The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-03-31
GIANT MONOPOLY!
The Dawning Signs Of a Coming
Struggle.
Co. A M. Scale,s speech Ooncluded.

but bear much naIucI upon sOnhc ~
Others. To illustrate this, Judge Black,
Attorney-General under Mr.. Buchan-
an. and one of the ablest and most dis
~tinguished that has ever occupied the
position, says:
s.They boldly express their determln'
alton TO charge as much as tne trafne
will bear; that is to say, they will take
from the profit of every mans business
as much as can be without compelling
him to quit it. In the aggregate tins
amounts to the most enormous, oppres
siye. and unjust tax that ever was lald
upon the industry of any people under
the SUM-"
Nor is this all.
"A grain dealer at Baltimore gets =
reduction of drawback which is denied
to others, and he makes a fortune fo'
himself while he ruins his competitors
bv underselling them. A single mill
at Rochester can stop the wheels OF al
the rest if it's flour be carried at a rate
much lower. By discrimination OF this
kind the profits Of one coal-mlne may
be o%uadrupled, while another, with all
it's fixture and machinery, is rendered
worthless. Such wrongs as these are
done not only in q few sporadic cases,
but generally and habitually on a very
large scale. Certain oil-men, whose
refinery was on Long Island, got rebates
amounting $40, 00O, 900 in eighteen
months, and seventy-nine houses 1
believe that is the number engaged III
the same business were broke up. The
creditors of the Reading Railroad, hav
ing coal lands of .heir own, made dis
elimination between themselves and
others which drove competition out of
the field, gave them the monopoly OF
the Philadelphia market, and enable
them to charge for their Goals as they
charge for their freight-what ever
they please. Thus producers, dealers,
and consumers all suffer together"
All this wealth and power are said to
be under the control of about ten men.
They are absolute monarchs in their
OWE dominions, and the whole is regu-
lated 10y their dictation, nor do they
stop there. They boldly issue their
DEGREES that preference shall be given
to the ports of one State over those of
another; TO one city over another; 10
one citizen over another. Congress
and the State Legislatures, under the
Constitution, have no right to do this.
But this decemviri, Indifferent alike to
the powers of the States and to the
powers of Congress, by whom their cor
poIations are created, hesitate not to
do what the powers that created them
cannot do. They are worth, indi,id-
ually, from one to one hundred mil
lions of dollars. These large amounts,
by watering stock, by specuiations, and
other dealing in the stocks of these
corporations, have been taken from the
general wealth and locked up in indi-I
vidual hands.
They are combining all the railroads
of the country in a war offensive and
defensive against everybody and every
thing in their way. They have recently
bought and consolidated the telegraph
lines, and thus, without competition,
control this great business. They now
seek to buy up the press of the coun
try. One of them, as it is currently
reported, has recently become the pur
chaser and owner of three of the ATTEST
o widely circulated. and most inhu
entail papers in the city of New York
and what they cannot buy outright
they attempt to substitute. Thus the
press, which, when free, honest, and
independent, is the strongest safe
guard to liberty, is enslaved and cor
rupted, and when it speaks at all speaks
the language of these corporations, and
thus becomes tributary to their power
and greatness.
But their power does not stop here. |
They control to a very large degree
many of the national banks, and
through them the currency Of the coun
try, contracting and expanding it at
their pleasure. Under this power for
tunes have been made and lost IN a day,
and men, women, and children in the
enjoyment of all the comforts of life
have in twenty-four hours been thrown
out upon the cold world without raj
ment or food, ruined. helpless, and
homeless. This power is felt, too, in
the operations of the Government, and
through it the price of bonds and the
time of payment are dictated to suit
themselves.
1t is charged and believed that these
ten men, the decemviri Of America.
control the elections, both national
and State, to an extent that should
alarm any lover of republican institu-
tions. They organize and send forth
to do their work the most powerful
Hobbies known to legislative bodies.
1t is charged and believed that they
nominate and elect many of the Sena-
tors and Representatives in both State
and Federal Government, and that
legislation is often, alas, too often, but
the echo of DEGREES issued from their
WI offices. 1t is charged and believed,
and instances are cited without reserve.
that they make and unmake many OF
the judges of our courts, who thus
become mere clerks to register their
DEGREES.
1t is charged that they were inplica-
ted in the frauds of 1876, that placed
IN the White House one who had never
been elected by the people that they
hold the balance of power between the
two great portions of the country, and
turn the scales as they choose, decid-
ing who shall be tie Chief Magistrate
of the Union, and then debating the
members OF his Cabinet. All Of these
tHihSo may uol NC true some OF tnem
doubtless are untrue; but enough is
true to show the power of the combi-
nation, and enough is true to show
that if they have not been guilty in all
respects as charged, they neither want
the power or will to do it all when nee
essary to their purpose. Enough is
true to prove how dangerous they NAV
become in republic like ours. Enough
is true to satisfy all that there should
be a check upon such power, and that
1t will require all the patriotism, vigor, |
and power of Congress to do it. Ma
thaniel Macon, for many Years a Sena-I