President Roosevelt, speaking at a meeting of the Union League
Club at Philadelphia on Monday evening, made an important declaration in regard to the control of Trusts, with specific reference to railways. No free people, said the President, would permanently tolerate vast power conferred by vast wealth in a corporate form, and not lodge some- where in the Government a still higher power of seeing that this power is used for, and not against, the people as a whole. At the moment the greatest need of the country was an increase in the power of the National Government to keep the great highways of commerce open alike to all on reason- able and equitable terms. He deprecated hasty or vin- dictive action, but clearly indicated the need of a tribunal to fix rates and abolish secret rebates. State action was not enough ; the Federal Government alone could exercise adequate control. All the great business concerns were engaged in inter-State commerce, and if the National Government bad not Constitutional power to regulate this commerce, the Constitution must be amended as a last resort. Meantime it is stated that certain of the officials of the Beef Trust will be prosecuted forthwith, unless the corporations composing the Trust prefer to obey the injunction against
which they have unsuccessfully appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
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