'":f. THE SCRANTON TRIBUNI3-WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1899. TRUSTS, AND PUBLIC GOOD Are They Beneficial- or Not to the General Welfare ? AN EXHAUSTIVE REVIEW Before tho Pennsylvania Millers' State Association, in 'Session at Chambersbuvg, Judge John Stow art Reads a Papor Which Goes In to This Paramount Problem Most Thoroughly Regulation of Trusts Declared to Bo Essential to tho Public Safety A Paper All Should Study. .' Chumbersburft. Sept. 12. BEFOn.13 the Pennsylvania Millers' State association, In session here, Hon. John Stewart, presl Cent judge of the Franklin county courts, tonight delivered an address upon "Trusts, and the Pub lic Welfare." lie said: The rapid growth and development of 1hln new system of business, which for convenience we designate as tlio trust sys tem, is one of the marvelous things of Ihls marvelous era. Wo hail scarcely Unown of its existence, until It hail im pressed Itself upon the leading Industries Ml' tlie country. For seveial years, which may be called the period of its Infancy, It was conilned to tho oil Industry as the single subject of Its operations, llrst tho petroleum, and then tho cotton seed oil Interests. Then, with a prehensile force, unparalleled, and which Is only one ot Its many curious and wonderful characteris tics, It suddenly reached out from Its oily environment and caught In its embrace the sugar Industry, then the whiskey, then the leather, then the Iron and steel In their various specialties; and with ap parently Increasing Strength, and widen ing embrace. It has continued Us udvanco until it dominates our industrial life. Of all the articles of trade or commerce.none stand clear ot It except tho-e which the eiuih vlclds to husbandry; and not, all of these have escaped Its grasp. There is i ut a product of man's toll, or material thing that ministers to his wants, that seems beyond Its reach. Already It has Its trade mark on the cradle In which his Infancy Is rocked, and on thr collln, In which ho takes his Html sleep. There ore today In this country certainly not toss than KOi) Incorporated trusts, each t'Potatlng upon 'some distinct Industry; i nd It Is a conservative estimate tli.it there arc as many oilier combinations In trr.de. not Incorporated, which aro gov erned by the same methods, having the sunn ends in view. The combined capi tal of those Incorporated exceeds six thousand million dollars. Allowing to those not Incorporated but half this sum. we hae an aggregate capital, subjected to this ssstem, three fold greater than the entire national debt at tho conclusion of our great civil war. When we consider that all Ihls has c ime nhoi't within n decade, and Indeed for the greater part of it. within the lust two years, we can understand how hiislnoss conditions must have been pre pared foe it. but the public lil'nd stir raised .itiii unprepared. And when wo con elder, further, that tho natural and nec essary conseipiences resulting from such a sudden and comprehensive change In lur economic system are not and cannot re at once discoverable, wi can under stand that the work of conectlon. If re- , ilri'd, ot readjustment and adaptation, if t lie io are to follow, will require pro I'Higid study and enlarged experience. Inasmuch as considerations of public wel fare must determine whether this nv s". stun shall continue, and If continued, what Its limitations shall be: and since In the end those questions are to bo decided Vv the people, It becomes us each and all es citizens, alike Intel csted that no hcirm shall come tt our political Institu tions, and that no obstacle shall retnril the advance of our civilzatlon, to do nil we can to gnlr. an Intelligent Understand Ins of this most Important subject. Definitions. IT IS F.SSFNTIAI. In any discussion, to have a common understanding of tho terms oniplojcd In the gen eral proposition. Here wo have two such general terms, trusts and public welfare, which need to be defined. Theso nro the two things which wo aro to consider In their relation' to each other, the ques tion being, aro they consistent or antag onistic? First, then, what are we to understand by trusts? The term has been adopted as designating tho present system of asso ciating and combining tho productive and Industrial Interests of the country, each after its kind, In such a way that all so associated or combined aro brought, If not under ouo ownership, at least under one and tho same business management nr.d direction. Such combinations aio nut necessarily trusts In a technical sente; indeed few, If any, now arc. Tho oil re fining combine was tho first to bo con structed after tho manner of the techni cal trust; that Is, by dissevering the legal from thn bencllclal and real ownership of the property, and Investing a boatd or committee with the apparent or legal ownership of property that continued to billing to a great many. Hostile legisla tion and adverse declflons of tho courts compelled an abandonment of this meth od of organization. This led to tho adop tion of the scheme which now pievullE, of nu rglng the several associating par ties Into one; concern. Tho process Is simple, easily understood and easily ap plied. Tii Illustrate, two or nioro In corporated companies, engaged In the same business, mutunllv agree upon n valuation of their acvcral plants and bust ness; they ncieo to consolidate: and to this end a new coipoiatlon Is formed, whoso capital stock represents the aggre gate valuo of tho soveral companies to bo sonsolldatcd. The new corporation takes over to Itself the several properties, be comes tho owner ot them, and given In payment thereof Its own capital stock, to be distributed equitably among the tockholdcrs of the separata concerns: so that each holding In tho new corporation is relatively tho snino In proportion to the aggrcgato of property represented by It, as it was before. All consolidations or combines under till general system that result In bringing several enter prises of like kind under olio and tho lama manuccinent and control, we have come to deslcnato as trusts; and In speaking of tiusts tonight we Include, all such. Our other term, public welfare, ytu may think does not need to bo dcllned. I am not so suro of thla. Theio Is so much disregard of It those days, .vh"ti the strongest nppiats to Individual action seems to ba those which prnmiso the lnraett pecuniary rewards; and so much indllfcrenc.o is shown to guilty Infriotloiis of Jt by men In public life, that wo can not help but think that ninny people linvn falsonotlonsaatiiwliat Itmcans.nnd ot tho obligations they are undur to promote. It. feitiiliily It needs to bo stated in I cla-uly Understood that tho weal or well Being wo aro considering Is that of tho who'e body' of tho people, us distinguished from special advantage to any particular class. Conditions which promote public wolfaro nro Utnso which secure greatest good to tho greatest number. A condition or policy may grentlv ndvnntnge some, In deed a largo number; It may multiply mil lionaires until they become as com mon us dei-man counts, and yet bo do siructlvp of public welfare. It may give unprecedented activity to some nartl-m-lar Industry, and largely advantage those directly concerned In It.undyct bo severely prejudicial to the general public. It Is certainly to tho Interest of tho public that so Important nn Industry ns that of which you aro tho representatives, the milling industry, should thrive; but there la a point beyond which, If advantaged, It must bo at tho expense ot tho people nt large. Tho iranw In such case, arc bur dened In order Hint tho few may be en rlehedjust as the measure of their enjoy ment of the necessaries and coin ententes of llfo Is enlarged or diminished. Then, ngaln, It, Is tn bo remembered that public weal and publlo wealth are not tl o same. There may ho little public wealth, and et a high degree of public welfare; on tho other hand, thero may bo vast accu mulations of wealth and n dlss'illsilcd, oppressed and starving people. The world hns seen many Instances of the lat ter kind, and they nro among tho saddest exhibitions of history. There Is mure sound political economy than poetry In tho familiar lines, "111 fares the land, to hastening Ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men de cay." It Is not onlv a mistake, but a fatnl perversion of the functions of govern ment, when ItH enemies nro directed to tho Incrcnsi) nf public wealth and the distinction between weal and wealth are disregarded. Labor's Position. WITH THIS COMMON under standing of the things we are to consider, we may advance a step and see how they are related, or rather how tho ono may be employed to affect tho other. The aim and purpose of tho trust Is to deal In u largo and com prehensive! way with capital, and with the trade and Industry of tho country. This contemplates, In somo degree nt least, tho contiol of those agencies which have created our social and economic Con. dltlons, and upon which they depend. It would bo Impossible In one address to consider, even In the briefest way, the various interests that would or could bo nffected by such a system, nnd I shall not attempt It. It may, however, prove helpful, In connection with our main In quiry, to consider for a moment how, and to what extent, these agencies operate to affect tho public welfare. It will ho accepted without aigument that the wtl fare of any community, organized under satisfactory political conditions, depends wholly upon tho degree ot leguiurlty and energy with which Its labor Is employed, and tho returns with which that labor Is lewarded. Idleness to the vast majority of mankind, means poverty, and poverty means wretchedness and misery. Tho number ot those who llvo by their dally labor, the wage earners, including those directly dependent for dally subsistence upon tho wages so earned, largely ex ceeds all the rest of our population. If, then, thn public welfare Is promoted by securing the gieatcst good to tho great est number, It may falrl;, be claimed that this result Is to bo expected when the laborof thecountry Is advantaged by any system or policy. Kspeclally must this be so, since It Is Impossible to conceive of any policy that would advantage labor. and at tho same time bu oppressive to any other Interests. Labor can only be generally employed, and adequately re warded, when our Industries and trade are active. With these active, and labor employed1 nnd adequately remunerated, wo hae the best possible conditions we can hope for this side the millennium, so far as political and economic laws can control tho situation. Observe, I say, with respect to labor it must be adequately rewarded. It Is nut enough that It bo constantly employed. It may bo all this and yet have all the wretchedness of slavery: It must be ade quately recompensed; for this It Is that elevates It above servitude, and redeems It from the wretchedness of poverty. I mean no Indeterminate standard by ade quate reward. What I tnran Is. that it Is an essential condition to public welfarn that labor shall receive something beyond a bare living; that It shall have tho op portunity of accumulating something over and above, on which It may build conll dently Its hopes for advancement; some thing upon which tho laborer can draw for those supplies needed for his moral, social and intellectual Improvement. So long as It Is limited to a supply of his merely physical wants, no matter what his political privileges arc. If they are powerless to Increnso his wages beyond this point, he Is under a bondago that In the end thnt must dwarf his manhood, quench his aspirations, and prevent any thing llko progress toward better things. It Is this narrow margin between what tho laborer receives, and what he Is re quired to expend for his daily bread, that counts most In every problem affecting tho publlo weal: and It is upon this, so far as economic laws operate, that all advancement of our ago depends. Thero Is nothing that the history of our civiliza tion teaches more clearly than this. To secure such regular employment nnd ndequnto returns for labor. It Is es sential that tho Industry nnd trado of the country should be actlvo to n high degree. I'etwcen the two, there Is a very close relation; each Is to a certain clegreo dependent on the other. Without Indus trial activity, there can bo no sufllelent employment of labor;' without labor there can bo no Industrial life; but the depend ence Is not equal; the advantage Is al ways with the employer rather than tho employed. Labor cannot bo advantaged, except as Industry and trado prosper; but Industry and trado thrive on low and sometimes starving wages; nnd thero Is this further truth, seek to disguise It as we may, because of tho very conditions that surround It, labor cannot extort from Industry, whllo Industry may and often docs extort from labor. Now, It Is easy to seo that any policy that has tho effect to ohnngo tho condi tion of our labor, cither by enlarging or reducing Its dependence for employment, or enlarging or diminishing Us rewards, must tell directly upon tho public wel fare. The connection and relation be tween these things may bo thus stated: public welfare depends on employed nnd remunerative labor; tho condition of labor " Want of Watchfulness . Makes the Thief. " Many cases of poor health come from want of watchful ness. But if you keep your blood pure no thief can steal your health. The one effec tive, natural blood purifier is Hood's Sarsaparitta. Disordered Blood "Myfatherfus long been troubled 'nuiih disordered blood an J weak back. Mood's Sarsaparilta nude him strong and healthy he works every day." A. S. Wykcs, S. Easion. 'Pa. Humor "When I need a blood puri fier I Uke Hood's Sarsaparilta. Jt cured my humor and is excellent as A nerve tonic." Josie Eaton, Stafford Springs, CI, llooiViPllli cute llTerllin tin nonlnlutlng mi only cathartic 10 take with ltood'i Brpnrlllt. Jr WGU4- daMapwiiiur Is determined by Industrial activity and trndo: theso In their turn nro to be sub jected to the control of trusts. tt Is through our Industrial Interests, operat ing upon the labor of tho country, thnt tho public welfare Is affected, cither to lis ndvantngo or detriment, by trust control, Case for the Trdsfs. H AV1NO CM3ARKD the way of these preliminary considerations, wo ought to bo better prepared to encounter the main Issue are these trusts consistent with public weal? It Is an open question, much discussed, full of Intercut and Important beyond all present Issues; and since Its decision must rest finally with tho people, It Is necessary that it bei studied with Impartial minds, so that tho verdict may cxptcss Intelli gent conviction, unlnllucnced by pre judice or partisanship. As nu aid to this, however fceblo It may be, I shall endeavor to present to you tho considera tions relied upon by the respective parties to tho controversy, without intentional Injustice to either. Tho enso submitted In support ot the trusts, may be thus stated: First, tho present system results naturally and log ically from tho changed condition of our Industrial life and Interests, and It has shown Itself to be well adapted to these. Second, Its tendency, as Illustrated by our present prosperity, Is to Increase our production, multiply trade, and offer morn general employment to labor wltit in creased rewards. With respect to the llrst of these claims, It will have to bo conceded, I think, that wo have reached that point In industrial development when established methods of business are no longer adequate. Mo more could the travel and traffic of today bo accommodated by the use of stage coaches for tho one, nnd Conestoga. wag ons for tho other, than could the trade of the country bo conducted under meth ods of business which prevailed a halt century ngn. Many things have con spired to bring about these changed con illtions; but the two Important factors have been steam and electricity. Together they havo accomplished, in verj recent years, a. revolution In our industrial lllo, In comparison with which, nil other changes since our civilization began seem Insignificant. It Is Important to Indicate but two In this connection; they havo multiplied our Industrial productive capa city, until it 'seems absolutely unlimited; by cheapening the cost of distribution, they have glvin us the whole world for u market. The consequences ate Immense. Let us lodk nt some of thorn. Our labor, as til present employed, produces largely in excess uf what Is needed to supply our own wants; to keep our Industry active up to Ms present capacity, we are com pelled to seek foreign markets; tn gain and retain u hold upon these, wo must successfully compete with the skill, en ergy and capital ot the world; in other words, we must be able to sell the same article In the same market as cheap, If not cheaper, than our competitors. Whereas tho stress ot competition has hitherto been between our own producers' In a home market, bi cause tho Held and the capacity have both been so enlarged, the stress Is now between our own and foreign producers In the world's markets. The world Is clamoring for nn open-door policy, und it is confidently expected by many that In a veiy short tlmo our own capital and industry will Join In the uc maud. It further results, that In order to produce i.t a cost that will enable us to compote- In this larger market, the ecoi. nmles of trade and production must bo studied and rigidly applied. Further still, if the open-door policy Is to prevail hero, the same economies must be practiced to hold oi,r own markets. Now. In the manifest changes I have Indicated, you may ilnd tho excuse for tho trusts, or rather I should say the oc casion for their appearance. The trust advocate stoutly contends that we may Ilnd In them, not only the occasion for the trusts, but their vindication ns well. Ills contention Is that the new conditions required an Increased production at lower cost, and that It was this necessity that called trusts Into existence, as tho most elllclii.t agent to this end. Vhelr ef ficiency and adequacy must be admitted. Hy comtMnntlon, ono management Is sub stltuted for several or many, as the case may bo; a vast saving In Itself. So In every department, except In the actual labor requited for tho p-oductlon. the number of employes Is reduced; and the manifold items of expense mad" neces .ary by the unavoidable competition be tween tho disunited establishments, pre avoided. This result Is so manifest that It cannot bo denied, and It needs no elaboration, or discussion. From theso considerations, the advocato of trusts de rives the necessity for a change of meth ods, and tho adaptability of his system to tho new requirements. Ho encounters greater dittlculty In establishing his next position, which Is. that whllo his system Is efficient for the spoelllo purpose tn view. It so operates that tho greatest good Is secured to tho greatest number, without oppression to any. Here his argu ment Is largely an appeal to experience. He points to our present prosperous con dition, nnd qulto likely if ho bo an en thusiast, quite certainly If his holdings happen to bo largo In some profitable trust, ho will claim it as tho benotlclont result of tho new system; If he bo simply nn honest, disinterested convert to tho theory, ho will be content to claim no more than thnt the trusts have contribut ed something to present conditions, and that In any event, the two are consistent, slnco they aro concurrent, with no visible sign of oppression or Injustiro anywhere. I said a moment ngo that with trade and productive Industry active, and labor generally employed and adequately re warded, wo had nil tho conditions essen tial to public weifare. Thnt Is our sit uation today. Such an era of general prosperity and progress along these lines, as that which has suddenly dawned cpon us nnd which we are now enjoying, never beforo blessed the world with Its radi ance. Our productive energies are taxed to tho utmost of lmmodlnto capacity; our trado Is busy and pushing its way to the ends or the earth; labor Is dili gently sought uftcr and liberally tecum pensed. Hut manifestly the claim that wc owe this condition to tho operation of the trusts cannot be allowed. I havo not the time to discuss tho causes thnt have co-operated to bring to us this sen sun of prosperity. A llttlo nil eel I on will satisfy anyone that they are several, If not many; nnd that thev have been si lently operating for years. It Is a revi val following a lon peiiod of depression, during which our ptoductlons were far below tho measure of our capacity, and dating which accumulated stocks were consumed. Such periods of depronslon are recurrent, nnd at long nnd short In tcrvalH.dopendlng upon causes not always apparent, revival follows. Trusts never intervened tieiore; wny siiouni they be regarded us a cause now? The claim that they have contributed can ho sup ported with much gre'iter reason, nnd thn Impartial mind will bo npt to concede It. Put the two things together, exhausted supply and reduced cost of production, ,and wo havo conditions decidedly fuvcr- auio to a revival, su iur ua uiey gu. Duaie tblng more Is needed, but theso play n most important part, If Indeed thoy bj not essential. Now, allowing nil tho claims considered up to this point na mado out. It Is yet of llttlo valuo In determining the main Is sue, except ns tho remaining position can bo mado good, viz., that exrerleneo shows trustH to consist with the public welfare) us wo havo defined It. Thy may bo best adapted to accomplish cer tain results, but It does not yet appear that these results consist wholly with piibPo weal; they may, under certain qualifications nnd restraints, be what Is needed to meet our changed condition of commerce, trado and Industry; but It Is the trust as now operated, free from leg islative restraint or control, that wo have experienced and no other. Tho tr.nst ad vocato does not commend his system to us under any modified term, but Just as It Is, nnd Just ns wo havo exporloueed It. Thn argument drawn from present expo lence Is manifestly Inconclusive, f.ir tho reason that our experience Is not suffi cient; It tins been too brief, tho icttirni are not all In. It may be that a compu tation nf the returns nfl we now have them would show largely In favor of tho trusts; but It Is too early to close tho count, llesldes, our vision Is tot nt lis best: wo ule llko ono stepping from datk ncss Into brilliant sunlight; so si.ddenly 'has this new era dispelled tho clouds that depressed us and darkened our way, that wo t.ro hardly done rubbing our cea to accustom them to thn change. Our experience1 with trusts ns a general sys tem does not extend over a year at most, whereas a score may bo required to work out all the logical results that bear directly upon our present inquiry. If wo agree to n prima faclo case on tho strength of this argument we allow It tho utmost that can be claimed. The Other Side. L' KT FS NOW turn to the other side, where perhaps properly tho burden rests, and consider the ob jection urged by those wno stand In op- position to the trusts. Those are all de-H rived from the ono position they tnke, viz., that whatever the occasion for tho trust, and admitting that It Is clllclont In reducing the cost of production, yet Its certain and necessary result Is to create monopolies, which In themselves nro the fruitful source of evils great and small; some of which aro already obscrvuble.ur fectlng our Industrial, social and political welfare; and that more nnd worso must certainly follow lu tho train. It Is of llttlo consequence what the purpose uf the trust Is; It Is Its effect that concerns us In this Inquiry. It Is equally unimportant whether the trust admits or denies that monopoly Is a nec essary consequence; thnt It Is, Is so ob vious that denial would avail nothing. This conclusion finds confirmation alike In Experience and the simplest tiso of iitilhmctic We havo trusts which In clude as manv us two hundred different establishments, which before were In dividual and Independent; some may In clude twice that number, tho maximum 1 cannot state. There aro many dis tinct Industries In tho country which would bo wholly and entirely absorbed by u combination that would Include so many as fifty; and such consolidations would manifestly result in placing a sin gle management In control ot the market for that particular product. True, with respect to most iirtlcles of manufacture, thoy aro easily produced nt llttlo cost, und tho plants producing like specialties among them mny be counted perhaps by tho thousand; but combinations among these are ns practicable and certain as where tho number Is Tew, requiring only a little more time and trouble. Tho match trust, tho starch 'trust, the baking -powder trust, the shoo trust, theso und a hundred others that might bo named, show how practicable the scheme Is. It Is nothing to the purpose to say that somo of these have not engrossed tho market. The point Is that such results must Inevitably fedlow. If It he true as claimed that the cost of production ts materially reduced b the operation of the trusts. If this be true, then, as we have seen, they aro without any oxcu.o for their existence In any shape what ever. No matter how numerous tho es tnblishments may be that aro engaged in tho production of a specific article. If a considerable number of them consoli date, and thus effect for themselves this saving In cost, tho rest will bo drawn Into the original combine, or be compelled to consolidate Independent of It, so that like advantage may accrue to them; oth erwise they will be driven out of busi ness by tho combination that can under sell them. Competition means bankrupt cy, when attempted against such odds. When the specillc. article Is of such gen eral manufacture, It may be urged as a probable result that there will be several, if not many, combines for Its production, and that competition may bo expected between them. Hut wo shall escape any such delcslon, If we but consider that tho same considerations that led to tho original combine, viz., the avoidance ot such expense as wns made necessary by competition, must lead to a combina tion or consolidation of tho combines themselves. Tho plain English of it nil Is that the sole aim and purpose of any trust Is to escape competition, because of Its expenslveness. If the expense Is to continue between tho separate trusts, why combine at all? With tho monopolistic features granted, let us next consider tho specillc charges preferred against the trusts. First, with respect to our Industrial Interests. Here tho charge rests largely In theory; and yet historical evidence, such as Is found In tho development of trado and com merce. Is nppealed to as confirmatory. Tho specifications are that the system Is oppiesslvo to tho producer of the raw materials, oppressive to tho consumer of the finished products, nnd In the end must be to labor, thus embracing every class outside tho trusts. Tho raw ma terial Interests, If such It may bo called. Is of Immense proportion In this country. Our wealth In raw material Is beyond computation. If It Is to bo garnered by the trusts, rather than by the peoplo who own the material, and by thoso whoso' labor Is required to develop and market It. manifestly such result would bo unjust nnd oppressive. If tho owner havo but one market In which to sell, ho can only get tho highest price that thero prevails; If ho havo but ono party to whom he can sell, ho must, If ho sell at all, accept Just what It pleases that party to give. If It bo said that the trust must havo tho mate rial, and thero Is nothing to compel the producer to sell, the answer is that he has necessities as well as other peoplo; that tho trust will bid Just enough to mnko It advnntnseoiiH to tho owner to sell, rather than retain unproductive, dead material on hand. He dare not hold for better prices, for the price can never bo more thnn it pleases Ills single customer to pay. Such conditions, ap plied to the manufacturers of the coun try, with re-snoct to their finished pro ducts, would pnruljze their Industries, ns suddi'iilv nnd as ruthlessly as does a heavy frost a garden of spring vegeta bles. The necessary consequenco Is to place the man who has to sell, at tho mercy of the man who wants to buy; making the necessities of tho one de termine the price, rather than tho wants of the other. Prices and Wages. IT IS QFITR ns evident that the consumer ut tho other end of the line Is disadvantaged by a corre sponding denlul of freedom In trade. His Inability to supply himself, except as ho purchases from the trust, enables the latter to extort up to tho measuro of Its greeel, subject to a single limitation the prlco tt exacts must not exceed that at which a foreign producer can furnish tho same article ut u profit. Hero wo see how tho tariff can bo perverted by tho tiusts from Its beneficent purpose, which i to protect tho wages of home labor, und ho made tho oppressor of tho whole public. The higher tho tariff, tho greater raaj bo tho extortion In the price de manded. Tho answer tho trusts mnko to this Is two fold: flrat. they say that experience shows that under trust control, prices have been towered; und second, that any extortion In prices would be corrected by competition that would necessarily result. Their favorite Illustration In support of tho llrst answer Is roflncd oil. 'i'ho ar gument and Illustration, to have any merit, should not only show a decline lu price, but thut tho trust accomplished It. clreat reilanco Is placed on the fact that refined oil has fallen nearly one-half slnco US3. when tho Standard Oil com pany was organized and took cojitrol of this Industry. Hut It Is equally true that Its decltno during tho ten piecedlng years, when It was nut under control, was still more marked. It can be as confidently claimed that tho later decline Is to he ascribed to the samo causes that pro duced tho earlier. Ily reason of its enor mous capital, thu mesterly skill and en- I crcy with which tt has pursued Its eib- Jects, the Standard Oil company haB vast ly cheapened the process of rtilnlng oil; vastly more, wo are prepared to believe, than this dlffercnco In price shows; but the Illustration, when tho relative price of crude nil Is considered, falls tn show thnt this saving hns been given to the public. In nny degr , beyond what wn3 actually necessary to enable the company to retain Its hold on tho market; In fact to no degreo whatever. If any corre sponding reduction In the price of refined oil could bo shown, to what should It bo referred? The tender, sensitive regard ot tiio Standard Oil company for a de pendent public, Its sense ot equity und Justice, or tho restraints of a forelBti competitor? Tnko another trust, not so old, but ono equally entrenched, and controlling also another Indlspcnsnblo article, tho sugar trusts, Tho tables for tho last fifteen yeots, carefully collated by Mr. Holt, In His nrtlclo In the Juno number of tho Ilo vlew of Reviews, nnd which havo not been disputed to my knowledge, show that under control of tho trust, tho price of refined sugar has steadily Increased, In the ratio It beurs to tho prlco of the raw material; so that no matter how much cheapening there has been in the process of refining, tho public has derived no benefit whatever therefrom. Mr. Unit's estimate is that tho publlo have paid tribute annually to this trust, not less than ten millions of dollars, proba bly reae hlng twenty millions, Take still mother trust, whoso arbitrary action In raising the market price of tho article It deals In has recently affected all of us, tho beef combine. It Is Idle to say that such combinations have the effect of cheapening the prlco of the urtlclo they severally produce, except us It Is shown, that such reduction results from some thing else than their good pleasure, that It Is compelled, it Is ascribing to them a virtue and self abnegation which, to say tho least. Is not common among in dividual producers, who linvn both con sciences to chide and characters to re gard. Until It bo shown that there was somo compelling cause that required the Standard Oil company to cheapen the prlco of Its commodities, and the sugar trust to cheapen Its, we shall Incline to tho opinion that they are higher than they would have teen, but for their In tervention. Nor Is the answer that extortion will be corrected by competition satisfactory. Applied to Individual producers, this logic could bo conclusive; but nothing less powerful than the extorting trust Itsei', can Intimidate or irffeet Its action; and the very lmmcnslt of the tindet taking suggests the difficulty, If not Impossibil ity, or organizing for such an enterprise. It i.4 ono thing to effect a combination of fifty existing nnd -established plants; It is quite another thing to organize and nnd capitalize an Independent association of the capacity of tho fifty so combined. It was a simple matter for the two hundred and ninety tin plate mills, all there are In this country, to come under ono com bine; It would be a very difficult under taking to organize nnd capitalize a con cern on n competitive basis with such an antagonist. Capital Is both too scarce and too conservative for such hazaids as this would be. Concerning the labor of the country, the objection urged has regard to future, not present oppression; and tho claim Is that it Is as necessary a result ns those we have been considering, produced by the samo condition. Wo have seen how the monopoly must become oppressive to the raw tnuterlnl interest. The Industry rep resented by tho latter affords the whieot field for labor. The treasures of mire, Held, forest and stream are all within Its dominion. The producer from these sourc es, himself oppressed, compelled to accept for his material the least possible margin of profit, Is driven to economize In the only wny he can, nt tho expense' ot tt-e labor he employs, and becomes an opl les sor In his turn. It Is not hard to see that. In the end, the extortion practiced by the monopoly muht fall upon labor, for the reason that It is tho least able to resist Keeping In mind the fact that the effort of our gigantic enterprises Is to gain a hold upon the world's maikets for our surplus products.and thnt. In order to ac complish It, their products must be cheap-cm-il to a profitable competitive basis. In comparison with the foreign product, and the further fact that the advantage Is now, and always has been, with our enterprises, In everything that enters into the finished product, excepting labor, It would seem reasonable to expect labor to suffer In such a competitive struggle ns Is suro to result. Onco labor, which enters so largely Into the cost of every finished product, say .on on average bj per cent, of tho whole, becomes as cheap hero ns It Is abroad, an easy supremacy In tho world's markets Is given us. Here is a temptation to the greeel of capital and enterprise which no one need Vx pect to bo resisted. The way Is open nnd easy, under present conditions, to achieve It. Nothing Is so plentiful In the world as labor, and tho markets of the world can be drawn upon for this as for nny other supply. The Importation of cheap labor Is even now no longer nn experi ment. Tho apprehension of dlro calam ity to American labor, resulting from the uncontrolled domination of the trust as we now havo It, has foundation alike in reason and experience. Social Consequences. T' IIB NKXT objection relates to the publlo welfare on Its social side. This opens up a largo Inquiry, that touches us at more vltnl points than any other. I shall refer to but one or two of the specifications under this head, which uro most emphasized by those who oppose the trust system. Tho first that occurs to mo Is tho tendency of the system to withdraw the wealth of the country from tho many, and center It In tho few. 1 think all will agree that no system can yield any advantage that would at all compensate for such nn In Jury ns this. Wo people of tho Cumber land Valley nro accustomed to felicitate ourselves upon our happy and comforta ble surroundings; nnd sometimes In our speech on this subject wo offend tho sen sibilities of our good friends outside, whose prldo of locality, as we think, will not allow them to admit our lot to be ro much better than theirs. 11 Is our bna.it that nowir.To Is there to ho found more general comfort and happiness, a lower percentage of illiteracy and dependent poverty, or less crime. Allow our boast for this occasion, If no more, and then ask yourselves for the explanation. You first note tho fact that tho aggrcgato wealth of tho community Is no greater, Indeed not nearly so great, as that of many others of equal sUe; then, that this valley Is fertile and healthy, but not to a degreo beyond thnt of many others; you seo at onco that tho larger geucrai comfort of the peoplo comes not from theso things, and you nre driven to tho only explanation that satisfies, viz.: that hero there Is a larger general distribution of accumulated wealth umong nil the peoplo than Is to be found clEcwhere; no concentration, no excessive fortunes In Individual hands; but on tho contrary, un unusually hleh per capita distribution. Such are tho conditions upon which a high degreo of publlo welfnro must rest. Let mv Illustration suffice for tho gen eral proposition. Now as to the tendency of tho trust In this direction. Much that has already been said applies here. Wo have seen that tho tendency uf tho trust Is to ap propriate to Usiif the wealth which properly belongs to tho producer of the raw mateilal: also 11 measuro of the wealth of tho publlo by excessive prices, and, in the end, the earnings of tabor. This extorted wealth must be centralized somewhere. Mo wo nut seo It in thu unormous Individual fortunes of those wi 11 have been active la tho promotion at d management of incnupollsttc combi nations? Tho magnitude and multlp'.lcn Il1.11 of private fortunes may safely be telcrred to this system. We know front Its construction and mrthods that It Is competent to do Just ruch work; and when wo seo ono Individual receiving n hundred and fifty millions of dollars for his single holdings Ir: a trust, and nn ex ecutive officer receiving an annual tal- 4 .fM X DON T MISS OUR x OPENING I X WHICH TAKES PLACE i Saturday, September ye. It will educate you and also if in need of House Furnishings it will save you considerable money, as we intend giving you the very best quality of material for t the very least money, Novelties in Furniture, the latest desiens in Carnets, tastv and effective Uphol- i stery Goods, Sanitary Bedding, and LASTLY, the i most agreeable salespeople to WATOH OUR Established Saturday. 4 4. 4. 4. 4 4 4. 4. 4. -f -f -f -f -f 4 4- lary of a hundred nnd fifty thousand dol lars from another, we may well bcllovc the system Is being used tn accomplish It. I do not dwell on this part of tho case; I simply call It to your attention that the rich are growing richer, with most alarming rapidity. Our earlier In qulr led us to the conclusion that, un der theso methods, the poor must Inevi tably glow poorer. When, If over, then conditions concur, then begins our de cline, social, moral and lntelleetii.il. whlch nothing can arrest, so Ion as these conditions exist. 1 need not argue so plain a proposition. Von know that every civilization that has p.i!sh"d fell befoie these same Intluences. A profound historical student, himself an eminent hlstoiinn. Mr. Fronde, has said that tho groat nvuvol of history Is tho quiet sub m'slon with which tho people endured there Inequalities of life. Hut lt not our stntemon forget that It Is true, -ill the same, that the most violent disturb ances that have ever occurred arc trace able to these very Inequalities. Another consideration, nffectlng the so cial order. Is the tendency to eilml.iate tho Individual owner and manufacturer from our Industrial life. This 1 onse queneo Is frankly admitted by Mr. Have moyir, tho representative of one of the leading trusts, who, lu a recent pub lished Interview, declared that the day of the Individual had pasred. If It ro true, its significance Is grout. It mins that, henceforth, our productive Industries ave to furnish no Held for Individual activity and enterprise: that the men who now own and operate their individual plants, whether these be great or small, aro to dluippear fro.11 the Held, leaving no si c eessors. We nro no longer to have In dividuals owning and operating flouring mills, woolen mills, saw mills, and tho like; no longer skilled workmen, estab lishing out of their savings, plants to ho operated hy themselves on their own ac count. Fven our merchants are to sur render the ownership of their stores, a. d become mere distributing agents for the trusts. For myself. I cannot look with satisfaction or horefulness upon a sys tem that promises any such result. The element that It dooms Is the element that every government, at one time or anoth er, has depended upon for lis salva tion; the clement which most strongly conserves our social interests, that origi nates anil accomplishes all beneficent re forms, and which has made the largest contribution to our advanced civilization. Hope of ndmlsison Into this element hns been the powerful stimulant that has en ergized, enlightened nnd Improved our la bor; for It is from the ranks of labor that Its members have been recruited. I can seo only disaster In nny system, the effect or which Is tn deny to the hum blest worker the Inspiration nnd en couragement that conies with th- hepe that he, too, mny become the employer ot labor, even though It he but his cvn, and though his ambition rise no higher lhan to hear the nolso of his own ham mer upon his own anvil In a dingy smithy, of which he himself Is the proud and contented owner. Political Effects. W1THOFT FFRTHF.Il comment on this uolnt of the case, I pass to the consideration of the remaining objection. This relates to oar political conditions. Have these been Injuriously affected by the trusts, or are they likely to be? The charge Is boldly nnd persistently mado that they have, and It is urged that still more serious results must follow If the trusts be al lowed to continue. The cuso on this point Is mado un and proceeds in this way. We aro asked to consldei, llrst, tho enormous wealth tho trusts have at their command, and the enormous capa city for Increasing it; that as tho one was secured by taking advantage of favoable legislation, tho other can be preserved only ns legislation Is controlled In their Interest; that they havo used their wealth to this end. nnd by Its corrupt use among politicians and people, they have not only obtnlned tho legislation they desired, but legislation that has en abled the-m to oppnss tho public; and dually, that they have obtained sum a mastery In tho government as amounts to a usurpation of the power of the people. The llrst proposition will bo ndmlttoJ without discussion. Tho second requires no further support than the explanation that favorable legislation, In the connec tion It Is thero used, does not necesrarlly mean legislation that was so designed at tho tlmo. Charges of political corrup tion have become so c-ommon In theso lnte-r days that tho public ear grows heavy at tho mention of them; hut we do wlso to romember that, If the offense he not so odious ns It once was, tnls change hns not come through any repeal or modi fication ot either tho moral or political laws that condemn It. Theso remain with the samo old sanctions, the ono ns It was when written on the tablo of stone, and which has commanded, from that duy to this, that men shall not steni; the other, derived from II, declaring that popular government, except It bo sus tained and nourished by public und pri vate virtue, shall die. Charges of corruption are easily made, and always difficult to prove, except when the Issuo Is tried In the forum of the pub llo conscience, whero tcchnlcnl objections to evidence do not avail, and whero tho only conviction sought Is lu tho Intelli gent understanding of tho citizen, to tho end that his political action may bo de termined. Tho charge that the present tariff duties upon thoBe articles, the man ufacture nnd salo of which are biibject to trust control, were Imposed by and through tho actlvo Instrumentality of the trusts, Is not open to debate. It may bo that tho chargo that this legislation was secured by the corrupt use of money cannot bo proved In a court of Justice, In sueli a way as to Justify the conviction of tho parties concerned of nn offence against law. Hut, conceding tho first fact, how can the controlling Influence ot tho trusts In effecting legislation, ad mittedly prejudicial to tho public, bo otherwise accounted for? Tho money they have In abundance, tho e-rood Is not lacking, the opportunity preseiu. and the limn result Jusiwnai tho trusts wanted, and the p r".'m'. j. not want. It Is tho very absurdity of In nocence to nccount for such betrayal In any other way. This charge does not necessarily mean that votes wero bar gained for In unto chambers, ns men bargain for produce In tho markets; tho charge goes uway boyond this, and tho evidenco In support shows nn earlier, a wider und deeper corruption, that had I first to prevail to buy the honor and con - - f - f - M - M-H-M't wait on you. f BIQ WINDOW. 4 4 - i 408 Lackawanna Avenue 4-f-f SV4-4-4- 4 4--H- 4 -f-f sclenco of the Individual man, nnd after' ward the honor ur.d conscience of hun dreds of others, so that this ono man. with forfeited Independence nnd eliminat ed conscience, might be edectcel to a seat In tho senate. Direct evidence In support or this charge Is not lacking. The snme Mr. Hnvemeyer, nlrcndy referred to, tho head of the sugar trust, In his examina tion before the Investigation committee, admitted Wuit the trust expended largo sums of money In politics; that In Demo- ctatic states they contributed largely to elect senators wno wouiu uc in accuru with them, mid In Hepubllcnn Htates they contributed to tho same end; that thoy wore attached to neither party, and were In politics for business advantages exclusively. What a spectacle this pre sents for the American people! The rep resentatives of associated capital appear ing In tho national Congress, clothed with an authority above that of the people themselves, directing the votes of sena tors ns they would tho obedient service or slaves. I shall not delay to argue further on this branch of the case. It would "no unprofitable to do so. for the man wno w yet to he convinced that tho trust Is actively In politics, that the political ma chines aro Its agents, and their product Its servant", that Its methods nro cor rupt and corrupting, to a degree that endangers our political security, either does not want enllghtment, or Is Incapa blo of receiving It. Concisions. r HAVB THFS presented to you, as best I could, nnd, as I believe, In, no unfair spirit, both sides of this great controversy. I said in tho outset thnt the tlmo had not yet arrived when final Judgment could be safely passed. This was said not with reference to ttm trists ns thoy have been used and operat ed up to this time, but with refcrenco to a system which, for all wo know, may. In Its final development, under wlso restric tive laws, retain all tho efficiency of the present trusts, for purposes consistent with public welfare", nnd become a bene ficent agency. I said also that I had reached certain oncluslons, upon which I felt I could rest with rensonahln cer tainty. Some of them I have already stated. Allow mo. In conclusion, to glvo you c-e or two others. Upon an Impartial review of I ho whole case, Jt think It manifest that trusts as now organized und operateel aro oppres sive; that their tendency Is to monopollzo trade, to greatly Increnso tho Inequalities ot life, to degrade labor, and to demora lize our social nnd corrupt our political life. If these features and tendencies necessarily Inhere In tho system, und can neither b" eliminated nor controlled, no advantage the system can possibly offer will compensate In the slightest degreo for the Irreparable Injury It la uro te work. It may gain for us tha markets of the world; but the volco of warning with solemn emphasis asks the question what shall It profit us to gain tho whole world, ir In exchange for It American labor must give up Its Independence and manhood and American citizenship its proud distinctions and birthright privi leges? My other conclusion contains more of hope. A change of business methods is not to bo averted; such change must come. If not ono way. then In another. I am prepared, at legist not unwilling, to believe, that tho essential feature In any system that will bo adopted for our changed conditions, will be associated capital nnd combined enterprises. Fur thermore, I believe that it Is possible at present this heller goes no turther to have associated capital, not to the ex tent wo now have, however, without monopolistic power or privilege; In other words, thut trusts may bo so controlled nnd regulated by law that while retain ing their cltlclency they will be imablo to prevent or protect themselves against nny competition that extortion or oppression ot theirs might Invite. If this bo possi ble and competition within reasonable limits be preserved, I believe wo shall es capo tho evils predicted, and thoso wo now suffer from can cxtst only so long ns the publlo virtue Is not strong enough to abate them. I do not presume to suggest any plan or policy. That Is not for rne; the problem Is at onco the most serious and dltllcult wo havo to solve, and Its appeal Is, and must be, to tho profound est learning and tho wisest statesmanship of tho country. The one Is In your ser vice now; all over the land the student and the scholar are nt work, giving to these great questions their severest thought nnd labor. It would bo a glad sign If as much could ho said of our statesmanship: If our law-makers were less Interested In distribution of public TpolK nnd nioro In these ques tions that so vitally concern th public welfare; better still. If wo had fewer of them who owo their places to tho corrupt assistance of tho trusts, and more who havo tho abil ity and virtue equal to the pressing de mands of tho hour. Finally, if tho hope I have expressed shall fall; If It shall be onco determined that the evils I havo indicated are In separable from trusts, then It means nn Irrepresslblo conflict, which can end only with tho extinction of one or other of tho opposing forces. In such event, whllo I cannot predict' tho day or tho hour of Its accomplishment, nor the measure of public distress that may bo exacted, my faith In tho Intelligence nnd vlrtuo of tho American peoplo ennbles mo to see, beyond doubt or fear, as-.thn issuo of tho final struggle, the complete overthrow of a system thnt threatened and attempted the degradation of Ameri can labor, nnd the subversion of our so cial and political order. Thero Is more Cntanh In this section of tho country than all other diseases put together, and until the last few years was supposed to bo Incurable. For a great many years doctors pronounced it a local disease, and prescribed local rcmcdlos, and by constantly failing to euro with local treatment, pronounced It Incurable. Science hns proven catarrh to bo a constitutional disease, and there foro requires constitutional treatment Hali. catarrh Cure, manufactured bv Cheney & Co.. Toledo, Ohio. Is tho only constitutional euro on tho market It Is taken Internally In doses from 10 drops to 11 teaspoonful. It acts directly on the blood and mucous surfaces ot the system. They offer ono hundred dollars for nny case It falls to cure. Send for circulars and testimonials: 'Address F. J. CHUNKY. & CO., Toledo, O. Sold by Druggists, 75c. Hall's Family Pills are the best. r
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