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JTIIiY 20, 190G
The Commoner.
1 " T."WNVfSWiyS,w'ff'" lAW"
Secretary Taft and Some "Suggested Remedies"
In his speech at Greensboro, N. C, Secretary
of War Taft said: "I ask you, to compare demo
cratic promises with republican actions. It may
bo noted that while Mr. Bryan has been most
emphatic and eloquent in his description and
'denunciation of trusts and abuses of corporations
and wealth, his suggested remedies for their
prompt suppression have been very vague, unless,
indeed, his proposal that the government buy or
condemn all interstate railways with their im
mense mileage" and maintain and operate them
is to be regarded as an immediate, ready, prac
tical and feasible remedy." N
When it is recalled that the Roosevelt ad
ministration has, in its proceedings against the
trusts, adopted suggestions long ago and repeat
edly made by democrats these "suggested reme
dies" being explicit rather than vague demo
crats may be pardoned if, in the light of Secre
tary Taft's big claim, they recall that story of
the bank cashier in a western city. He had
wrecked the bank, and felt "extremely sorry" for
the unfortunate situation of his victims.
A meeting of the bank directory was held
for the purpose of devising means of saving
something from the wreck.
The bank wrecker addressed the gathering,
and said: "Gentlemen, I am indeed very sorry
for you. You don't know how sorry I am. If
It would do you any good, P would bo willing
to have my body cut up into little .pieces and
distributed among you."
One of the directors was a very deaf man,
and he leaned over to a colleague who sat beside
him, and asked: "What did ho say he would
do?"
His colleague replied: "He said if it would
do any good, he would have his body cut up into
little pieces and distributed among us."
The deaf director leaned back in his chair,
heaved a sigh, and said: "Well, if that is done,
I speak for the gall."
Didn't Secretary Taft really overlook some
thing when ho said that with the exception of
the government ownership plan, Mr. Bryan's sug
geste4 remedies were "very vague?"
The Kansas City platform suggested:
First Publicity as. to affairs of corporations
engaged in interstate commerce.
Second Requiring all corporations that have
been doing business outside of the state of their
origin to show that they had no water in their
THE PRIMARY PLEDGE
As this copy of The Commoner may be read
by some one not familiar with the details of the
primary pledge plan, it is necessary to say that
according to the terms of this plan every demo
crat is asked to pledge himself to attend all of
the primaries of his party to be held between
now and the next democratic national convention,
unless unavoidably prevented, and to secure a
clear, honest and straight-forward declaration of
the party's position on every question upon which
the voters of the party desire to speak. Those
desiring to be enrolled can either write to The
Commoner approving the object of the organiza
tion and asking to have their names entered on
the roll, or they can fill out and mail the blank
pledge, which is printed on page 15.
Extracts from letters to The Commoner fol
low: William Englebrecht, Scribner, Nebr. En
closed I send you list of twenty-six primary pledge
signers. These are good and fair democrats.
This is the best I can do as I am busy with my
farm work. All the signatures are farmers and
land owners except two, who are merchants.
P. H. O'Brien, Laurium, Mich. I herewith
enclose primary pledge. "I believe the democratic
party has the greatest opportunity it has ever
had during its great historic career. Every prin
ciple'for which Mr. Bryan has so consistently and
valiantly contended has been amply vindicated
by the course of events. I firmly believe that the
'American people are ready to render their ver
dict and are only awaiting an opportunity at the
polls to endorse democratic policies. The con
viction is growing that Mr. Bryan was not hon
estly defeated in 1896.
G. W. Robles; Tampa -,Fla. Herewith find
twenty primary pledge signatures.
John C. Jones, Kanorado, Kan.- Herewith
enclosed find primary pledge, which I have had
the pleasure of. signing. I do not believe the
people of the United States can be bought and
talked out of voting to their best interests in
stock and that they have not attempted and aro
not attempting to monopolize any branch of
business or production of any articlo of mer
chandise. ThirdThe exercise of the whole constitu
tional power of congress over interstate com
merce, mails and all modos of interstate com
munication.
FourthThe enactment of tariff laws putting
the product of the trusts upon the free list to
prevent monopoly under the plea of protection.
For years Mr. Bryan has pleaded in public
speech and through The Commoner for the en
forcement of the criminal clause of the Sherman
anti-trust law.
During his first term in congress, lie intro
duced a bill giving to the president the authority
to remove the tariff from any article which was
tho product of trust agreement whenever such
fact should be established in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
There is nothing vague about any of these
remedies.
The Roosevelt administration has in an all
too feeble way, it must be admitted undertaken
to adopt the suggestion with respect to the crim
inal clause of tho Sherman law. But no effort
on this line was made until recently and the
effort that was made in that direction was ren
dered impotent by the "immunity bath" given
to the packers by Mr. Roosevelt's commissioner
of corporations.
The Roosevelt administration is also on rec
ord as endorsing the suggestion with respect to
the federal license before a corporation may do
business outside of the Btate of its origin, although
that remedy has not been provided for by law.
The suggestion concerning the use of tho
mails is not at all vague. Indeed, that remedy
has been found to be very effective whenever the
administration has employed it with respect to
other violations. Men who conspire -in restraint
of trade and persistently defy the laws of tho
land have no right to use the "United States mails
ic the furtherance of their lawless business.
Neither is Mr. Bryan's proposition that trust
products be placed upon the free list in order to
prevent monopoly under the plea of protection, at
all "vague." This is one of tho strongest weapons
to be used in attacking the truBts, yet Mr. Roose
velt and his lieutenants, although professing a
desire to destroy monopoly, have given their
encouragement to tho standpatters, who insist
that the tariff privileges onjoyed by tho trusts
be not interfered with.
Mr. Bryan also suggested the amendment of
tho Sherman auti-truBt law so as to make It a
criminal offense for one porson or group of persons
-to attempt to monopolize any product whother
the persons are connected with several separate
corporations or are stockholders or directors
in a single corporation. Tills suggestion wno
made because It Is always difficult to provo con
spiracy, and it would he particularly difficult to
provo it when the persons charged with con
splracy aro directors or one corporation.
He further advised the abolition of railroad
rebates and discriminations and the enlargement
of tho powers of the interstate commerce law, In
order that tho public might be protected from
these discriminations and tho trust system at
tacked in that direction.
He suggested, In order to determine what con
, stitutes a monopoly, a law to fix tho proportion
of the product which could be controlled by one
man or set of men, this law to declare that tho
control of more than a stated per cent would
prevent the granting of the federal license, or
forfeit a license already granted, to glvo the cor
poration tho privilege of doing business outside
the state of its origin.
In his articlo printed last year In "Public
Opinion," Mr. Bryan said: "Corporations are
creatures of law and congress hns power to con
trol corporations engaged In Interstate com
merce. If congress can prohibit the carrying of
a lottery ticket cither by mail or express, when
both the vendor and tho vendee want tho ticket
transported, it can certainly prevent tho use of
tho mails, the telegraph lines, and tho railroads
for transportation of the merchandise of a cor
poration when tho purpose of that corporation
is to destroy competition and harm tho public.
A private monopoly has always been an outlaw,
and it requires a stretch of tho imagination to
suppose that the supreme court would so con
strue the constitution as to protect a corporation
in tho doing of a thing regarded through all his
tory as unlawful."
If Secretary Taft would read the articlo re
ferred to as printed in "Public Opinion," he would
learn that Mr. Bryan's "suggested remedies" for
the suppression of trusts, instead of being "vague"
have been clear and explicit.
1908 as they were in 189G and 1900. I believe
the awakening that is now on arating tho people
of several states, will not abate until the wholo
United States have been largely, if not wholly,
cleansed from present ills in our government. I
do not see how even the most party prejudiced
voter in the republican party, after noting the
great amount of fraudulent work done by the re
publicans in 1896 and 1900 which has been
brought to light in the past few months, could
again swallow the false statements of the repub
lican orators. I praise Mr. Roosevelt for his
attempt to carry out certain planks as sot forth
in the democratic platform of 1896 and 1900, but
you can not expect a horse to work well in
harness that does not fit. Put them on the horse
they were made for and fit and see if they do
not work better.
IN ABSOLUTE CONTROL BUT NO RELIEF
. .Every American citizen, whatever his present
day party affiliations may be, should give thought
ful consideration to the reminder set forth in one
plank of the platform recently adopted by the
Indiana democrats. That plank follows:
"For nearly ten years the republican party
has been in absolute control in all departments
in the national government, with power to change
unjust conditions and to rectify evils. Yet during
that time colossal combinations of capital have
dominated tho people and have stifled competi
tion and unfairly limited the opportunity of the
individual citizen. Wealth thereby illegally ob
tained has been unsparingly used to control legis
lation and corrupt elections. No honest effort has
been made or is being made by republican legisla
tion to cure or eradicate these evils. We de
nounce the ' hypocrisy of tho republican party,
which, while pretending to legislate against these
conditions, deals only with the symptoms and
not with the disease. The unfair, tyrannical feat
ures of the so-called 'protective tariff' have made
those things possible, and no permanent relief
can be secured until its obnoxious features are
removed. We demand that this bo done by a
tariff for revenue only. Tho growth of tho trusts
and other inordinate and dangerous combinations
of capital, the 'tremendous and rapidly increas
ing absorption and centralization of the wealth
of tho country in the hands of a chosen few, all
due to premeditated and systematic legislation
in behalf of special interests by the republican
party, demand a change in the policies Imposed
upon tho country by that party and make the
passage of restrictive laws an imperative ne
cessity." JJJ
THE UNFOOLABLE YOU
When Vou've settled down at night, ,
Locked your door, put out tho light,
When you've shut tho world from out your little
room;
When you've stopped your daily work
At the coming of the mirk,
Then you're face to face wi'th truth, amid tho
gloom.
For there's no one there to fool,
And your judgment dares be cool,
While the thoughts you face aro merciless and
true;
You may hoax the world, my boy,
With the tactics you employ,
But you've not succeeded yet in fooling you;
h-
In the daily grist of toil,
In the treadmill and the moil,
In vicissitudes of traffic, you are wont
To bfl temnted to cajole.
Coaxed to jjeapardize your soul
Life is battle; we must smile and bear the brunt.
But at night when all is still,
When the tension's off your will,
Comes the truth that must bo recognized a3 true,
You can fool some people, boy,
With-the methods men employ,
But you'll never find it easy fooling you.
Chicagp News.
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