The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 3, 1902, Page 4

THE SAN ERANCISCO CALL. CHADHL - Hor> 7HE PR IZIPPINE S Remedy for Trusts Is Plainly Found in Publicity. Tariif Tinkering Is Not e Proper Way at Present. per commit- appended: of Represent- ouse period of prosper ndoubted- a n- may ut we which either Thust com: all that would fol- would play a large fully. FACE FUTURE WITH HOPE AND HIGH OF HEART the sons of the.men of of the men who joice the e high of heart mot the e coward ou and t of hope and of trium- gospe ¢ avor. We truge re us do not shrink from There are many he outset of ve problems at home; butw them and solve we bring graver can solve , founded th of Lincoln, occupied a higher Due of to Economic Forces of the Country. Play in this ry for over izenship won by those n this phe! and most of beer so widely dif fortunes le as a whole better off than they The insurance practi y helpful to men are more a gs bar well paid w now than ever before In our when the conditions that was evil. LIt is at we sheuld en- evil, but let us proportion; let e upon the le; good. The fAxing ¢ et the gre not of misery prosperity—of the nee, bu gress of our gig: pr antic industrial devel- piment. his industrial developme; not be checked, but side by side will diminish the evils. We ur duty if we did not try the evils, but we, shall suc- if we proceed patientiy, with al common sense as well as reso- separating the good from the bad holding on to the voring to get rid of the latter, URGES PROPER REGULATION OF GREAT TRUSTS ¥ message to the present Congress In in; ally mutual | avorgl. some- | t shouid go such progressive regu- | formier “while en- | P for the nation. ing the striking increase of busin Department and the preservatio wess activity throughout the country. n of historic buildings. ESIDENT'S MESSAGE RESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S message to Congress conveys lucidly an idea of the prosperity of the country, and touches particularly upon the )ICCDSSif_\" fu:j tfie reg- ulation of trusts and the imperative requirements of the army and navy. The President uses vigorous language agamnst unlawful monopolics, unjust discrimination and fraudulent overcapitalization which have injured interstate trade, and recommends that Congress pass a reasonable and effective law for the regulation of com- bines. A general reduction of the tariff, he believes, would not bring about the desired result. In reference to anthracite coal, the President urges that it be put on the free list. Interesting comment is made on the isthmian canal project, the progress of negotiations with Colombia, and the advantages which will accrue from the propom'i water- way. The development of the navy is one of the chief desires of the President. He earnestly recommends that there should be no halt in the construction of fighting craft : Of the Philippines he says peace has been permanently ‘restored and he is generous of praise for the achievements of the army in the Orient islands. practical, war-preparatory system in the military service is commended, and there is strong reca_mmeudation of the establishment of a general staff. The needs of 'Alqska are not forgotten, and it is urged that Congress consider a revision of legislation for that Territory. The reports from the Postoffice Department are referred to as indicat- The giving of scientific aid to the farming population has shown good resuits. | merit system in the public service President Roosevelt says much beneficial progress has been made. The message also contains recommendations for cconomy in the Printing Commission of Business Men Should Investigate the Trade Conditions. at its first session I discussed at length the question of the regulation of those Lig corporations commonly doing an in- terstate business, often with some ten- to monopoly, which are popularly n as trusts. The experience of the r has emphasized, in my opinion, dency lamental requfsite of social andard of individual ; but this is in no tion for aims which e achieved by the individual acting A fundamental base of civiliza- the inviolability of property; but se inconsistent with the right of ciety to regulate the exercise of the artificial powers which it confers upon the owners of property, ‘under the name of corporate franchinses, in such 2 way as to prevent the misuse of these potwe Corporations, . and especially combinations of P, corporations should be man aged under public regula- tion. Experi- ence has shown at under our stem of gov-¥ ernment the ssary supervision cannot be obtained State action. It must therefore be ed by national action. Our aim not to do away with corporations; on contrary, these big aggregations are | able development of modern in- trialism, and the effort to destroy | them would be futile unless accomplished in ways that would work the utmost mis- -hief to the entire body politic. We can ing of good in the way of regulat- irg and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we zre not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against miscon- duct, not against wealth. The capitalist alone or in conjunction with his e performs some great industrial feat by which he wins money is a well- , not a wrongdoer, provided only he on proper and legitimate lines. We wish to favor such a man when he does well. We wish to supervise and control his actions only to prevent him doing fll. Publicity corporation; and we need mot be over- about sparing the dishonest cor- * Must Be Handled | to Subserve the Public Good. * w - MUST EXERT CARE NOT TO HURT INDUSTRY | In curbing and regulating the com- binations of capital which are or may pecome injurious to the public, 'we must | be careful not to stop the great enter- | prises which have legitimately reduced | the cost of production, not to abandon the place which our country has; won in, the leadership of the| international Industrial world, mot to strike down wealth with the re- sult of closing factories and mines, of turning the wage-worker idle in the | strects and leaving the farmer without a market for what he grows. Insistence upon the impossible means delay in achieving the’ possible, exactly as, on the other hand, the stubborn defense alike of what is good and what is bad in the existing system, the resolute effort to obstruct any attempt at betterment, be- ays blindness to the historic tyuth that wife evolution is the sure safeguard against revolution. Np more important subject can come before the Congress than this of the | regulation of interstate business. This | country cannot | % 4 afford to sit I supine on the | + Proposed Regula- | plea that un- tion of Inter-| der our pecu- liar system of government we are helpless in the presence of the new condi- tions and unable to grapple with them or to cut out whatever of evil has arigen m connection with them. The power of the Congress to regulate interstate com- merce is | grent and without limitations other than these prescribed by the constitution. The Cengress has constitutional authority to wazke all lJaws necessary and proper for executing this power, and I am satisfied that this power has not been exhausted by any legislation now on the statute books. It is evident, therefore, that evils state Business. * | entailing restraint upon national com- | merce fall within the regulative power | of the Congress, and that a wise and ihe desirability of the steps I then pro- cannot “so | can do no harm to the honest | an absolute and unqualified | restrictive of commercial freedom and | The In the matter of the 2 4 T o THEODORE ROOSEVELT, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. | o reasonable law would be a necessary and proper exercise of Congressional authori- ty to the end that such evils should be | eradicated. 1 believe that monopolies, unjust dis- ‘criminations, which prevent or cripple | competition, fraudulent overcapitaliza- | tion and other evils in trust organiza- | tions and practices which injuriously af- fect interstate trade can be prevented under the power of .Congress to ‘‘regu- late commerce with foreign nations and among the several States” through regu- lations and requirements operating di- rectly upon such commerce, the instru- mentalities thereof and those engaged therein. | I earnestly recommend this subject to | the consideration of ‘the Congress with a | view to the passage of a law reason- able in its provisions and effective in its | operations, upon which the questions can | be finally adjudicated that now raise dcubts as to the necessity of constitu- tional amendment. If it prove .impossible to accomplish the purposes above set forth by such a law, then, assuredly, wa should not shrink from amending the constitution so as to secure beyond per- adventure the power sought. Congress has not heretofore made any | appropriation for the better enforcement | of the anti-trust law as it now. stands. | Very much has been done by the Depart- | ment of Justice in securing the enforce- | mient of this law, but much more could | be done if Congress would make a spe- | clal appropriation for this purpose, to be | expended under the direction of the At- | torney General. 'REDUCTI 'REDUCTION OF . PROPER REMEDY | One proposition advocated has been the reduction of the tariff as a means of rezching the evils of the trusts which fall within the category I have describ- ed. Not merely would this be wholly in- effective, but the diversion of our efforts | In such a direction would mean the aban- donment of -all intelligent attempt to do away with these evils. Many of the largest corporations, many of those which should certainly be included in any proper scheme of regulation, would not be affected in the slightest degree by a change in the tariff, save as such change interfered with the general pros- perity of the cquntry. The only relation of the tariff to big corporations as a Wkole is that the tariff makes manufac- lures profitable, and the tariff remedy proposed would be in effect simply to make manufactures unprofitable. To re- move the tariff as a punitive measure di- rected, against trusts would inevitably re- sult Jn ruin to the weaker competitors who”are struggiing against them. Our aim should be not by unwise tariff changes to give foreign products the ad- vantage over domestic products, but by proper regulation to give domestic com- petition a fair chance; and this end can- not be reached by any tariff changes which would affect unfavorably all do- mestic competitors, good and bad\ alike. The question of regulation of the trusts stands apart from the question of tariff revision. Stability of economic policy must al- ways be the prime economic need of this country. This stability should not be fossilization. # The country Ia ‘hl!!hacl]ulle;ced - 'in the wisdom Dosintry Aognink j of the protec- ces in Protective | tive tariff prin- Tariff Principle | ciple. It is ex- ceedingly un- #————————————x desirable that this system should be destroyed or that there should be violent and radical changes therein. Our past experience shows that great prosperity in this country has ‘always come under a protective tariff; and that the country cannot prosper under fitful tariff changes at short intervals. More- over, if the tariff laws as a whole work well, and if business has prospered under them and is prospering, it is better to endure for a time slight inconveniences and {inequalities in some schedules than to upset business by too quick and too radi- cal changes. It is most earnestly to be wished that we could treat the tariff from the standpoint solely of our busi- ness needs. It is, perhaps, too much to *- Lope that partisanship may be entirely- excluded from. consideration of the sub- + ject, but at_least it can be made sec- ondary to the business interests of the country—that is, to the interests of our pecple as a whole. Unquestionably these business interests will best be served if, together with fixity of principle as re- gards the tariff, we combine a system which will permit us from time to time to make the necessary reapplication of the principle to the shifting national needs. ‘We must take scrupulous care that the reapplication shall be made in sueh a way that it will not amount to a dislo- cation of our system, the mere threat of which (not to speak of the performance) would produce paralysis in the business onergies of the community. The first consideration in making these changes would, of course, be to preserve the principle which underlies our whole tar- iff system—that is the principle of put- ting American business Interests at least on a full equality with interests ahread, and of always allowing a sufficient rate of duty to more than cover the differ ence between the labor cost here and abroad. The well-being of the wage- worker, like the well-being of the tiller of the soil, should be treated as an es- scntial in shaping our whole economic policy. There must never be.any change which will jeopardize the standard of comfort, the standard of wages of the American wage-worke: READJUSTMENT BY TREATIES OF RECIPROCITY One way in which the readjustment sought can be reached is by reciproeity treaties. It is greatly to be desired that such treaties may be adopted. They can be used to widen our markets and to give a greater field for the activities of | our producers on the one hand, and on the other hand to secure in practical shape the lowering of duties when they are no longer needed for protection among our own people, or when the minimum of damage done may be'disregarded for the sake of the maximum of good accom- Riches of Individuals No Large in Comparison to Country’s Resources. 3= plished. If it prove impossible to ratify the pending treaties, and if there seem to be no warrant for the endeavor to ex- ecute others, or to amend the pending ; the same end—to secure reciprocity— should be met by direct legislation. Wherever the tariff conditions are such that a needed change cannot with advan- tage be made — by the applica- tion -of the re- * l One Plan Is for | iprocity idea, 1 ¢ | then it can be a Commission of | "0 outright Business Men. | py 4 lowering of i l duties on a giv- * *en product. If Dossible, such change should be made only after the fullest consideration by practical experts, who should approach the subject from a business standpoint, having in view both the particular interests affected and the commercial well-being of the people as a whole. The machinery for providing such careful investigation can readily be supplied. The executive department has already at its disposal methods of collect- ing facts and figures; and if the Congress desires additional consideration to that which will be given the subject by -its business experts can be appointed whose duty it should be to recommend action by the Congress after a deliberate and scientific’ examination of * the various schedules as they are affected by the changed and changing conditions. The unhurried and unbiased report of this commission would show what changes and how far these changes could go with- out also changing the great prosperity which this country isinow enjoying, or upsetting its fixed economic policy. The cases. in which the tariff can pro- duce a monopoly are so few as to con- stitute an inconsiderable factor in the question; but of course if in any case it be found that a given rate of duty does promote a monopoly which works ill, no “protectionist would object to such reduc- tion of the duty as would equalize com- petition. In my judgment, the tariff on anthra- gite coal should be removed, and anthra- cite put actually, where it now is nomi- nally, on the free list. This would have no effect at all save in crises; but in PRATER WOULD NOT BE RIGHT TO THE BIG FINANCIERS Interest rates are a potent factor in | business activity, and in order that these rates may be equalized to meet the vary- ing needs of the seasons and of widely separated communities, and to prevent the recurrence- of financial stringencies which injuriously affect legitimate business, it is necegsary that there should be an ele. ment of elasticity in our monetary sy | commerce, and upon them should be placed, as far as practicable, the burden of furnishing and maintaining a circula- tion adequate to supply the needs of our diversified industries and of our domestic and foreign commerce; and the issue of this should be so regulated ‘that a suffi- cient supply should be always available for the business interests of the country. It would be both unwise and unneces- sary at this time to attempt to recon- struet our finan- clal system, which has been All Kinds Money | the srowth of Should Be Made | & century: but Some additional Intercaangeable | jegisiation is, I _! think, desirable. T T e kNS - mere dut- line of.any plan sufficiently comprehensive to meet these requirements would transgress the appro- priate limits of this communication. It is suggested, however, that all future leg- islation on the subject should be with the view of encouraging the use of sich instrumentalities as will automatically supply - every legitimate demand of pro- ductive industries and of commerce, not only in the amount, but in the character of circulation: and of making all kinds | of money interchangeable and, at the will | of the holder, convertible into the estab- lished gold standard. | I again call your attention to the need of passing a proper immigration 1aw, cov- ering the pdints outlined in my message 10 you at the first session of the present — treaties so that they can be ratified, then | own committees, then a commission of | should be made in the various schedules, | crises it might be of service tothe people. | tem. Banks are the natural servants of | | it is a constant tendency Protection Alike Is Sought for Labor and Capital. Would Check Only What Is Bad in Vast Com- binations. . —_—-r e ————l Congress; substantially such a bill has already passed the House. FAIR ALIKE FOR LABOR AND FOR CAPITAL How to secure fair treatment alike for labor and for capital, how to hold in | check the unscrupulous man, whether em- ployer or employe, without weakening in- dividual initiative, without hampering and cramping the industrial development of the country, is a problem fraught with great difficulties and one which it is of the highest importance to solye on lines of sanity and far-sighted common sense as well as of devotion to the right. This is an era of federation and combination. Exactly as business men find they must often work through corporations, and as of these corpor- ations to grow x larger, so it is | often necessary That Is Bad | for laboring men i Al%h i d Be - | to work in: fed- oudl o |, r ations; - gnd Posed. these have be- come important ¥ * factors of' mod- ern 1ndustrial Hfe. Both kinds of federation, capitalistic and labor, can do much good, and as a necedsary corollary they can both do evil. Opposition to each kind of organization should take the form of oppositien "to whatever is bad in the conduct of any given corporation or union—not of at- tacks upon corporations as such nor upon unions as, such; for some of the most far-reaching beneficent work for our peo- ple has been accomplished throuygh both corporations and unions. Each must re- frain from arbitrary or tyrannous inter- ference with the rights of others. - Organ- . ized capital and- oganized labor -alike should remember that in the long run the interest of each must be brought @to harmony with the interest of the general public; and the conduct of each' muist conform to the fundamental rules of obe- dience to the law, of individual'freédom, and of justice and fair dealing toward all. Each should remember that in addition to power it must strive after the realiza- tion of'healthy, lofty and generous ideals. Every empléyer, every wage-worker, must be guaranteed his liberty and his right to do as he likes with his property or his labor so long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others. It is of the highest | importance that employer and employe alike should endeavor to appreciate each the viewpoint of the other and the sure® disaster that will come upon both in the long run if either grows to take as Ia- bitual an attitude of sour hestility and distrust toward the other. Few people deserve better of the country than theose representativas both of capital and labor —and there are many such—who work continually to bring about a good under- standing of this kind, based upon wis- dom and upon broad and kindjy sympathy between employers and emplayed. Above all, we need to remember , that any kind of class animosity in the . political world is, if possible, even more wicked, even more ,de- structive to national welfare, than sec- tional, race or religious animosity. We can get good government only upom con- dition that we keep true to the principles upon which this nation was founded; ‘and judge each man not as a part of'a class, but upon his individual merits. = All that we have a right to ask of any rhan, rich or poor, whatever his creed, 'his occupa- tion, his birthplace or his residence, is that he shall act well and honorably by his neighbor and by his country. We are neither for the rich man as such nor for the poor man as such; we are for the upright man, rich or poor. Se far as the constitutional powers of the National Government touch these matters of gen- eral and vital moment to the nation, they should be exercised in conformity with | the principles above set forth. FOR SECRETARY . OF COMMERCE INTHE CABINET It is earnestly hoped that a Secretary of Commerce may be created, with a seat in the Cabinet. ‘The rapid multi- rlication of questions affecting labor and capital, the growth and complexity of the organizations through which both labor and capital now find expression, | the steady tendemcy toward the employ- | ment of capital in huge corporations and l | the wonderful strides of this country toward leadership in the International Lusiness world justify an urgent demand | for the creation of such a position. Sub- stantially all the leading comme; bodies in this country have united inrc::) questing its creation. It is desirable that some such measure as that which has already passed the Senate be enacted into law. The creation of such a department would in itself be an advance toward Continued on Page 5, Columa 1.