Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1902 — TRUSTS AND TARIFF. [ARTICLE]

TRUSTS AND TARIFF.

lilMiileat Roosevelt Sava Curb the Oae And Let the Other Alone. “Curb the evils of the trusts and let the tariff alone for the present,” is a fair summary of the President’s recommendations to Congress upon those subjects. “The question of the regulation of the trustiT’ Tie observes, “stands apart from the question of tariff revision.” The President docs not believe that the tariff should be the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. “Stability of economic poliey,”he remarks, “must always be the prime economic, need. This stability should not be fossilization.”- 1 The principle of protection is approved by the country. That principle needs to be reapplied at times to meet shifting business needs. But changes should be made with caution, without partisaushlp, and with au eye single to business Interests. “There must never be any change,” the President concludes, “which will jeopardize the standard of comfort of the American wage-worker.” The evils of trusts cannot be curbed by tinkering with the tariff. “The only relation of the tariff to big corporations,” as the President rightly says,“is that the tariff makes manufactures profitable. The tariff remedy would be simply to make manufactures unprofitable. To remove the tariff as a punitive measure against trusts would inevitably ruin the weaker competitors struggling against them.” To take the tariff off trust-made would, in fact, not weaken but strengthen the trusts, by destroying the Independent producers which the tariff enables to live.

Hence It is necessary to seek for remedies for trust evils elsewhere than in tariff changes. In laws that will compel publicity in corporation management the President sees the first and readiest means of abating trust evils. These evils he classes in general teyms as “monopolies, unjust discriminations, fraudulent overcapitalization.” Publicity would certainly fetop overcapitalization. It would greatly check discrimination. It would tend to prevent monopoly by preventing the practices by which monopoly is built up and maintained. The President believes that Congress has power, without a constitutional amendment, at least to euforce publicity upon all corporations doing an Interstate business. Nor would the enforcement of publicity Injure any one who ought not to be Injured. “Publicity,” as the President says, “can do no barm to the honest corporation. We need not be overtender about sparing the dishonest corporation.” “We can do nothing of good,” says the President, in defining liis attitude toward trusts, “in the way of regulating these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away With ahy evil in them. We are not hostile to them. We are merely determined that they shall be so hatfdled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth.” Such is the firm, resolute, progressive, and yet conservative spirit in which Theodore Roosevelt approaches jhe problem of the trusts. Such is the spirit in which he advises Congress to act. Such is the spirit iu which the Republican majority in Congress must act if the party is to deserve and preserve the confidence of the American people. For the spirit of Theodore ©oosevelt is the spirit of the American people.—Chicago Inter Ocean.