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Show IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED i ROOSEVELT FAILED TO ENFORCE THE 6HERMAN LAW. Ceorgs F. Edmunds Forcefully Points Out That Colonel's Opposition to That Statute Is Not New. In a statement given to the public, Ueorge V. Edmunds, the author of the anti-trust law and one of the ablest men lu the country, pointed out that Koosevelt's opposition to that law Is not new. While be was president ha claimed the right to say whether or not the statute should be enforced. And now he is demanding new tna chlnety. This Is always the way with those who fall to use the tools at band. Mr. Edmunds Is right when he says that If the antitrust law had been enforced from the start "marty of our most Inlgultous monopolies would never have been born, and the situation situa-tion faced today of strong Industrial trusts at every hand would never have become possible. Tho question Is whether the old policy of nonenforce-ment nonenforce-ment shall agalu be adopted. Mr. Edmunds puts the matter thus: "To put the execution of the Sherman Sher-man law again Into the hands of a man who did not, when he bad the opportunity, obey that command? would result, In my opinion. In the law falling Into a state of what the late President Cleveland In respect to another an-other subject once called 'Innocuous desuetude.' If the people wish that they will vote for the third terra candidate. I cannot conceive of a situation sit-uation that might arise lu which Mr. UooBevelt would do otherwise than he did In tho last administration, when be permitted the United States Steel corporation to absorb the Tennessee Coal and Iron company for almost nothing, In complete defiance of the law, and when again be deliberately Instructed his attorney general to drop the suit against the harvester trust, a monopoly whose baneful Influence has for many years been felt by every farmer of our great west." In reply, the third termer contents himself with saying that the Edmunds view Is tbat of crooked business men and crooked lawyers. To be sure Mr Edmunds belongs to neither of these classes. Put then that does not matter. mat-ter. Yet It may be worth while to point out that Ueorge V. Edmunds, at the very height of his power and Influence, when. If ever, be might have been charged with being a corporation corpora-tion lawyer, was the candidate favored for the presidency by Theodore Hoose-velt. Hoose-velt. This was in 1884. when Hoose-velt Hoose-velt was attending his first national convention. He and bis associates were ardent supporters of Mr. Edmunds, Ed-munds, then senator from Vermont. In his statement the venerable statesman simply says that Roosevelt did not enforce the law when president, presi-dent, and would not enforce ft If he should again be president. There li nothing In this to which Hoosevelt can object, for In his answer be admits ad-mits that he Is opposed to the policy of deal'ng with the trusts under the present law, and has said that it was never meant that the antitrust law ahould be "rigidly" enforced. That Is the case as presented by Mr. Edmunds. |
