Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-05-17
MONOPOLIES.
Their Blighting Power on Our Civil
cation.
Corporations the Natural Result Of %.
operative Forces.
Methods by Which Capital and Labo
May be United.

The following argument In favor Of
| cooperation, suggesting a new plan
| for workmen, is made by Hon. David
Dudley Field, the eminent lawyer and
statesman:
1t Ia easy to sic whence came the
first cutlery against corporations; Il
came from the abuse Of corporate
power. 1t was the fear Of abuse that
so long limited the granting of the
| privilege TO few persons and few occa-
sions. There was time when special
charters only were given, and they
| grudgingly. By and by the demands
of business and the dread of corrup-
ton in the granting Of favors led to
the enactment OF general statutes,
under which all who choose may
become incorporate. So it has
come to pass that there are now in
state thousands upon thousands OF cor
porations. But there Is murmuring
against them. Why? Because in our
thirst for the wealth that these institu-
tions help to increase, we have neg
lected to fence them about with all the
restraints that prudence should have
foreseen to be necessary. We have, in
fact, created new class of beings, in
COIDuINdl anu Ut
according to the will or caprice of their
creator, as chance or reason may have
1t, great in riches and in power, and
formidable by the number Of their de-
pendents. No wonder that individuals
often find themselves powerless before
these aggregations of wealth and PEG.
pie; no wonder that the managers or
governors of these institutions should
sometimes forget their better
nature - in the consciousness
Of their power; no wonder that con-
flicts should arise frequently between
the corporations and individuals, and
sometimes between the corporations
ana the state. That there is danger in
the situation, none can deny. The
problem is, how to avoid the danger
while holding on to the benefit.
Many of the abuses of corporate
powers have crept into our system
from
CARELESS AND HAP-HAZARD LEGIs.
LATIoN.
Let us for example take look into
the statute book of New York for the
. p asst ten years, decade, be il remem.
bered, when general statutes had come
to be the rule and special charters the
exception. AT the last session
seventy-four statutes were passed
relating to corporations, some gen
eral, some special. If this be con-
sidered the average, the number oil
statutes relating to corporations passed
Q in the last ten years reaches to 740
The cost OF IS session of the legislature
: during these ten years, taking one
year with another, has been about
; $3.50 600, aud as the number of statutes
/ averages $50 year, the cost of one
A statute If we were to measure the ben.
efits OF Legislature by the statutes II
enaots, would be little more than
$500, and the cost of the laws relating
4 Co corporations passed last year would
be about 100000, aud those in ten
r years the enormous SUM of $500 000
For so great an outlay there should
be something great in return. Bui
what have we? Contradiction, con
fusion, uncertainty. The principal
corporations formed for profit ar
banks, insurance companies, trust com
panies, railway, telegraph and manu-
featuring companies. There is not the
slightest reason why all these corpora
tions should not hereafter be formed
by the like number Of persons and un
der one general law.
May we not prudently aud wisely
carry the principle OF association lit
tie further and make IL help bridge
over the chasm,
YAwNING WIDER AND WIDER EVERY
DAY,
: between capital and labor? The no
tility to corporations has grown, as al
F., ready mentioned, out of hostility to as
ISOLATED capital. Why not, then, en-
| tar fhDaa IN MAXI
!, them associations, not of capital only
q nor of labor only, but of capital anC
labor united Can this be done
IL we are not able to solve the
: problem altogether, we may per
haps help solve 1t In part at least lei
d, us try. We are all agreed that ther'
is need of closer relations between th'
different members of the social body
We are wont to boast, aud the boas
!. is for the most part "a just one, that II
! our country every mans career II
). omen before him, so that he Is free u
y choose whichsoever he will. Bu
while this is true, IL is also tue tina
= the means OF pursuing particular ca
reer are not given tO all alike. IL
bring these mems within reach, so IA
"a possible Is problem that 1t would
be well for US all TO study Though j
O be true that most of our successful
men began with nothing and worked
: their way up by sober and laboriou
thrift; aud that what these men hav'
done others in like circum ,tances ms,
. do, vet not all are endowed with tbs
same vigor of body or mind or the sam
strength of will. Opportunities ar
q not equal; health may fail; an agent o
= partner may prove fai'hless; and 8
1t may happen, as IL does often harper
without one's own fault, that his foo
d slips and he stumbles TO the ground.
, What Is corporation? Acting to
a gether for common end. bevera
families unite for the purchase OF thei
y supplies by common agent at whole
It sale prices, aud
THUS SAVE A PART OF THE fhofT
~ retail trade. This Is the most com