Newspapers / The Courier (Asheboro, N.C.) / Oct. 8, 1914, edition 1 / Page 2
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DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEETS ITS CAMPAIGN PLEDGES TO THE PEOPLE In Power Less Than Nineteen History Rapidly and Important ALL OF ITS DEBTS ARE DISCHARGED IN FULL Democrats Rcognized That Perform ance, Not Promise, Was What Made and Retained Friends and They Act ed Accordingly Reductions in Tar iff Rates That Have Helped the Consumer and New Era of Business Freedom Ushered In Other Great Reforms. The following address by Hon. E. Y. Webb Congressman from the Ninth Congressional District and Chairman of tne Judiciary committee of the House, is from the Congressional Record, ot Saturday. SepteniDer 19: Mr. Webb. Mr. Speaker: The Dem ocratic party has been in complete power something less than 19 months, but in that short time has made his tory rapidly. During the transition period Irom 1909 to 1913, it made promises to the peopie as to the tariff, the currency, tne trusts, and many other propositions, which, during the last year and a half, have been re ligiously redeemed. The Democratic party looked upon its promises as debts contracted with the people, and when honored by the people with their votes and confidences, they began at once to pay their debts, and in less than two years have paid off every one of them. The Republican party prior to 1909 lived in a land of promises which, not being kept, left the peopie to "die of hunger." They attained power on a promise of down ward revision which was kept by the enactment of a tariff higher that the old Dingley law. Their promises were lightly made, frequently made, and quickly forgotten. The Democrats did not promises much, but did much; they rcognized that performances, not promises, retain friends, and set in at once to redeem their word. The result is a record of legislative achievements worthy of a party of patriots and of the commendation of a patriotic people. The People's Demands. The election of 1910 showed that the people were awake and that they proposed to realize their demands for a long list of changes, some of which were as follows: 1. The right to buy as well as to sell in a competitive market. 2. Fair prices in an open market for their crude products. 3. A lowered cost of living. 4. The destruction of monopolies. 5. The destruction of gambling in agricultural products. 6. The control of Wall Street gam bling in stocks. 7. The valuation fo railroads and telephones. 8. A remedy for overcapitalization 9. A corrupt practice act with "teeth" in it. 10. Regulation of campaign expen ditures and contributions. 11. An end of railroad rebates and discriminations. 12. A systematic development of good roads. 13. Development of our water ways. 14. A wider play for the postal savings banks. 15. A more extended system of parcel post. 16. An income tax. 17. An employrs' liability law. 18. A more rigid control of in junctions. 19. A better banking system. 20. A correction of1 the evils of civil service. 21. An end to the corporate grab bing of our national resources. 22. A prison term for plutocratic offenders against law. 23. An American marine other than a subsidized system. 24. A. more comprehensive system f aericulturfll Krhonls 25, A mre rational immigration Jaw. . . - Antecedent Work of Democratic House The Democratic party began its good work in the Sixty-second Congress when it only controlled the House of Representatives, by intro ducing and passing the following laws, which later led the people to intrust it with full control of the gov ernment: 1. The House of Representatives revised and liberalized the rules of the House so as to give the represen tatives of the people freedom of speech and action. 2. It authorized investigations of certain executive departments of the government and of certain industrial combinations, including the United States Steel Corporation, i the Amer ican Sugar Refining Company, and the Shipping Trust, the Beef Trust, and the Money Trust. 3. It passed a bill providing for the publication of campaign expenses before and after elections and fixed a limit on the election expenses of Sen ators and Reperesentatives. 4. me Democratic House, by a vote of 237 to 39, passed a resolution referring to the various legislatures for ratification the proposition of amendng the Constituton so as to provide for the election of United States Senators by a direct vote of the people. . 5. It admitted Arizona and New Mexico to statehood. 6. It passed a resolution which forced the President to abrogate the Russian treaty, 7. It passed a bill to establish ag cultural colleges in the several states, 8. It passed a bill providing for stricter laws and regulations to pro mote the safety of passengers at sea. 9. It passed a bill "to protect Months, It Has Been Making Has Record ot Highly Achievement American trade and American ship ping from foreign monopolies. 10. A bill creating a department of labor. 11. In the pasage of supply bills it has saved the national government millions of dollars. 12. A bill providing for an excise tax on incomes. 13. The Alaskan civil government bill, creating a legislature of one House. 14. It passed many other measures of great general and local importance such as bills pending for a parcel post; government aid to public high ways and nost roads; revision of our patent laws; and a resolution for the appointment of a eommision to in vestigate foreign rural credit socie ties with a view to the inauguration of a sound system of easier agricul tural credit?. . . ,. 15. Trial by jury of indirect con tempt. , . 1G. Relief of postoffice employees from the executive gag rule. 17. A bill to stop midnight injunc tions. . i The Democratic victory in the elec tions of 1912 was an endorsement by the countrv of the work of the Demo cratic House of Representatives and of the declared policy of the party as to future legislation. In the elections this year the work of the administra tion, 'composed of a Democratic Presi dent and a Democratic majority in each branch of Congress, will to some extent be passed upon by the people. A'l interest centers upon the verdict of the people. A leading newspaper in reviewing the work of the Demo cratic Congress, to determine what the verdict should be, concludes that thev have fought the good fight, and thev have kept the faith." That "this Congress has a record of achievement in behalf of the average man that entitles it to the warmest commenda tion r.nd that should guarantee an other sweeping Democratic victory at the polls in November." Another leading newspaper, m ad-vJcino- tliP vntprs this vear to stand bv the Democratic Congress, concludes that the Democratic House "has justi fied thp confidence of those oi us wno hailed it with so much hope." This writer continues: "This congress nas revised the abuses out of an extor tionate tariff. It nas imposen an in come tax which lifts part of the bur den of taxation from poverty to wealth. It has enacted a banking and curency law for which the American people" have been striving for nearly 20 years. Whatever differences of opinion there may be about the ad ministrative details of this measure, all financial authorities agree tnat under it this country cannot have an other panic like those of 1873, 1893 and 1907. "In addition, this Congress has de stroyed the lobby. In the matter of Mexico it has scrupulously avoided all semblance of jingoism and demagogy. Taking its worth as a whole, the Con gress that is still in session has achieved the most important record of constructive legislation of any Con gress in fifty years. "In spite of mistakes and short comings, we can recall no previous Congress that so fully kept its faith with the people, no previous Congress that was so little controlled by sordid special interests, no previous Congress so free from scandal and manipula tion and treachery to the public wel fare, no previous Congress that so fully embodied the theory and respon sibilities of representative government This newspaper goes on to say that it would not advise a man who be lieves in a Payne-Aldrich tariff to vote for another Democratic Congress. It would not advise a man who believes in a government by Wall Street and eoeeial nrrnlege to vote for such Congress. It would not advise a man who believes in secret lobbies and in-treaty-breaking and in hidden sub rid''" t" te for such a Congress. I would net a"visp a irr-.n who expects an immediate millonium to vot for such a Congress. But if any Co ress in a generation has earned vote of confidence at the polls it is this Sixty-third Congress now in ses sion in Washington. I quote this pditorial .'on.'lision for the reason that it aptly expresses my own. The reforms that were begun by the Democratic House in the Sixty second Congress have, by the aid of a Democratic President and a a Dem ocratic majority in the Senate, been carried forward in this present ses- sion until the pledges made by the Democratic party to the people have been written into the statute law of this nation. The following brief review of legis- lation by this Congress will illustrate how well the Democratic Congress has kept its promises to the people: Charge of Incompetency Reputed, It had been repeatedly charged by Republicans that it was not safe to entrust the government to the Demo crats for the reason that they lacked the capacity! for constructive legisla Hon. This Democrat Congress found it self surrounded by the paid lobbyist) ot tne special interests, who are seek ing to influence legislation in behalf of tneir clients just as they had done ;n the past, r ollowmg the fearless at tack of the President, Congress drove these lobbyists from the Capitol and then proceeds to offer such well-con' sidered bills for the revision of the tariff, for currency reform, for an in come tax and other subjects of legislation that they not only received the support of the Democrat?, but of itcpubiicans and Bull Moesert as well With such unmistakable endorsement as this it is needless to further refute the charge. Panic Prophecy. Republican orators, both .Treat and small, freely prophesied business cih aster as the sure result of Democratic success. The Wrilson administration has completely revised tha rules of business without the usual and here tofore inevitable panic. It has taken from the special interests their fos tered monopolies and compelled the trusts to sell to our own people as cheaply as to the people of foreign lands. It has wiped out the old and antiquated currency system and en acted a new one under which you get your money when you need it without having first to apply to Wall Street. It has passed an arbitiatioi' act for the settlement of controversies between capital and labor, which has already been successfully employed in preventing great strikes that would have tied up the entire railroad busi ness of the nation. Democratic suc cess has proven itself to be a preven tive for panics. The following further review of legislation by this Congress will illus trate how well the Democratic Con gress has kept its promise to the peo ple: 1. Tariff Promises Redeemed. The motive actuating the Demo cratic party in revising the tariff was that of the public good. Republi can revisions, as a rule, considered the welfare oi the protected interests as paramount and the interest of the people as a mere incident. The Demo crats put the people above every oth er consideration and presented the country with a tariff for revenue. Promises were redeemed (1) by an enlarged free list, (2) by lower du ties on other goods, and (3) by the in come tax. The Free List. All foodstuffs were made free, in cluding wheat, corn, wheat flour, sem olina, corn meal, bread, biscuits, waf ers, eggs, fresh beef, veal, mutton, lamb, lard, fish, pork, hogs, cattle, sheep, bacon, hams, potatoes, bananas, rye, rye flour, and sugar. Besides these, the free list was en larged so as to include agricultural implements, bituminous coal, coke, bagging for cotton, cash registers, sewing machines, typesetting ma chines, typewriters, shoe machinery, cement, flax, hoop iron, band iron. bar iron, pig iron, hemp, barbed fence ire, lence wire, baling wire, iro nore, ole leather, upper leather, split leath er, belting, harness and saddles, leath er boots and shoes, harness, cut nails, nd spikes, wire nails, horseshoes and nails, needles, tacks, printing paper, logs, timber, boards, lumber, fence posts, shingle bolts, shingles, hubs, wagon, blocks, oar blocks, headine blocks, clapboards, laths, palings, staves, ship timber, broom handles, ood pulp and wool. Comparison of Free Imports Our total imports for the three ears last past of articles free of duty ere as toiiows: June 30, 1912, total free valua tion $881,670,830 June 30, 1913, total free valua tion 987.524.162 June 30, 1914, total free valua tion 1,127,592,690 This last valuation comprises the operation of about three months of the Payne law and nine months of the new law. Of these free imports foodstuffs in crude condition amounted to $201, 651,983 in 1914, or about 17.80 per cent, of the total free import, as against $180,127,316 in 1912. Free corn brought in 11,843,193 bushels between October 3, 1913, and June 30, iyi4, nardly worth mentioning in com parison with the 2,858,000,000 bushels of home grown corn. Free what brought in 168 bushels during the same period while our production was 930,000,000 bushels. No free flour was imported, nor any corn meal. Two hundred and four thousand six hun dred and eighty dollars worth of free bread came in, $1,041,540 of sago tapioca and to forth. Cement $ 121,070 Lime 383,171 Eggs 1,050,502 Hemp -. 1,472,460 Flax 2,572,095 Bagging 584,593 Fresh Fish 2,481,037 Hcring 2,498,135 Mackerel 1,390,396 Iron ore 4,466,347 Pig iron 3,112,158 Scrap 220,229 Machinery 844,455 Needles 481.631 Printing paper 10,365,043 S:t 304,826 Potatoes 1,231,732 Lumber 12.18S.310 Railroad rails 312,061 Belting leather 3,200,307 Upper leather 2,597,534 Other leather 2,471,220 Boots and shoes 336,770 Other manufactures of leather 234,360 Beef and veal, fresh .JfS'oAO.OOO.OOO, as against $318,000,000 Iu"on 1,U2o for 1913 the last year of the Payne rorK 5J7,94oJiaw "ru- revenue from customs, hnw. Bacon and Hams . .283,669; Prepared meats 1,6 6,360, Cream 585,572 Milk 1,056,230, Laths 1,060,070 Shingles 1,791,246 Wool 45,524,495 All the above free imports are for the period from October 3, 1913, to June 30, 1914, except wool, whic cov ers a period from Nov, 30, 1913. ' The influence of these importations has not been sufficient to batter down the high prices buttressed by 50 years of protection, but they have been felt in many localities and will in time be felt generally. Our total import of foodstuffs, free and dutia ble, amounted to $474,000,000, while our farmers will receive nearly $11,' 0000,000 for their total farm products in 1914. An industrial class that can cash a check for $11,000,000,000 year turns up its nose a half-billion dollar competitor. Dutiable Imports. Nearly every other import was left on the dutiable list, but the rates were cut materially. Raw wool had been paying a duty of about 44 per nut, uub wu put, on me tree iui. Changes on manufactured woolens were made as follows: Cloth from 94 per cent to 35 per cent. Blankets from 73 per cent to 2u per cent. Flannels from 93 per cert to 25 per cent and 30 per cent. Women's dress goods from 102 per cent to 35 per cent. Knit fabrics from 85 per cent to 35 per cent. Clothing from 80 per cent to 35 per cent. Webbing from 60 per cent to 35 per cent. Shawls from 70 per cent to 35 per cent. Brussels carpet from 76 per cent to 25 per cent. Tapestry Brussels from 62 per cent to 20 per cent. Treble ingrain from 64 per cent to 20 per cent. Two-ply carpet from 62 per cent to 20 per cent. Stockings from 94 per cent to 30 per cent and 40 per cent. Reductions on cotton goods were as follows: Cotton cloth from 43 per cent to 25 per cent. Waterproof from 50 per ecnt to 25 per cent. Handkerchiefs from 60 per cent to 30 per cent. Clothing from 60 per cent to 30 per cent. Collars and cuffs from 64 per cent to ."0 per cent. Plushes from 55 per cent to 40 per cent. Stockings from 75 per cent to 50 per cent. Shirts and drawers from 60 per cent to 30 per cent. Further reductions: Rice paddy from (pound) 3-4 cent to 3-8 cent. Rice, uncleaned, 1 1-4 to 5-8 cent. Rice, cleaned, 2 cents to 1 cent. Common brick 25 per cent to 10 per cent. rire brick, unglazed, 30 per cent to 10 per cent. Ties (square foot) 4 cents to 1 1-2 cent?. Common China, 55 per cent to 35 per cent. .Rockingham ware, 46 per cent to 30 per cent. Fish in tins, 30 per cent to 15 per cent. Green apples, bushel, 25 cents to 10 cents. Lemons (pound) 1 1-2 to 1-2 cent. Oranges, 1 cent to 1-2 cent. Shelled almonds 6 cents to 4 cents. Bottles 60 per cent to 45 per cent. Spectacles, 50 per cent to 35 per cent. Hay (ton) $4 to $2. Telephone wire, 40 per cent to 15 per cent. structural iron (pound) four-tenths cent to 10 per cent. Cast-iron pipe (pound) one-fourth cent to 10 per cent. Hollow ware 1 1-2 cents to 10 per cent. Chain, 45 per cent to 25 per cent Printing pressses, 30 per cent to 15 per cent. fateam engines, 30 per cent to 15 per cent. Circular saws, 20 per cent to 12 per cent. Hand and mill saws. 25 per cent to 12 per cent. Matches (gross) 6 cents to 3 cents. Poultry, (dead) 5 cents to 2 cents. Butter, 6 cents to 2 1-2 cents. Cheese 6 cents to 20 per cent. Paints, reduced 50 per cent. Potato starch (pound) 1 1-2 cents to 1 cent. Other starch, 1 cent to 1-2 cent. Granite (cubic foot) 10 cents to 3 cents. Vinegar, 7 1-2 cents to 4 cents. furniture, 35 per cent to 15 per cent. Hundreds of other reductions were made in character the same as those already outlined. There was no ques tion but that the tariff had been re duced and a new era of business freedom of business opportunity opened to the United States. Kepub ucans predicted disaster, but were as Door oronhets as thev had been noor promise redeemers. President Wilson, the great Democratic leader, promised new freedom to business coupled with a greater prosperity, and both the freedom and the prosperity have been realized. The Income Tax Coupled with these great tariff re ductions went another great achieve ment, the passing of the income tax law. Great fortunes were made to bear their just proportion of the bur dens of taxation. Taxes were shifted from consumption to wealth, and t more perfect harmony established be tween burden bearers. Revenue Reductions. With these sweeping reductions of the tariff corresponding reductions in revenue were expected. It was esti mated that the receipts from cus toms the first year would amount to eveP( exceeded our expectations and vAeA 8292.000.000 in 1914. or J22.- yielded $292,000,000 in 1914, or $22,, 000,000 more than the estimate, an actual falling off from the Payne collections of about $27,000,000, in stead of a falling off of $49,000,000 as had been estimated, The receipts from internal revenue, exclusive of the corporation and in come tax, for the fiscal year 1914 were about $300,000,000, or a fall ing off of $3,000,000,000 from the esti mate, but were equal despite this falling off, to the internal revenue re ceipts for tne last year of the Payne law. The receipts from the corporation and income taxes amounted to $75.' 000,000. It may be safely assured that the collections from these sources for the year 1915 will be $100,000,000, The miscellaneous receipts of the government approximate $57,000,000. The total revenue at the passage of the tariff law was estimated at $736,000,000, but the actual receipts were but $733,000,000. In other words, the new tariff working but nine montns produced a revenue but $3, 000,000 short of the estimate, and $2, 000,000 of this shortage came from miscellaneous receipts. The reduced tariff proved to be an adequate reve nue producer, and the affairs of gov ernment under the reduced tariff are abundantly protected. Those who criticized the bill on the ground that it would show a deficit were wrong in their criticisms, and the Democratic arguments of a half century have been proved true by the operation of this new tariff law. The receipts were $733,000,000 and the ordinary dis bursements were 703,000,000, leaving $30,000,000 balance to the credit of Democratic management, with the in come tax working only a part of the year. This does not include the Panama Canal expenditure, which is an extra ordinary expense; this expense for the past year was $35,000,000. In other words, the new tariff pays the ordi nary expenses of government and $30,000,000 of the Panama Canal ex pense, leaving a shortage in the grand total of these items of only $50,000, 000. Much more than $50,000,000 is in the Treasury as surplus, and the government will not have to borrow from any man to pay its debts. Thus endeth the first florious chapter in the new freedom. 2. Federal Reserve Banks. The second step forward in the complex process of resumption of complex processs of redemption of promises wos taken by the Democrat ic party in September, 1913, when Mr. Underwood called up the bill to pro vide for the establishment of Federal Reserve Banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of redis counting commercial paper and to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States. This bill was ably debated and on Septem ber 18, 1913, passed the House by a vote of 287 ayes to 85 noes. Thirty six Progressives and Republicans voted for the bill, while 85 Republi cans and Progressives voted against it the principal opposition coming from the "Old Republican Guard," the forlorn group of standpatters of the Sixty-third Congress. The Senate passed the bill by a large vote, and it was signed by the President. It is ' now a law. The President demonstrated his eminent executive ability by the character of men he selected to put the law into operation Universal confidence suc ceeded and almost the entire body of national banks approved the law by voluntarily coming under its wings. In the language of the President the currency, not rigid as now, but read- ly, elastically responsive to . sound credit, the expanding and contract- ng creuits of every-day transactions, the normal ebb and flow of personal and corporate dealings. Our banking laws must mobilize reserves, must not permit the concentration anywhere in few hands of the monetary re sources of the country or their use for peculative purposes in such volume as to hinder or impede or stand in the Way of other more legitimate, more fruitful uses. And the control of our system of banking be public, not private, must be vested in the government itself, so that the banks may be the instruments, not the mas ters of business and of individual en terprise and initiative. Thus, while other great rulers of the earth have mobilized their re serves for destructive purposes, it re mained for the President of the Unit ed States to mobilize our reserves for great constructive ends, for the well being and lasting prosperity of the people of the United States. Following this, came rapidly the enactment of the following important legislation: 6. Passage of a law for co-opera tive agricutural work between the ag ricultural colleges in the several state and the United States Depart ment oi Agriculture. 4. A law prohibiting the lmnorta- tion and entry of convict or pauper labor goods made whole or in part or in any measure manipulated by convict labor, has passed the House and is now pending in the Senate o. 1'asage of a law by which free tolls to our coastwise shipping in the ranama canal was repealed. to. a law regulating the hours of employment and safeguarding the health of females in the District of Columbia, 7. A law appropriating funds for the investigation and eradication of hog cholera and douline. 8. An excellent emmiirration bill has passed the House and is pending in the senate, 9. A bill to increase the efficiency of the Naval militia. 10. The passage of a better home stead law. 11. A law to provide for raisinar the Volunteer forces of the United States in time of war. 12. A law providing for the relief and transportation of American citi zens in Mexico. 14. A law providing American registry for foreign built, but American-owned vessels. 15. An act appropriating $25,000.- 000 a year for post roads went through the House and will doubtless pass the Senate. 16. A law providine eovernment insurance of ships against war risk. 17. Railroads in Alaska. Not the least of Democratic achieve ments is that piece of constructive legislation by which Alaska is to have not more than 1,000 miles of gov ernment-owned and govenrment-con structed railroads connecting tide-, water of the Alaska Gulf with the Yukon river at a cost of $40,000,000, The President of the United States is to select the lines which will best promote the settlement of Alaska, de velop its resources and provide ade quate and suitable transportation for coal for the army, navy, and other government services, of troops, arms, and munitions or war, of the mails, and for other government and public uses, together with such branch lines, feeders, sidings, switches, and spurs as he may deem necessary. While other rulers are overwhelmed by a policy of destruction and war, the Democratic party, guided by the greatest constructive leader of this age, commits itself irrevocably to reversal of the Republican policy of "neglect lor Alaska," and to the up building and development of thia far- off American peninsula. This long blighted Northwest Territory is to he.. come a tremendous "experiment st. tion" for the most advanced of gov ernment policies. 18. Amendments of the Aldrich Vreeland Law. Another achievement of the Dem ocratic administration was the direct enect oi tne European war. This was an amendment to the Vreeland emer gency currency law which enabled the banks to draw upon the $500,000,000 of additional currency authorized hv that law. The war in Europe played havoc with European finances, hnf brought all our banking interest into instant harmony with the Treasury nf the United States and led to thi precautionary step. The collapse of international banking machinery uni ted the financial intellects of the Uni ted States into common aims. Our national credit became imnrecnahlo and the wheels of our industry will revolve and hum despite the catas trophe that has overtaken Europe.. The breakdown of European civiliaza tion will injure our prosperity tO' some extent, but will not seriously re tard it. 19. Leasing of Coal Lands in Alaska Woodrow Wilson stands behind thin- proposition, and in due course of time it will ripen into law. The withdrawal' of the coal areas of Alaska from en try blazed the way to -ome sort of leasing plan by which development may ripen into fruitage without the concomitant of monopoly and pluto cratic ownership of our great nation al resources. 20. The Mexican Situation Walter Lippeman, in his "PrefacA to Politics," calls attention to a class of persons who follow precedent and' never create one, and who go on wind ing the red tape of their business con tentedly and continously. He calls them "Routineers" men of "im mobility" caused by "too much gazing at bad statues of dead statesmen."' woodrow Wilson in his Mexican noli- cy defied precedents and created a policy of "watchful waiting" which justifies Americans in trusting him as a great leader. The North Aemrican Review begged him to reverse his pol icy as to Mexico as he had reversed the Democratic policy as to "free tolls." The great editor of The Re view was a most powerful suppliant and brought to his aid the editorials of a score of really great American editors. Woodrow Wilson adhered to his text and would not intervene nor recognize Huerta. Time has demon strated that the President was right,, that he is a virile thinker, an intelli gent giant, and not a mere routineer. His vision was greater than that of any other leading American, and the outcome has not only silenced venal and other criticism, but has also dis closed an American Moses leading the peopie oi two countries out of the wilderness of uncertainty into the Ca naan of certainty and hope. His firm policy, pursued in the face of frenzied demands for aggressive action from many sources, has saved this nation from a war with Mexico, in which many lives would have been sacrificed and much property destroy ed oucn a mistaice would have com pletely demoralized business and left us a staggering war debt. 21. The Antitrust Laws. To this mass of really constructive legislation achieved by the Wilson ad ministration is to be added the three bills completing the antitrust pro gram, two of which have passed the Congress of the United States, and the other is in process of completion. The two finished products are known as 1. The trade commission bill and 2. The Clayton bill, a measure to further regulate trusts. The third piece of construction sure to be passed is known as 3. The bill regulating railroad stock and bond issues. The trade commission bill makes unlawful and in every form of "un fair competition," and creates a com mision with adequate powers to de stroy monopoly in its genesis. The antitrust bill makes unlawful a. Interlocking directorates. b. Holding companies. c. Trying companies which in the 6ale of one article require the pur chaser to use only such complemen tary articles as are sold by the seller- d. The bill fixes personal respon sibility for unlawful corporate acts.. Guilt is made personal. The anti- trust law on the statue books, and 2 known as the Sherman law, is supple- mented by the present act and made capable of enforcement as a criminal statute. The railroad securities bill is de signed to lift railroads from the slough of speculation and dishonesty to the high plane of genuine worth and practical honesty. Fake fiscal agencies will no longer exploit rail road securities to the detriment of stockholders. Private banks will not become depositories for interstate corporations. Supplies and equip ment will be purchased in open com petitive fields and not from fake companies established to rob the- stockholders of the railroads min ority stockholders will not be open to robbery, 'lhe stock exchange will lose its mechanical power over trans portation and national banks no lon ger be permitted to act as exploiter disguised as promoters. Woodrow Wilson, the President oi the American people, has in his ad vocacy of these laws made himself the greatest living example of de veloped national ethics, and in the- passage of these laws the American- people are assured of the existence of a new code of business ethics, ana the dawn of a new ' era of business practices. These laws clinch the "new freedom" by assuring all com ers "equality of honest opportunity. They are substantial reforms; they have already awakened the national conscience, and back of their birth spurring them forward into action, stands the form of Woodrow Wilson,, not only our greatest of great Demo cratic leaders, but the great leader of us all. Here Congressman Webb preseritetf the letter from Congressman Doremus (Continued to the seventh page)
The Courier (Asheboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 8, 1914, edition 1
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