The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-07-16

great concerns possess such advantages
over small competitors that they are now
able to crush out in short time even
those who are perfectly solvent, and re-
duce them from an independent to sub
ordinate condition. Thus does great
commercial crisis work to make the rich
richer and the poor poorer.
Still further, these great concerns be-
came fierce competitors with one another,
the larger striving to kill out the smaller,
and all have been thus forced to do bust
ness at small profit, at least until only
few monsters are left who can agree to
divide the country between them, and
regulate business and prices by the de-
vice known as pooling. This contest, so
long as it goes on, will keep down profits
of all sorts, interest among the rest. The
Springfield Republican says, upon this
topic:
"Amid all the recent vicissitudes of
the financial world the rate of interest
tends uniformly downward, and our bank
ing men have pretty much given up the
anticipation to which they chung for a
long time that higher rates of interest
would return. With six per cent stocks
declining half their value, there is still no
lack of loaning capital upon frst-class
security at rates quite unprecedented.
Large loans upon mortgage are solicited
by the savings banks at four per cent.
The government borrows at two and one
half and the British government has
entered upon great refunding operation
to reduce the rate of interest on the
British consols from three to two and
one-half per cent The returns upon
capital have declined in the last ten years
from one-third to one-half, something for
discontinued labor to think of. The fact
that capital can be borrowed as cheaply
now in this country as anywhere in the
world does away with one of the old ex-
cuses for the tariff
The Republican means, of course, the
protective tariff, and is undoubtedly right,
for the whole course of business dur
ing the last ten years has been to put all
mechanical and operative labor entirely
in the power of capital, so that with low
interest and cheap labor very few indus
tries need ask for any governmental pro-
lection in the way of duties-though the
course capital is taking may soon demand
the protection of large standing army.
Now how is this low rate of interest to
benefit the public 1t will enable those
who are not hopelessly in debt in many
cases to pay off what they owe, and this
in turn will tend to keep down the rate of
interest by lessening the loan market.
The concentration of all the great lines
OF trade, manufactures and transportation
(of which the Standard Oil Company is
the most perfect type) will reduce cost of
manufacture, and will, for while at least,
keep down the cost of the necessary means
of living, or even lower it, thus making
good times for the farmers, who have
about the only small independent kind of
business which nobody has yet found out
how to monopolize. How few combina-
tions and pooling Gas in the barb-wire
fence business) will succeed in bringing
up prices again, remains to be seen. But,
as nothing is more cowardly than mil.
lion dollars, except ten million, and as it
will be a simple question for the great
corporations whether they shall keep the
public satisfied with low prices, or enter
on the dangerous path of defying the
people, and carrying things with high
hand by the purchase of the law-making
people and law-executing powers, no doubt
the chances are pretty good for the farm.
ers, for some time yet. Probably in time
some way will be found to monopolize the
land, as manufactures, mining and trade
are now being monopolized. But it is a
big job, and will not be accomplished be-
fore most now living are gone. Succeed
ing generations must look out for them
selves. The next century will be the
golden age of America, and after that
perhaps the millennium will step in and
prevent another reversion, through tyr
amy, to barbarism.