Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1888-10-20
is THE DAY BREAKING :?

see as far into q mill stone as any
other man, and much farther than
most editors of his class, into the
social and economic problem of his
time, is proved by the extracts given
below, which are taken from a re-
cent leading article in the Gazette:
"If Lord Bramwell has time to spare
to consider the growth of the popular
protest in America against the American
system of trusts, he must feel profoundly
miserable Even less vehement oppo-
nents of socialism than he may feel
some alarm at the headlong way in
which a system based on unrestricted
private competition is plunging into So
clalism of very pronoun, ed type. For
our part, we are not alarmed, only inter
ested and curious. Unless there is
sudden check it seems as if the national
izaii"n, or at least the municipalizaton
of the means of production were likely
to he brought about by simply leaving
the other system to work out its own
growth to its ultimate development.
The American trust system, which
President Cleveland regards with unut-
terable hatred, and which his..opponents,
with the exception of Mr.. Blaine, vie
with him in denouncing, lands us on the
threshold of socialism. 1t is the nation
alization of the means of production,
not for the benefit of the nation, but for
the benefit of the members of the ring
or combine in other words, of the
private capitalists who combine to-
gether to secure for themselves all the
benefits of a monopoly, and to deprive
the public of all the benefits of competi-
ton. AS soon as it has been proved that
modern facilities of communication have
rendered this possible, and experience
shows that the human intelligence has
been so adjusted to our new conditions
as to render the successful management
Of such affairs practicable, the commun-
ity seems likely to abandon in despair
the effort to secure an unobtainable com
petition, and establish the State in place
of the trust"
''In short. the work of civilization is
going on at railway speed. Now, it is
evident that if the direction of the af-
fairs of a trust controlling all the means
of production of any given article is not
beyond the power of a board of direct
ors, acting in the interests of the ANAL
gamated capital of the associated pro-
ducers, it will be within the compass of
national board, acting in the interest
of the community at large Hitherto
the chief practical objection to the So
cialist suggestion has been the impossi-
bihty of securing effective business
management over the nationalized
means of production. But if that has
been surmounted in the case of a mo-
nopoly co.extensive with a State which
is run for the benefit of the capitalist it
cannot be insurmountable in the case of
a monopoly created in the interest of
the whole community. The great moral
objection that it will cripple individual
ltv and limit private enterprise may still
hold good as against a really free sys-
tenn of competitions; but it cannot do so
against the system of capitalists trusts.
Now, all this is trlte enough to
readers of the WoRKMEN's ADvo-
CATE, but its true significance lies in
the fact that there is a class of men
who, being, like Nicodemus, mas
ters in Israel and time-servers with
al, dare only come to Jesus by night,
while their convictions rest upon
nothing more substantial than alb
stract truth. But here come the
trusts, with object lessons which
even the wayfarlng man. though a
fool, can Observation-Disclosures his
pocket. Henceforth editors of Pail
Mall GazetteS and the like may treat
their bewildered readers to doses of
pure, unadulterated Socialism with
out risk to their position as rulers of
the Jews.
But have not both the old parties
promised to put down the trusts and
save our dearly beloved competition
from strangling itself in its own
meshes?
Yes, many miracles are promised,
especially at election times, but even
supposing these promises are sincere
and the capitalists really do attempt
to suppress themselves, would they
not thereby be getting out of their
depth?
Let it be remembered that the
suppression of the trusts would mean
state interference with private enter
prise, and where would this end :
1t would still land US on the thres-
hold of Socialism, only by another
route. W. T. HORN.
!, ,usu .. ..4 s,uo 40 g- eests,rztI0n Or xrrs