The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-02-25
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The Trusts Condemned.

The Trusts Condemned.
The New York Journal of Com
merce pays its attention to the mo-
nopolistic trust of the present day
in Il recent issue. The objects and
the methods of these industrial
Molochs are so we'll described in
the article referred to that we quote
from it at length:
"The right ola community to pro-
hibit and punish attemps to corner
meat, grain, vegetables or any
other staple product needful to the
existence and comfort of man has
never been questioned. x Shall
it be called into play to break up
trusts-those combinations a thou
sand times more dangerous to the
public welfare than the little rings
of forestnllers against whom our
ancestors erected barriers? That is
the question. Its answer rests
with the people.
"There is still another way Of
reaching this evil through exist
ing instrumentalities. Some of the
trusts which are doing or threaten
ing so much mischief are incorp-
GRATED companies and dependents
of the state. The supremelpower
which permits them to live can
terminate their careers at pleasure.
The creature is less than the
creator, as many a trust will dis
cover if legislatures do their duty.
= - No previous combinations in
the history of human greed were so
profoundly feared and hated as
these new-fangled trusts. Some so
called mOnOpolies have large un-
paid retinue of friends and sup
porters. When one attacks rail-
road or telegraph monopoly he
showers his blows not merely on
two or three of its principal owners,
but upon the thousands of people
who hold it's shares for investment.
These all rally to the support of
their imperilled property and make
a sum total of influence which it is
difficult to overcome. A man in
Congress or State legislature who
owns Western Union or Pacific
Railroad stock may be relied on to
see that his shares suffer no detri-
ment by official acts. But the
shares in trusts are not thus freely
scattered among the peorle. These
are issued in large blocks as pay
ment to the establishments that
combine, and are, as a rule, retain
ed by them. The public at large,
never becoming interested as part
owner in these enterprises, has no
motive in tolerating them or shield
ing them from the punishment they
invite.
"At every step of it's ascent the
trust treads on the necks of living
men. Its path is strewn with
wrecks of small establishments
which it deliberately kills by un-
derselling before making the COM
bination to advance prices. A trust
in complete running order needs
only one staff ofcashiers, bookkeep-
ers, paymaster, ETC., at the central
Office. Large numbers of their en-
ployes are thrown out of work by
every trust that is organized.
These are henceforth the enemies
of trusts. Another operation in
cidental to trust is the restriction
of production by the closing of
factories. mills, etc. Thus we see
the Sugar Trust directing the
cessation of work at some of the
refineries belonging to it and turn
ing all the hands loose in the depth
VI WluIEI w SullU lOl tltSllloclNtS
Their peremptorily discharged
workmen are not now friends Of
trust.
"In fact, these qdious trusts have
no friends anywhere, and are thus
peculiarly Vulnerable. 1t
would puzzle the cleverest casuist
to invent plea for the federation
of trusts which are organized and
maintained avowedly to make
artificial higher prices for the neces-
saries OF life. They are entitled to
no sympathy and they should re-
ccive no mercy. Their hands are
against every map. An instinct Of
representation demands that
their ambitious designs should be
thwarted by every means known
fo me law