OCTOBER 26, 1905
S6 Nobrasktx Independent
PAGE 3
tioii of this pernicious system. The .people of Nebraska by electing
him to the supreme court as Judge Holcomb's successor will make
a good start in the irrepressible conflict between popular rule and
railway tyranny. They cannot begin too early, but they may delay
until it is too late. If they would free Nebraska from railway and
Standard Oil bribery they should reject the deceits of veteran pass
holders and obtain a "square' deal'! by restoring the state govern
ment to a basis of political-purity and personal honesty.
WHERE THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FAILS
The Structural Steel association met day before yesterday in New Tork
city to consider the advisability of advancing prices. After lively db
cussion it was decided to make no change. If a majority of the members
had fav el an increase the cost of construction ota . -tural
steel is used would have been Increased throughout the United States
A few men meeting in New York can arbitrarily raise or lower the
cost The other day notice was sent out that there was to be a
Wing of the steel plate pool at Pittsburg to consider the expediency
oTratefng prices. The steel rail pool has its meetings. So . have other as
sociations which control the manufacture and the price of various . iron and
Seel products. There is no secrecy about the meetings or the act on taken
at them. The consumers .are promptly notified of changes hvpr Ice The
various branches of the iron and steel industry controlled b combhics
which do not shun publicity, and whose existence is a m atter of
knowledge. The anti-trust law has no terrors for the steel pools and asso
.SSSr Each of them has established a profitaMe monopoly and ?wMot
relinquish it until forced to do so by the courts. Thero la ano tner
trust which calls for action by the Department of Justice. That is the
anthracite coal trust. It has been in existence for years, but has never
bito.S? The combine is perfecting monopoly O' e other -day
the Lehigh Valley railroad absorbed the firm. of toxe Bros & Co ana
the Central Railroad of New Jersey is negotiating to'fZ
Navigation company's mines, railroads, and canals The firm of ! Coxe Bros,
was the largest of the independent producers of coal. When all tnose pro
ducen shalf have been absorbed the monopoly of the coal roads will be
complete The more compact and stronger the coal trust becomes the
more exacting will it be. Chicago Tribune. . i.
For fifteen years the Sherman anti-trust law has been on the .
statute books. In all that time, as The Independent recently 'pointed, ?
out, only one man has suffered the prison penalty. , lene V. ,I)obsr :
labor leader and socialist, served a sentence in the Illinois peniten
tiary for violating the provisions of a1 law which is commonly de-;i
' scribed as an "anti-trust law." ; ' : '
' There is an irony in that prison sentence inflicted upon the
unfortunate Debs which should appeal to those who constitute our
Department of Justice if they still believe in the reign of law, m
equal and exact justice to all and -in special privileges .to none.
In the Debs case the combination in restraint of interstate com
merce was not incorporated. There was no question of a trust. It
was merely a question conspiracy -between certain .individual,
to interfere with interstate commerce.-. Had a trust been involved
had a 'trust magnate been brought to bar, no prison sentence would !
have been' inflicted. The proof is to be found: in the recent history
of the beef'. trust prosecution. An-agent -of the packing firm ot
Schwarzschild and Sulzberger pleaded guilty to tho charge so--licitm"
rebates from railway companies. He was required by the
court to pay a fine, but the prison penalty was not imposed because
the convicted man pleaded ill health and asked for mercy. If Debs
had pleaded ill health and had asked for-mercy, would he have es
caped the penitentiary I In the light of history lot those who read,
these lines judge for themselves.
In the foregoing instances of conspiracy m restraint of trade
cited by the Chicago Tribune the proofs are ready 'at hand for the
Department of Justice. Those who attended the meetings and con
spired to. fix prices are a thousand times more guilty in the eyes
of the law than tho labor leader who, while conducting a strike, per
formed acts in violation of a law which he did not dream could ever
be used to convict him of a crimefor it was an anti-trust law, the
celebrated Sherman anti-trust law that should U) a terror to trust
criminals but seems to be a rack upon which to rend the welt-meaning
workman. " . ,
Under the Sherman anti-trust law as it has been delined by the
courts, it is an offense punishable with a year in jail and a fine of
$5,000, either or both :
1 To make any contract of any kind to restrain trade among
tho states or with foreign nations.
L To make any combination of any kind to retrain interstate
trade.
;l. To monopolize or to attempt to monopolize intestate trade
in whole or tu par! m any article, without eoiuhiuiug fr that pur
ine. 1, To combine with other- in any way to monopolize any part
cf interstate commerce.
The law U sound, but remain iiin.K-uoiw UeatHo it ha not l-een
enforced by the Department of Justice. The conduct of the beef
trust prosecution indicates that the government is lax in the en
forcement of the law even when a defendant pleads guilty. -
Every little while wo see it reported in the press that the gov
eminent is "going after" such and such a trust next. Hero again
is revealed dereliction upon the part of the Department of Justice.
Apparently the government can handle only one case at a time.
There a re 'hundreds of trusts in the country openly violating the law
every day in the year,' but the Departmentof Justice pursues ih
even tenor of its way, as though it had all eternity in which to se
cure fair play for the present generation. ;
WHAT OF WEAKLINGS AND LAGGARDS?
So often has President Kooscvelt reiterated his opinion of weak
lings and laggards that it is familiar to all AineHcans. Speaking
on W subject of the Panama canal the other day the president said.
"Ami iust the same thing is true in, any great enterprise m
civil life; there are always weaklings who get trampled down or
lose heart, and there are always .people who listen to their com-
plaints. , . .
This is characteristically llooseveltian. Some strong men pity
the weak and laggard while others despises the
class President lioosevelt seeuls to belong. Ill antipathy toward
the weakling is as characteristic of Roosevelt as pity for the weak is
characteristic of Mr. -Bryan or Mr. Watson.
By the weak is not meant the poor,. but those wiio arc iam,
of heart or lacking in will power and those who are vicious, reward
such men some show great charity, others only contempt. And ye
the Christian is enjoined not only to give alms to the poor, but
even to visit those who are in prison. Chanty should be the meed
of all who suffer on this round globe. - r t
The man who is born to a rich estate, who never knows what
it is to live from hand to mouth, nor what it is to fear for the
future, 4s apt to feel contempt for the weak man who cannot meet
all the ills of life with a heart brave for contention and triumph.
The strong of this world too easily condemn and despise ho weak;
too infrequent!? do they heed the complaints of the weaklings and
l-.owards.5 If they were more charitable toward the weaknesses ot
fife' . ' . .1 1 . i ... il. -P. .11 ifiAnijiirri
lO UO IUlUlVo tiJKi ,,v-.C)- 0
be much less numerous than they arc today.
BOYCOTT AS RAILWAY WEAPON
y In Tom WorrallVbook on' the grain trust he makes' it (dear
that the railways interfered to support the Nebraska Gram Dealers
association in contests with independent dealers A railway agent
was summoned to reenforce the trust whenever the battle grew hot
and the independent dealer thought he saw a chance totnumph.
Then the railway Mepltistopheles coolly informed the independent
dealer that unless he consented to enter the trust and abide by its
rules to stifle competition his elevator would be moved off the right-ot-
This is a fair example of the favoritism shown powerful in
terests by the railways. It is, however, a species of wrong-domg
that a good law could cope with most effectively. It is doubtlul
whether anv law now on the statute books covers such acts of in
timidation If not, the legislature should enact a law that would
make the offense a felony, Any railway agent or official, who, by
word of mouth or by any writing, should utter threats designed to
intimidate a business man in tho conduct of his business, could then
'be sent to prison. This would have a tendency to prevent agents of
corporations from using the boycott means to aid trusts or cor
porations. In denouncing "Bryanism and anarchy" Secretary Taft is evi
dently bidding for the presidential nomination on the old platform
f barrel and boodle which won such notable triumph in three cam
paigns Senator Dollivcr bays the campus at the University of Chicago
"smells of nil.'' Were he to visit the eampiH of the Nebraska uni-ver-dtv
ho would detect a similar odor ami irV crude oil at that.
President Roosevelt is quick to use the ''big utick on the
Sveak ami laggard " but is very cautious aUait the way ii which
Ise wh hU it against the railways and corporations
Judge I.ctton jould surrender the tainted transportation. ,
