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The Commoner.
,. VOLUME 7, NUMBER 40
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CURR8NT
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TOPICS W
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JN SIX STATE elections next month governors
are to be chosen in Kentucky, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, Now Jersey and
Hhodo Island. Now York will chooso a legisla
ture and two suprome judges. This legislature
will elect Senator Piatt's' Successor. General
attention is attracted to the municipal campaign
in Clovoland, Ohio, whore tho fight for mayor
is hotwoon Tom L. Johnson and Congressman
Burton, tho latter being strongly backed by tho
Roosovolt and Taft forces.
SENATOR HOPKINS recently made public a
letter in which Mr. Roosevelt compliment
ed tho senator because of hid vote in favor of
Rood Smoot of Idaho, and now, according to
the Cincinnati Enquirer, Senator Smoot returns
favor for favor in this way: "There is no get
ting around the fact that the people of tho state
of Utah are heartily in favor of the renomination
of President Roosevelt. They admire his typo
of man,, and ho has been their hero for a long
time. They believe -In him and his policies. If
ho should consent to become a candidate ho
would undoubtedly be given tho delegation from
the state in tho next republication national convention."
B
.
ISIIOP TUTTLE says that he was misquoted
in tho nowspaper interview recently at
tributed to him. Writing from Richmond, Va.,
to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat the bishop says:
"My attention has just been called to an editorial
in your issue of September 28, concerning the
report of an alleged interview with me at Cleve
land, Ohio, somd days since. I knew of this re
port in other papers, but decided to say nothing.
But I so much value the respect and confidence
of my own peoplo of St. Louis and Missouri that
I do not feel willing to rest under the imputation
of such unwisdom. as the report seems. to jfnsteji.
upon me. Tiie interviewer put aown wnat i am
not say. I said: 'Public clamor is not public
opinion. Just now, the former, to an exaggerat
ed and unreasonable degree, Is dominating the
public press. To secure the latter, which really
governs America, we must wait for the sober
second thought of the American people, which,
I am convinced, means, in the long run and in
tho main, to do justly.' I did not use such a
term as 'this runaway administration.' I . did
not mention the name of Mr. Rockefeller. I
made no. reference whatever to the president or
to the federal government or to the adminls-
ttration."
over to tho Standard Oil company of New Jersey,
to the Standard Oil company of New York and
to various other companies the stocks of sixty
four subsidiary concerns, leaving just twenty
companies in the hands of the trustees. The
stocks of these twenty companies they divided
into parts" equal to the number of trust certifi
cates outstanding, '07, 250. On November 30
and December 31, 1902, a bare majority of the
certificates, to the par value of $49,461,900
were cancelled and a proportionate amount of
tho stocks of the twenty companies distributed
to the persons who surrendered the trust cer
tificates." t i
TT-IE ONLY parties who participated in this dis
tribution were the nine trustees themselves
and a few of their immediate associates. The
list as shown by the books is as follows: John
D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, Henry M.
Flagler, Benjamin Brewster, John D. Archbold,
Henry H. Rogers, Wesley Hunt Tilford, Charles
W. Harkness, Oliver B., Esther J., Walter J.,
Ellen G., Oliver G. and Anna B. Jennings; Emma
B. Auchincloss, O. H. Payne and tho estate of
Charles Pratt. The balance of the stock of all
the companies, which belonged to the public,
,was retained by the trustees. They controlled
the corporation, therefore, in exactly the same
manner as before.
IN AN INTERVIEW at Omaha, Patrick Cudahy
stated, among other things relative to the
present conditions of the meat trade, that meat
is unusually high in price, but the reason for it
is that "everybody wants the choicest cut, and
there are not enough of these to supply the de
mand." Referring to Mr. Cudahy's statement. the
Fort Worth (Texas) Record makes this com-
an imperious exponent of personal and arbitrary
government. While the reports of the actual
occurrence that led to this telegraphic edict are
rather hazy it may be conceded as probable that
something wrong was done. Let us suppose,
for the sake of the argument, that the case is
one fully demanding the imposition of the pen
alty which the president prescribes. Taking
that to be the case it must be recognized that
the law has provided a course of action. The
proper officers have the power to penalize reck
less and improper acts upon investigation. But
that very requirement of investigation precludes
the idea of the penalty being assessed according
to telegraphic order by the chief executive.
Further than that, if the theory of administrative
officers in charge of any regulationcould include
the power of the president to assume their duties
and act as prosecutor, judge and jury, by order
ing both finding and penalty, it would afford
the most convincing argument against any such
system of regulation. President Roosevelt's
sincerity, virility and honesty of purpose have
given him. a hold on -the public affection which
few men have rivaled during their lifetime.
Everyone knows that his good qualities have
received full appreciation in these columns. But
this high tide of public favor affords only the
stronger reason whyhe should be on his guard
against hasty steps which give color to the
charge of substituting personal and arbitrary
power for constitutional -and judicial proceedings."
AT LAST a "good trust" has been discovered.
It is the tobacco trust and in its answer
to the government suit this trust freely admits
its goodness. A writer in the New York World
tells the story in this way: "For instance,' the
tobacco trust, instead of stifling competition', has
.jneiiU JAqir..visexj)Janation tJiajil.Jeo- . maintained it among the companies which it con
nifl onlv wn.nn.hfl best eWof meat and thtfe,afiy2LCompels the conmer to use c
the supply of these is not sufficient for the de
o '
THE PROFITS 'of the Standard Oil trust-in
twenty-five years have been over $800,000,
000 and the dividends declared in that period
have been more than $550,000,000. At no time
since tho organization of the trust in Ohio, in
1882, have John D. Rockefeller's holdings been
less than twenty-six pel' dent. The same men
who controlled the great .organization twenty
five years "ago are in control today. The period
of liquidation between 1892 and 1899 found
these same men in control. They evaded the
mandate of the supreme court of Ohio and, in
stead of dissolving the trust, cemented the con
stituent companies even more firmly than be
fore. ',
POINTING OUT that the above facts and fig
ures were established in the government's
suit at New York the New York World says:
,rJhe missing ledger and transfer books of the
trustees in liquidation have not been secured,
but, from a journal and other records unearthed
from a vault at No. 26 Broadway, Messrs. Kel
logg and Morrison, tho government's counsel, ob-
talned figures and entries, copies of which were
sworn to on the witnoss stand by Clarence G.
Fay, assistant comptroller. Tho sham 'liquida
tion' of 1892-99 was thoroughly exposed by
statements taken from the hooka n? tii nvin-inni
trustees. These showed that on March 21, 1892,
the trustees nretendod to iinniintn tim tf.iaf
by a division of all the stocks of the constituent
companies, pro rata. On April 1, of the same
year, before any division of the stocks hi tho
hands of tho trustees was made, they turned
mand, and therefore the high price, it must
follow that there is an over-supply of the inferior
cuts because of the refusal of the people to buy
them. Under all of the laws of supply and de
mand it should follow that these inferior cuts
should be offered at a much lower price than
they are quoted at present. This, however, is
not the case. The fine old economic law con
corning supply and demand that has been laid
do'u for these many years ought to apply in
tiie latter case if it is a wholesome law as ap
plied to the former case. It is to be regretted
that Mr. Ctfdahy closed his interview before he
had given his explanation for the continued high
prices of the inferior cuts of meat."
o
THIS DISPATCH-from Memphis, Tenn!, ap
peared in the Cincinnati Enquirer: "Ang
ered because the pilot of the steamer Fred Hart
wig, carrying the Pittsburg delegation to the
waterways convention, was constantly playing
for position in the flotilla, President Roosevelt
wired United States Inspector of Hulls Williams,
in Evansville, Ind., today, ordering him to can
cel the license of tho master of the Hartwig- by
wire. The president's telegram read: 'To Su
pervising Inspector of Vessels, Evansville, Ind.:
I direct that the license of the master, or who
ever is responsible for the 'Fred Hartwig' during
the present voyage, be suspended at once for
ninety days. I wish this done by telegraph,
wherever the boat may be, if such procedure is
possible. Colonel Sears can give you the' details
of the misconduct, which has been of a serious
nature and might have at any time caused an
accident to the Mississippi as well as to other
boats. The action of the master of that boat
m'ght have cost my life at any time.' "
T EFERRING TO the dismissal of this pilot
X the Pittsburg Dispatch says: "The tele
gram, from President Roosevelt 'directing' the
immediate suspension of the master of the
steamer Fred Hartwig for .ninety days, and that
it shall be done at once by 'telegraph,, is an ox
ample of tho impulsive outbursts that make his
brand that herefueT,!oDuyr'fIn closing down
small plants" it did not aim at suppressing its
former rivals' products, for it continued to turn
them out in its own factories. It does not pos
sess a monopoly, because some of the tobacco
trust's rivals have survived in the face of its
severe competition. It has not conspired to
lower the price of leaf tobacco to the planter,
because the planter, if he does not get his price,
can grow other crops. It only took over the
retail business when another corporation came
to it for financial aid. Altogether the tobacco
trust on its own showing, is a beneficent insti
tution seeking to do all, the business it can ac
cording to the most profitable methods it can
discover and in spite of the efforts of smaller
competitors."
A"N .OWENSBORO, Ky., dispatch says that
. with McLean county going dry in a local
option election by a majority of 1,055 only nine
teen of tUe 119 counties in Kentucky remain
"wet." On this line a Washington dispatch to
the New York World will be interesting. That
dispatch follows: "A dry Washington looms
before the helpless people of the capitol. Tho
prohibitionists of' the country are girding up
the'ir loins for an assault on congress at the
forthcoming session, to compel it to enact a
statute forbidding the manufacture and sale of
intoxicating liquors in the District of Columbia.
The girding has been going on for a long time,
but the people of Washington have only become
aware of the fact within the last ten days, When
they first heard about it, they just smiled.
Ridiculous, they thought. Further thought
brought the anxious corrugated brow. It was
easy to remember that congress, when the issue
was forced right up against it, had abolished
the canteen and had, driven the saloons out of
the capitol,. The lawmakers had no desire, to
do either. The prohibitionists, however, waved
the big stick and the congressmen meekly
obeyed. A prohibition hill would have been
reported from the committee on. alcoholic liquor
traffic last winter, but for the; firmness of Speak
er Cannoti' who also swung the big stick and
IntimidatedJ the members of. that committee.
judicious friends grieve, and. give his enemies But now. the prohibition (folks, have things in
uuuuuuui, umummuuu Aur representing mm as such shape that the speaker can not hope to
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