4- -Th& Commoner. JAN. 23 1903. 3; William Randolph Hearst Submits proof of The existence of a Criminal Coal Trust and Asks why the Delay in Prosecuting It. V : '. ' Roosevelt and the Coal Trust An interesting letter .was recently written by w. R. Hearst to President Roosevelt More than I three months ago Mr. Hearst addressed a letter to ; the president notifying Mr. Roosevelt that he, Mr. Hearst, had asked Attorney General Knox for per mission to furnish him with conclusive proofs of the existence of a coal trust. Mr. Hearst says that he submitted the proofs to the United States dis trict attorney of the southern district of New York and that these proofs demonstrated "under the hands and seals of the corporations constitut ing the trust that a combination of the' coal-carrying railroads absolutely controls the country's supply of anthracite and fixes its price to, the con sumer." . Mr. Hearst'remlnds the president that the law officer of his administration has been and is re miss in. his. duty in not proceeding, against: trusts; He appeals to the president to command' his at torney general to proceed against the coal trust both civilly and criminally or explain to the peo ple of the United States his reasons for not do ling so if reasons suitable for public avowal. he has. The. president is further reminded that the . people have a right to expect action against the trusts in general and the' coal trust in particular. Mr. Hearst reminds the president that the coal truBt continues to exist and continues to plunder .because the laws are not enforced and he con cludes that the attorney general is responsible to the president and that if-the president shall up-. hold him' in his 'refusal- to afct against -the 'coal T.of Vho nT-'nnlD'nf'' will ' Yig rnsrtonsible ' to the .americun jjbuiuu. lO '".' Mr.JEtoOseyeltwill find it difficult to avoid this tpquestion much, longer." "it. is.significant that when Mr. ivnox delivered nis lamous speeuu ul jtilujuui6 he did not undertake to explain to the people why he did not enforce the criminal clause of the ex- isting law and although democratic newspapers all over the country called upon republican orgatis to explain the administration's failure to invoke the criminal indictment no republican editor has un dertaken to provide an explanation. Mr. Hearsts letter -is as follows: To Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States Sir: On October 4, more than three months ago, I had the honor of addressing a letter to you, informing you that I had petitioned your attorney general for permission to furnish him with conclusive proofs of the existence of a coal trust At the request of your attorney general, I submitted my proofs' to General Burnett, United States district attorney for the southern district of New York. TQhose proofs demonstrate, over the hands and seals of the corporations constituting the trust, that a combination of coal-carrying rail roads absolutely, controls the country's supply of anthracite and fixes'its price to the consumer. In the judgment of lawyers whose profes sional competency is quite as undisputed as that of your attorney general, those proofs It presented in court would suffice to dissolve the coal, trust and subject its members to the civil and criminal pen alties provided by law. Continuously since the submission of those proofs the coal trust has robbed the people, ex torting famine prices for coal a prime necessity of industrial and domestic life, yet no action has been taken against this trust by your attorney general for the enforcement of the laws and the relief of the public. So remarkable has been the lethargy of your attorney general in the face of a condition of things which reaches the gravity of a widespread public calamity that in both houses of congress a resolution has been introduced calling upon him to disclose the evidence submitted by mo through my attorneys in October last These proofs aside, sir, neither you nor any other well informed citizen can dotibfc the exist ence of the coal trust, nor bo Ignorant of the or ganized brigandage which it has practiced and Is practicing. You have but to consult the final rdport of thb Industrial commission to learn that tho eight lines of railroad comprising tho trust own nlno-tenths of tho anthracite deposits and mino three-quarters of the yearly product From tho same report you can ascertain that in order to crush out com petition these railroads have charged extortionate freight rates. Compared with tho charge per ton of bituminous coal" the rate for carrying anthra cite is so high that, In the language of Industrial Commissioner Pnlllips, the excess charge "is greater' every year than the interest on our na tional debt," and is "made possible by tho rail road monopoly, now euphoniously called 'com munity of interests.' " The fact that the coal trust, exists is notor ious, and its. character, is universally understood.. A former attorney general, of the .United States, Richard-Olneyr-on October-11 last, in a public address at'Boston;'said that the-mombers'of tho trust are the "most" unblushing and persist ant of law breakers," and he thus specified: "For years they have defied the law of Penn 'sylvania, which forbids common "carriers engag ing in the business of mining. - "For years they have discriminated between customers in the freight charges on their rail roads, in violation of tho interstate commerce law. "For years they have unlawfully monopolized interstate commerce, in violation of the Sherman anti-trust law." : " Senator Spooner of Wisconsin, a member o -your, own .party, high in your confidence, in last Monday's debate on the Jones resolution directing the attorney general to transmit to the senate the .evidence presented to him by me proving that a conspiracy in restraint of interstate, trade ex ists, said: "I have been of the opinion that probably there is such a conspiracy." And he added that "if there " bo such a conspiracy it is one that should bo prosecuted as one absolutely wicked in -its character and far-reaching in its deleterious effects. ... If one does exist it is a very merciless one, violating the laws of the United States and most harmful in every way." You, Mr. President, can have no doubt of the existence of this conspiracy, but If there should chance to remain in your mind any such doubt, 1 suggest that you remove It by personally examin ing the evidence which I placed in possession of your attorney general in October Sir, these men of the coal trust', enormously rich and politically influential as they may be, are criminals. They swell their great fortunes dally by deliberate law-breaking. And while your attorney general has re mained so strangely quiescent these opulent and politically Influential criminals have adopted an old trust device for the double purpose of further plundering the public and laying the basis for a fraudulent defense against the evidence now. in tho hands of the attorney general should ho begin proceedings against them. A pretended division, between them and the so-called "independent" operators has been arranged, whereby those so called "independents," who are utterly In the power of the trust, shall seem to compete with the trust, and so prepare the ground for a false con tention that the trust is not a monopoly, but a legitimate business organization subject to com petition. As the immediate result of this counter feit rivalry the price of coal has been doubled. As a citizen regardful of tho public welfare, Mr. President,' I respectfully represent to you that tho law officer of your administration has been, and Is, remiss in his duty in not proceed-, ing against the coal trust on the evidence of its unlawful character supplied by me to him last year. .. By that failure in duty he has encouraged the , coal trust to take advantage, of a situation largely of Its own creation, not merely to persist In its customary pillage of the people, but to enormously increase the sqale of its extortion. The submission of evidence to your attorney general and my appeal to him to apply' the law to- the coal trust having up to this time resulted in no action on his part, I turn from him to' you. i .. ? in your, public speeches and messages, Mr. President you have ofton declared .your convic tion that tho great combinations of capital com monly known as trusts should bo subjected to tho fullest publicity and brought within tho reg ulating control of tho law, to tho end that tho public, while profiting by tho concentration of capital in business, may bo protected against tho Incidental ovll effects of that concentration. 'I submit," sir, that there is no other combina tion of capital in the country more contemptuous of law than tho coal trust And I further submit that the most effective method of subjecting It to publicity Is to bring It Into court to answer fpr its illegal offences. ,The attorney general of tho United States la your servant Ho must obey your command or give way to a successor who will do so. I appeal to you, therefore, Mr. President, to command your attorney general to proceed against the coal trusty both civilly and Criminally; on the evidence-of its unlawful acts laid, before him by me, br explain to tho people of tho United: States his reason's for not doing so, if reasons suitable for public avowal he has. Tho people of tho United States, President Roosevelt, have a right to expect action from you against tho trusts In general and the coal trust in particular. No conspicuous public man of your party has so vehemently as yourself expressed a desire to protect the public from spoliation at tho . hands of combinations of predatory capital. And you havo well said that "words are good when backed up by deeds, and only so." What better proof of your sincerity could you give, what better deed in support of your words could you do, than oy mcving at once upon this insolent lawbreaker and wholesale robber of the people, the coal trust? As a citizen I have done my duty In supply ing evidence for the attack to your attorney gen eral. As a citizen I do my duty in turning from him to you when time has shown his invincible reluctance to act. ' " Thcu coal trust continues to exist and con tinucsto plunder because tho laws are not en forced. , .., For that non-enforcement of the laws, Mr. resident, your attorney general is responsible to you, and if you shall uphold him in his re fusal to act against the coal trust you will be re sponsible to the American people. Respectfully, J :- WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST. ";jm. l'V(. A Limit to Patience. -Thc Chicago Record-Herald warns the "un compromising protectionists" that "they are put tingfTn the best w.ork that is being done for the election of a democratic president and congress." This republican paper says that Senator Aid rich 'and his associates are not as greatly con cerned for the memory and reputation of Mr. Ding ley as they are fearful lest there be a modification ' in the exorbitant tariff rates. It is charged by this republican paper thaj: Senator Aldrlch and his as sociates "have no use for reciprocity except as a campaign nostrum;" and this republican paper says that "It is certainly Incumbent upon the re publican party either to abandon reciprocity or to make good Its promises." The republican party has practically aban doned reciprocity, jur' as it has abandoned other causes to which It had committed itself prior to election day. The republican leaders haveNnot been greatly disturbed by the warning that the people may hold them to .account They have grown bold by frequent successes at a time when they knew they did not deserve success and they imagine that popular protest can be quieted by a "let well enough alone" slogan in the future as it has been in the past Yet there is a limit to all things.!. It may be that the near future will Remonstrate that fhere is a limit to the patienc ' of the people. - m 4 fill iiYuii'rfl"?- 'vtjmisiL'-M"Jl". 1--