Live Stock Breeders' Association. 289 



the Standard Oil Company, in justification not only of that organ- 

 ization, but of all combinations. He said that "to stop the congre- 

 gation of individuals and aggregation of capital would be to ar- 

 rest the world's progress and stay the march of civilization to ,^ 

 degree almost beyond comprehension. You might as well attempt 

 to stay the formation of the clouds, the falling rain, the flowing 

 stream as to attempt by any means to prevent the combination of 

 industry, the association of persons and the aggregation of capital 

 to any extent that the ever-growing trade of the world may de- 

 mand. If there is one thing," he continues, "that history plainly 

 teaches us, it is that abuses are soonest reduced to a minimum by 

 permitting and not by restricting industrial liberty. Give to ^11 

 equal opportunity and business will regulate itself on business 

 lines. I do not prophesy an era of perfection. (You will note Mr. 

 Dodd is conservative.) The golden age of the future is a mirage 

 just as the golden age of the past is a myth. But those men whose 

 integrity is such as to cause people to trust them with large capi- 

 tal, whose ability is such as to enable them to command the mar- 

 kests of the world, are soonest to realize that the policy which suc- 

 ceeds is that which assures fair treatment to all, be they consum- 

 ers or producers, customers or employes, and that there is none so 

 false or fraudulent as not to see that honor is the foundation of 

 business." 



Yet, these men, who are presented as representatives of honor 

 and honesty, according to the sworn testimony of a witness in 

 the case of the State of Missouri vs. the Standard Oil Company, on 

 the second day of June, 19"01, direct one L. E. Terrell, an employe 

 of the Standard Oil Company, to sign a fictitious name and ad- 

 dress to the articles of incorporation of the Republic Oil Company, 

 in order that it might not be known as subsidiary association of 

 the Standard Oil trust. And yet these men say whose genius is 

 such as to enable them to command with their products the most 

 of the world can be entrusted with the authority to control the in- 

 terest of employes, of producers and of consumers alike. 



Let me give you another statement, which is a statement of 

 the law on the proposition, which I have taken the trouble to pre- 

 pare for the purpose of giving to you tonight. In an opinion, writ- 

 ten by a descendant of that great man who first pronounced those 

 principles which moulded the warp and the woof of our national 

 life, and who established the balance between the states and the 

 nation in our dual system of government, a descendant of the great 

 Chief Justice John Marshall, our own Judge Marshall, speaking for 



A— 19 



