Show WILSON OUTLINES HIS TRUST POLICY BAYS THE government AND BUSINESS MEN ARE READY TO MEET EACH OTHER HALF WAY declares punishment should fall on individuals responsible for unlawful business practices as well as upon corporations C washington Pre president wilson personally laid before a joint session of congress on tuesday january 20 tho the fundamental principles of thu democratic administration program for dealing with trusts and big business bricis the president presen presented tod tile the case lie he said ns as it lies in tho the thought of the country reiterating that private mo nio noply Is indefensible and intolerable and declaring that cons conscientious clentious business men inen throughout tile the nation would not be satisfied until practices now deprecated by public ns as restraints ot of trade and commerce were corrected the president spoke as follows gentlemen of the congress in 11 my report on tho the state of the uri union 0 it which I 1 had the privilege of reading to you on tho the lot of december last I 1 ventured to reserve for discussion at a later date the subject of additional legislation regarding tile tho very difficult and intricate matter of trusts and monopolies the time now seems beems opportune to turn to that great quest loh not only because tho the cur currency legislation legi which absorbed your attention and the attention of ohp country in december Is now disposed of but also because opinion seems beems to be clearing about us with singular bingula r rapidity lit in this other great field of action in the matter of currency I 1 it t cleared suddenly and very happily after the much debated act was passed in respect of the monopolies which have multiplied about us and in regard to the various means by which they have been or organized T an cov and maintained it seems to be coming to a clear and all but universal agreement in anticipation of our action as it by way of preparation making the way easier to seed and easier to set out on with confidence and without confusion n oft of cou counsel ngel legislation has its atmosphere like everything else and the atmosphere of accommodation and mutual understanding which we now breathe with so BO much refreshment la Is a matter of sincere coli congratulation it ought to make our task very much less difficult and embarrassing than atwould have been had we been obliged to continue to act amidst the atmosphere of suspicion and antagonism alit agon which has so long made it impossible to approach such questions with dispassionate fairness constructive tive legislation when successful Is always the embodiment of convincing experience and of the mature public opinion which finally springs out of that experience legislation is a h business of interpretation inter prota not of origination and it is now plain what the opinion is to which we we must give effect in this matter it Is not recent or hasty opinion it springs out of the experience of a whole generation it has clarified it self by long contest and those who for a long time battled with it and sought to change it are now frankly and honorably yielding to it and seeking to conform their actions to lit it ways of liberty ways of peace 0 O the great business men who organized and financed monopoly and those who administered it in actual every day transactions have year after year until now either denied its existence or justified it as necessary for the effective maintenance and development of the vast business processes of the country in modern modem circumstances of trade and manufacture e and finance but all the while opinion has hab made head against them the average business man Is convinced that the ways of liberty ore are also the ways of peace and the ways of lot success as well and at last the masters of business on the great scale have begun to yield their preference and purpose perhaps their judgment also in honorable surrender what we are purposing to do therefore is happily not to hamper or interfere with business busin esir as enlightened business men prefer to do it or in any sensa sense to put it under the ban the antagonism between bustness business and government is over depre wo are now about to give expression to the best busin business e a judgment of america to what we know to be the business busl nesa conscience and honor 0 the law the government covern ment and business bus ness men are ready to meet each other half way tit in a common effort to square business rne methods ghods with both public opinion and the law the best informed men trien of the business world condemn the methods and processes and consequences of monopoly as we condemn them and the instinctive judgment of tho the vast majority of business men everywhere goes with them we shall now be their spokesmen that Is id the strength of our cur position and the sure prophecy of what will ensue when our reasonable work is done safe and sane remedy when serious contest ends when rien men unite in opinion and purpose those who are to change their ways of busi business fiess joining with those who ask ash for the change it is possible to effect W in a way in fix which prudent and thoughtful and patriotic me bep mep would wish to see it brought about with as few as aa slight as aa easy and simple business readjustments as possible in the circumstances nothing essential disturbed nothing torn up by the roots no parts rent asunder which can be leit le lit in wholesome combination fortunately I 1 no measures of f sweeping or novel change are necessary if will bo be understood that our nur object la Is not to unsettle business or anywhere seriously to break its established courses athwart on the contrary we desire the laws wo we are now about to pass to be the bulwarks bulwa and safeguards of industry against the alio forces that havo have disturbed it what wo havo have to 10 lo do can bo be done in a new spirit in thoughtful moderation without revolution ot of any untoward kind wo we aro are till all agreed that 4 it at private monopoly ay to la isible and intolerable and our program la in founded on that conviction it will be ti a comparativo comparative but not a radical or unar unac copt able program and are its items home the changes which opinion deliberately sanctions and for which business waits it awaits with lit in tho the first place for laws which will effectually prohibit and prevent such interlocking inter locking of f tho the personnel of the directorates direct orates of groat great corporations banks and railroads industrial commercial and public service bodies bodlos as lit in effect result in making those who borrow and those who lend practically one ona and tho the same these who sell and those who buy but the same persons trading with one another under in different names nain es and in d different If ferent combinations and those who effect to compote lit in fact partners and masters or 8 of somo some whole field of bui business finess sufficient lelent time should be allowed of course lit in velch to liffert these changes of organizations without inconvenience or confusion consuel a it time for readjustment such a prohibition will work much more than a more negative good by correcting tile tho serious evils evila which have arisen because tor for example the men who havo been the directing sp spirita frits of tile tho great investment banka have usurped tho of place which NY belongs to independent industrial management working in fix its own behalf bol aalf it will bring now new men new energies a now spirit of initiative now new blood into the management ot of 0 our ur great business enterprises d development 0 and organization to scores of men who havo have been obliged to serve w when hen their abilities entitled them to dl direct it will immensely hearten tile the young men inen coming on and will greatly enrich the business ac activities tivi ties of tile the whole country at iti tho the second plane place business men a aa s well as those who direct public affairs now recognize and recognize with painful clearness the great 11 harm arm and injustice which has been beel done to many if not all of tho the great 1 railroad system of the country by the way in which they have been fidanc ed slid and their own distinctive interests subordinated B to the interests of the men who fidanc financed ed them and of other business enter enterprises pOses which those men wished ato to promote the country la is re ready therefore therefore to acce accept pt and ac nept with rp rel liet leli as well as approval a la law will confer on the interstate state a Con e commission the power to superintend and regulate the financial operations by which the railroads are henceforth to be supplied with the money they need for their proper development to meet the rapidly growing requirements of the country for increased and improved ot of transportation we can not postpone action in this matter mattei without leaving the railroads exposed to many serious handicaps and haz ards and the prosperity of the railroads and the prosperity of the country are inseparably connected upon this question those who are chiefly responsible for the actual management and operation of the railroads have spoken very plainly and very earnestly with a purpose wo we ought to be quick to accept it will be one step and a very important one toward the separation of business of production from the business of production to end uncertainty the business of the country awaits also has bas long awaited and has suffered because it could not obtain further and more explicit legislative definition of the policy and meaning of the existing antitrust law nothing hampers business like uncertainty nothing daunts or discourages it like the necessity to take chances to run the risk of falling under the condemnation of the law before it can make sure just what the law Is surely we are sufficiently fa millar familiar with the actual processes and methods of monopoly and of the many hurtful restraints of trade to make definition possible at any rate up to the limits of what experience has disclosed these practices being now abundantly disclosed can be explicitly and item by item forbidden by statute in such terms as will practically eliminate uncertainty the law itself and tile the penalty being made e qually equally plain and the business men of the country desire something more than that the menace of legal process in the matter be made explicit and I 1 intelligible n they desire the advice the definite guidance and information which can be supplied by an administrative body an interstate trade commission the opinion of the country would instantly approve of such a commission assion it would not wish vish to see it empowered to male make terms with monopoly or in fix any ank way to assume control of business as if the government men t made itself te responsible it demands ouch auch a commission only as an indispensable instrument Ins trumen t of information and publicity as a clearing house tor for tho the facts by which both the public mind and the managers a of great business unde undertakings r ask should uld be guided and as an instrumentality for doing justice to bustness business where the process of tho the courts or 01 the natural forces of correction outside tho the courts are inadequate to adjust the remedy to the wrong in a way that will meet all the equities and circumstances of the case violations dangerous producing industries for example which have passed the point up to which combination may be con consistent with the public interest and the freedom of trade cannot always be dissected into their component units as readily as railroad companies or similar organizations can be their dissolution by ordinary legal process may oftentimes involve financial consequences likely to overwhelm the security market and bring on its break down and confusion there aught tr t be an administrative commis capable of directing and shaping su 1 corrective processes not only in ai nil of the courts but also by independent suggestion if necessary inasmuch as our object and the spirit of our action in these matters is to meet business hallway halfway in Us ito processes of solf correction and als its legitimate course no as little as possible wo ought to see aeo to it and the judgment of practical and loua men of affairs every erdi would i applaud us if wo we did see to it that penalties and punishments al should 16 dif fall not oil n business itself to iscon fusion and interruption 1 on the individuals who use tho instrumental atles of business to do things which public policy and sound bound business practice con condemn denin every act of bust busl noes noea la is dono done at the command or on the initiative of somo some ascertainable person or group of persons these theao should bo be held individually responsible and tho the punishment should fall on them not on tho the business organization of which they made illegal use it should be one of the main objects of it our legislation to divest such persons of their corporate corp cloak and deal with thorn them as with those who do riot not represent their corporations corpora tlona but merely by deliberate intention break tile the law the business men the coun try through would I 1 am sure ap plaud us if wo we were to tako take effectual steps to see that the officers and directors of great wi business Biness bodies worn wert prevented from bringing them and the business of tho the country into disrepute d I 1 B and danger to prohibit holding companies other questions remain which will need very thoughtful and practical treatment enterprises in cheso modern days of great individual fortunes are oftentimes interlocked not by being under the control of the same saine directors but by tho the fact that the greater part of their corporate stock Is owned by a single person or group of persons who are in way intimately related tit in interest wo are agreed I 1 take it that holding companies should io ba prohibited but what of controlling private ownership of individuals or actually cooperative groups of individuals shall tho the irl private vate owners of capital stock be suffered tobe to bo themselves in effect holding company wo we dont wish I 1 suppose to forbid the purchase of stocks by the holding companies pa riles wo we dont wish I 1 suppose to forbid the purchase of stocks by tiny any person who pleases to buy them in such quantities as lie he can afford or in any way arbitrarily to limit tho the sale of stocks to bona fide purchasers shall wo we require tho owners of stock sock when their voting power in severe companies which ought to ho be independent of one another would constitute actual control to make election in which of them they will exercise their right to vote this question I 1 venture tor for your consideration era tion addition to constitution there Is another matter imperative ot of justice and fair play suggest thoughtful remedial action alon not only 0 ua o many of the combinations bi expected or sought to bo be perfected in tae industrial world work an injustice on the public la in general they also directly ind and seriously injure the individuals in put out of business in one ane unfair ways way or another by tho the many dislodging and exterminating forces of combination I 1 hope that we boball shall agree in giving private individuals who claim to have been injured by these processes the right to found their suits for redress on tho the facts and judgments proved and entered in suits stilts by tho hb government where tho govern ment has on oil 11 a own initiative sued the combinations complained of and won its suit and that the statute of limitations s shall be suffered to run against such stich litigants only on the date of the conclusion of the governments ern ments action it is not fair that the private litigant should be obliged to set up and establish again the |