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menace. You can see by the reports of the Stanley committee and of the Pujo committee to what extent such combinations are in effect to-day. Is it not better for you to join with us in curing while we can rather than to wait until the patient is dead and the people of our common country are industrial slaves?

NEED OF A TRADE COMMISSION.

In his recommendations in the message of last January President Wilson suggested the formation of a commission as an instrument of information and publicity and as a means of securing and disseminating the knowledge needed to correct evils in the business life of the Nation.

Such a commission is provided for in House bill 15613. The bill proposed lodges in this commission the authority now vested in the Bureau of Corporations, but at the same time it gives to this commission new powers, the need of which have been proved by experience. To a large extent this commission will have independent power and authority, and the bill removes entirely from the control of the President and the Secretary of Commerce the investigations conducted and the information secured. Hereafter this commission will have power to make investigations on its own initiative and make public such information as it deems best.

An abstract of the annual and special reports of each corporation, which reports are made obligatory by this legislation, must be made public by this commission. The faithful observance of such requirement can not but have a salutary effect. It gives to the investor an authentic guide as to the condition of corporations; shows to the public the physical condition, earning capacity, and expenses of all such corporations, and with this information available there is a protection given which can not help but be an important factor in eliminating unnecessary loss.

Speaking of the laws governing trusts, on January 1, 1896, Attorney General Harmon said:

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If the Department of Justice is expected to consider investigations of alleged violations of the present law or of the law as it may be amended, it must be provided with a liberal appropriation and a force properly selected and organized. But I respectfully submit that the general policy which has hitherto been pursued of confining this department very closely to court work is a wise one, and that the duty of detecting offenses and furnishing evidence thereof should be committed to some other department or bureau.

In this legislation we are striving to act upon the suggestion and recommendation made by Attorney General Harmon more than 18 years ago. Since that time we have had three Republican Presidents, and for 14 of these years the Republicans have had absolute control of all branches of the Government, but it remained until the time when the Democrats secured full control before any attempt was made to provide constructive legislation to secure the things needed to make antitrust legislation effective.

It has been during the period from 1896 to 1910 that the trusts came to be a real force to reckon with in the United States. Under Republican rule they have waxed fat and have been encouraged by the party in power. They were looked to to finance Republican campaigns, were potent factors in fastening high protection upon us, and through their union with the

banks and the insurance companies of the United States they have been able to hold all legitimate business of the country at their mercy. To-day it is claimed that 50 men in the United States control 40 per cent of the wealth of the country. Such a condition of affairs is intolerable. It is a menace to the well-being of every man, woman, and child in the country. We clipped away part of the power of these combinations when we revised the tariff and put the industries of the Nation on a competitive basis; we further emancipated the people when we enacted currency legislation and took away from the trusts the opportunity to manipulate the earnings of the people for their own advantage and for the undoing of the real owners of the deposits. Now we have the opportunity, by the enactment of House bills 15613, 15657, and 16133, to remove the last of the obstacles which remain to prevent competition; and when we do this we will have kept our promises to the American people and made possible the return of an era in which there will be a fair field and no favors for either the big or the little fellow-a field on which special privilege will not be allowed to trespass.

THE DEMOCRATIC WAY.

Some there are who do not believe that we go far enough in the powers which we delegate to the proposed trade commission in the bill introduced. If they had their way, they tell us that they would insist upon clothing this commission with judicial powers the power to not only hunt up evidence, but also the power to try, condemn, and inflict punishment.

It is somewhat strange, but in nearly every case we find that such suggestions and denunciations of the measure reported comes from those who are or have been affiliated with the party which was in power for 16 years, and who in all that time witnessed the rapid and steady increase of the pernicious practices complained of without making one effort to put an end to them. For my part I am convinced that a danger even greater than that which we seek to guard against would menace the American people if we were to place in the hands of this commission the powers demanded. It would mean a centralization of authority such as this country has never seen. It would put into the hands of a few men power to hold up the industries of the country, and in the hands of the wrong men it could be used to hold in office any party in power which might be base enough to use the machinery provided.

Here we give to this commission ample power to investigate on its own authority or on request of the Government. It has the right to go into the accounts, business, and all activities of the combinations under its control, and when illegal acts are discovered then the Department of Justice is furnished the material on which to base action, and it would be compelled to take action on the behest of this commission or else be discredited before the country.

That surely furnishes ample power for the protection of the American people, while at the same time it safeguards the rights of legitimate business and protects it from the attacks of any partisan commission. It is the Democratic way. Out of power, we denounced centralization and fought every effort made to clothe bureaus or commissions with authority

which could be used for partisan advantage. In power, we are consistent and we refuse to permit of a centralization of power which might inure to our advantage. It is our aim to protect legitimate business, not to harass it; to provide the means to run down illegitimate practices and to root them out. Under the authority granted by this legislation we have the power to gain the ends desired by our people. Anything less would be unsatisfactory; anything more would be dangerous.

WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE.

The Democratic Party has no quarrel with legitimate business, and never has had. The message of President Wilson in January was one of reassurance, and in that spirit it was accepted by the world of business. He voiced the opinion of the American people that competition must be restored; that indefensible methods had been employed by the combinations known as trusts, and that legislation was needed in order to safeguard the American people, as a whole, and the business of the Nation, little as well as big. The necessity for such legislation has been admitted by the platforms of all political parties. We were agreed as to the existing evils which required remedying; we disagreed only as to remedies. The President pointed out the things which, in his opinion, needed our attention, and the responses from all sources showed remarkable accord with his views. The plain citizen favored legislation suggested because he looked to see it put an end to practices which he had denounced; the small manufacturer and business man indorsed the message, for it gave to him hope for the future, and while the men who had profited by the evils complained of could not be expected to grow enthusiastic over prospective legislation which would do away with their illegitimate gains, nevertheless they realized that the American people, long sorely tried, would not be content under further oppression.

It is in the spirit breathed by President Wilson that our committees have acted in preparing and presenting the bills before us. It is in that spirit that we, as Democrats, are considering the legislation. We have no quarrel with wealth honestly acquired, nor with profits legitimately secured. But we would be faithless as Representatives did we not demand that a stop shall be put to monopoly and that no business shall be so big that it shall be greater than our laws or superior to our control. Equal rights and equal privileges we are prepared to grant to all. To give less would mean that we are false to the teachings of the founders of our party; to give more would mean that we are embarking in a policy of giving special privileges from which we hoped to derive partisan advantage. Within our confines we have a market for the products of most of our American industries. By tariff legislation we have paved the way for the opening up of new markets which will give opportunities for the expansion of our industries. By currency legislation we provide for the legitimate circulation of money along natural lines; for the aiding of our foreign trade by means of branch banks abroad and by means of bank acceptances. Out of this legislation is bound to come vast benefit to American industries, and in the resulting benefit all of our people will share. Now, we lay down the command that busi

ness must be conducted fairly, legally, and in the open. The legitimate business man will welcome legislation which so provides, and with the illegitimate we can not afford to compromise. Our duty is to act equitably and in the best interests of our constituents. That I believe we are doing in supporting these measures, and with their enactment will result the fulfillment of three of our most important pledges to the people-revision of the tariff, reform of the currency system, and the elimination of trust evils. It is a wonderful program of legislation to be compressed within two years, and if we accomplish it, it will be because we have an administration which kept the faith and a Congress which has recognized but one master-the American people.

A WORTHY LEADER,

President Wilson has pointed out the road on which we are traveling to-day-the road to the new freedom. Keen in intellect, strong in his faith in the American people, and swayed only by an honest desire to be an instrument of service, his evident sincerity and honesty of purpose has broken down opposition and won for him a niche in the affections of all who admire honesty, courage, and truth. He realizes better than any man in modern public life the value of the victories of peace, and while he is militant in battling for the right, yet ever are his weapons those of light and truth. As I contemplate his career since he came into the arena of politics; as I analyze his career as governor of New Jersey and as President of the United States and note the patience, faith, and sublime courage always in evidence, there comes to my mind a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, the lines of the last two verses of which well serve as a portrait of the man. They run:

The truths ye urge are borne abroad
By every wind and tide;

The voice of nature and of God
Speaks out upon your side.

The weapons which your hands have forged
Are those which heaven have wrought-
Light, truth, and love; your battle ground
The free, broad field of thought.

49993-13598

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The Sherman Antitrust Act.

Should This Act Be Enforced Against Wage Earners and Farmers!

SPEECH

OF

HON. HENRY F. HOLLIS,

OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,

Tuesday, May 6, 1913.

The Senate had under consideration the bill (H. R. 2441) making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1914, and for other purposes.

Mr. HOLLIS. Mr. President, this amendment is offered by my distinguished colleague from New Hampshire. I shall vote against it; and, at the suggestion of one of the older Senators on this side, I shall give my reasons, in order that it may not be understood that New Hampshire and New England are altogether deaf to the interests of the wage earner.

The proposition involves three issues:

First. Is this class legislation?

Second. Does it make any difference in the world whether it is class legislation or not?

Mr. GALLINGER. Mr. PresidentThe VICE PRESIDENT. Does the junior Senator from New Hampshire yield to the senior Senator from New Hampshire? Mr. HOLLIS. With pleasure.

Mr. GALLINGER. I trust when my charming colleague reads his remarks in the RECORD to-morrow morning he will regret that he has put me in the attitude of being one New England man who is deaf to the interests of the laboring people.

Mr. HOLLIS. I am very sure my distinguished colleague will be able to take care of himself without any regrets on my part, and without any modification of what I have already said. I was elected to come to the Senate, as I believe, because I entertained the particular views that I am about to express. If they do not agree with the views of my colleague i am sorry for him; but I appreciate his perfect right to entertain his own views, and, if I misrepresent him, to set me right.

As I was about to say, the third issue involved here is one of expediency. Is it expedient to favor associations of farmers and wage earners by the passage of this bill as it stands?

I think some attention should be paid to this matter of class legislation, because I suspect there are some Members on this side of the Chamber who may lean rather against the passage of the bill as it stands, for fear that they may be legislating for a class. I have received many telegrams from manufacturers during the past week asking me to vote against this exemption,

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