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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1903)
iffppiyipi m Mfup w'.tfw1 m r mmmm mi m jima j'whiiiihj i w iiwumaj imj The Commoner. ARCH 13, 1903, V Mmms M j.iii "'m 'V ? - . ' S ( c fft v .ii "5v58 'm sU UK ' r tf.j, $L JV 4 Ajfl LJtl ir .1' , &if- .1M " '& H3fc ' -( xp .-Si r.ii & MWBnmK Wi W In a speech delivered in support "of his antl- diii, mt. juittieneid, tho republican memDer irom Maine, presented a list 01 No 800 trusts with an aggregate Trusts capitalization of-more than ?13,- Hero. 000,000,000. Mr. Littlofleld did not include all the trusts and yet showinc should at least he sufficient to chal lenge the attention n" those ronublican leaders iwho have all along insisted that there are no JtS. A Wf. nf-Tnofl for thrmi?ht a nrnvldert bv the tJndianapolisJournal in a statement that "most of the controversies oetween Searching European powers and South For American states grow out of Trouble. their citizens going there in search of trouble. If there were Collusion between European governments and their Subjects to breed and bring on controversies with mth American states It could hardly operate Snore directly to that end." Senator Quay announced in the senate that he jrould not vote on the passage of the Littleiield anti-trust bill because ne neia stock in certain corporations that might bo designated as truBts. And yet when Senator Biachburn moved to take up the Ittleileld bill. Senator Quay had no hesitancy U casting his vote against the proposed consid- ration or tnat measure in spue or tne iact unit to held stock in trusts. Mr. Quay's Conscience. sc Mr. Hoar's Danger. Sample.- In a recent speech Senator Hoar declared that Iffttfe rash meddling with the southern race ques tion by the men of the north is unwise and that men of the south know the conditions best and are the negroes' best friend." Not long ago Senator Hoar ob- jcted to Mr. Roosevelt's interference with leg- slation. Can it be that the venerable senator from Massachusetts is bent upon being brought up under the charge of lese majeste? The St Paul Dispatch refers to a statement fcmade by another paper to the effect that "Bryan will bolt," and the JUispatcn Merely adds: "No one would complain a if he were to bolt himself on the Inside of a coffin." This brutal statement is reproduced Shere simply for the purpose of showing the ex tremes to which corporation controlled newspa pers will co in their effort to assail one who ob jects to corporation domination in public affairs. The Tiewsnnner iHRnn.f-p.hps sn.v that Attorney General Knox has already put the new anti-trust law into operation oy auvanc- Why ing the case of the United Not States against the Northern Se- Indict? curlties company in all federal courts. We have vet to hear, Ihowever, that Attorney General Knox has under- anti-trust law with respect to trusts generally, al though it is reported that indictments have been returned against the representatives of the salt trust In Caliiornia. Although the entire country was somewhat. jagitatedby the report that John D. Rockefeller, tne great trust magnate, naa No sent telegrams instructing mem- Problog hers of the United States senate There. to W11 a11 proposed anti-trust legislation, and although it was suggested by a number of newspapers that the "dignity" of the senate required a thorough In vestigation of these charges, the regular session of the senate adjourned without any effort on tne part of that extremely dignified body to probe R Into the great mystery. Now that an indictment has been returned against the representatives of the salt trust In California, why may not the at Tnere x torney general proceed under the Are criminal clause of the Sherman Others law against tho representatives of other trusts? If the accusa tions he has made in the civil proceedings against the beef trust are well founded, they will serve as adequate ground upon which to begin crim inal proceedings. It is to be hoped that Mr. Knox in his enthusiasm over so-called anti-trust legisla tion enacted at the recent session of congress will not entirely overlook the very formidable weapons provided him for a campaign against trusts in the Sherman law. ' A Bit Inconsistent. In his weekly letter, under date of February, 14, Henry Clews, the Wall street bankor, said: "A favorablo factor is the ap-"Antl- proaching adjournment of con- Trust gross on March i and tho pros- Law. PGCt of no radical anti-trust leg islation during this session." Evidently Mr. Clews and other Wall streot men understand that tho trust magnates are not at all alarmed because of .any legislation proposed or pushed through by the republican leaders. "An old Jerseyman" writing to the Now York World, compliments that paper upon tho sug gestion that Grover Cleveland Strong would be a strong candidate for In tho presidency. This Jerseyman Jersev Bays that speaking as an old ' ' citizen .of Now Jersey, he can say that Cleveland "would carry Jersey all right.'' Perhaps that is true. Jersey is a Btato under "whoso laws tho trusts are organized and in that state the trusts are all powerful. New Jersey's affection for Grover Cleveland is only equalled by New Jersey's affection for the trusts. - "Life" throws a bit of humor into the situa tion when it says: "Senator Aldrich's protest against the sacrifice of the man Tho ufacturing and industrial inter Greedy ests of tho country to the greed West of the agricultural interests of tho west' is timely. Congress should keep it over in mind that whereas tho peo ple of the east have mostry had the sentiments of sordid avarice refined out of them, tho people of the west are new yet and pretty hoggish. Wo cannot, as a Christian nation, afford to let any class suffer through being deficient in greed. Senator Hoar recently delivered an address on Washington in which ho urged his hearers to lignt against taxation yvjmuui representation and to oppose the subjugation of a weaker race. He also denounced lust of emntre and connuest by Ameri cans. And yet if one of Mr. Hoar's auditors had asked him iiUmen should refuse to vote tho re publican ticket, it is not at all unlikely that tho Massachusetts senator would have urged men to stand by the republican party in the face of the fact that tho republican party is, in this day, re sponsible 'for all the evils against which Senator Hoar's fine rhetoric is thrown. A striking illustration of one power acquired by tho formation of trusts and one brazenly an nounced in academic essays on The the virtues of such orgahlza- Usual tions is pointed out by the Wmv Pittsburg Post, The Post di- y' rects attention to tho shutting down of the refineries of tho sugar trust at Will iamsburg, N. Y., throwing out 5,000 employes and thus depriving independent families of support, adding: "Tho closing of tho cooper shops, an in cidental sequence, willalmost double tho number of the unemployed- The reason for tho closing is the regulation of production. That Is, to fol low out the process, to maintain prices and secure more profits to enable payment of larger divi dends." JJJ The New York World says that the Rocke feller telegrams were "so peremptory and im perative in their character," that Very they angered republican leaders. Plain Is it not true that Mr. Rocke- Orders. feller and other trust magnates have good reason to believo that they may address "peremptory and impera tive" messages to republican leaders? Does any oho imagine that these trust magnates thought that when they gave enormous sums to tho re publican campaign fund that they were not to re ceive something in return for their generosity and is it not true also that tho very, generous treat ment which republican leaders have accorded trust magnates in the present as well as in the past justifies these magnates in issuing orders without any particular regard for the language inwhich the orders are couched? JJJ The Fremont (Neb.) Tribune, a republican paper, says: "On general principles it may bo set down thaj Rockefeller Is too oily to play such a coarse game as sending telegrams to United States senators warning them not to enact any anti-trust leg islation. If he is going to communicate with them it "Will be a.t "his office in New York orf if in Wash- The Old Method. ington, through some trusted third party. He wouldn't bo scattering telegrams around among his friends to bo 'pulled' on him at tho critical moment" Tho Tribune evidently understands the mothods adopted in tho past by trust magnates In communicating with republican legislators. Thoso methods havo been very successful and it & not at all surprising that a republican paper would ho loath to believe that an experimental plan would bo undertaken. Tho Littlofleld anti-trust bill passed tho house on February 6 without a dlssonting vote. Tho measure is not what tho demo Some crats would have had and yet Hard they regarded it as a step in Blows. tuo right direction and they voted for it. The democrats woro not pormltted to amend tho bill and tho republicans were arraigned by Mr. DoArmond of Missouri bocauso of their disinclination to give tho democrats a chance to offer amendments. In his speech upon .tho measure, Mr. DeArmond pointed out that tho bill under consideration was quito a different measure from that originally in troduced by Mr. Littlofleld. "When tho gentle man from Maine started out," said ho, "ho had blood in his eye and a tomahawk in his hand. But by tho time ho and his colleagues caught up with tho trusts they were smoking tho pipe of peace. Tho sky was clear, and the pickings were to continuo good for tho trusts." Senator Aldrich introduced a bill intended to authorize tho secretary of the treasury to de- . posit government money in na tional banks to bo designated by tho secretary and accept as security therefor, instead or United States bonds, bends of any state in tho Union, bonds of municipalities, or railroad bonds which havo been paying 4 per cent annually for a period of ten years. Tho Washington correspondent of tho Chicago Tribune says that tho government "Is positively suffering from tho results of prosperity," and ho explains that it is to correct this serious difficulty which grows out of too much prosperity that Senator Aldrich introduced his new financial bill. If there Is any such thing as "too much prosperity" Sena tor Aldrich and his associates andthe men whom ho represents may bo depended upon to provide the remedy with accuracy and dispatch. "Too Much Prosperity." "An Object Lesson." The Chicago Record-Herald thinks that tho fact that "tho Mexican silvor dollar current in the Philippines had depreciated to a point practically equivalent to tho lowest reached by American greenbacks during tho civil war," is "an impressivo object lesson on the dangers which this country escaped through the election of 1890." Tho Record-Herald says "by the free, compulsory, and unlimited coinage tho inevitable quantity of this fiat would stagger the strongest of governments." This re publican paper evidently cannot understand that there might be a marked difference in the silver dollar under conditions wherein the United States government was doing everything In Its power to depreciate tho value of silver, discriminating against it at every possible opportunity, and con ditions wherein this discrimination was removed and tho silver metal was given the opportunity to work out its own salvation. Not a Great Victory. Tho Kansas City Journal says that if the preliminary injunction granted by Judge Gross- cup in the beef trust case In Chicago shall in tho final hear ing be made permanent, , "tho government will have won tho greatest victory it has over ac complished under ihe Sherman act and that law will bo shown to be a powerful feature which can bo effectively resorted to at all times for the pur pose of preventing and destroying those criminal and injurious agreements and combinations of capitalists of which tho people complain." It is well known to the people that tho first restrain ing order Issued by Judge Grosscup and the pre liminary injunction havo not had any effect in restraining tho representatives of the beef trust from continuing their conspiracies In restraint of trade. Have we any reason to believe, therefore, that when Judge Grosscup shall make this In junction permanent, It will havo any more effec tive results? The charges made by tho attorneys for the government, upon which charges these in junctions were issued, are sufficient as a basis for a .criminal indictment If the representatives of tho government really desiro to win a great vic tory, why not proceed against the beef trust under tho criminal clause of the Sherman law? '