Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-10-18
THE TRUSTS.
Blains'S Mastery Description Of the
Great HOnOpOli6S.
THE DEMOCRACY PETS.

DioilO metS StOOIOO baS IO,OOO oV N'OoihNii
a manufacturing town in Northern In
diana. 1t was the biggest erOwed ever
gathered in that part of the state, and
was so unwieldy that there was speak
ing from three stands. Mr.. Blaine ad-
dressed the great gathering as follows:
Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens of Indiana =
'Stop thief ~ is a cry not entirely con-
fined to the criminal classes. The cOun-
terpart o. the trick is known in political
circles, and is especially noticeable in
the present course Of the Democratic
party respecting trusts" In President
Cleveland's famous free trade message
Of last December he warned the country
of the dangers of trusts" and argued
that they were the offspring and result
of the protective system established by
the, Republican party. At the same
Ftime; while assailing in the wide sweep
kof his accusation almost every induStri-
al interest in the North, the Presi-
dent was particularly careful to be ST
lent respecting the enormous tariff on
sugar Out of s2l2, 100000 collected on
importations of every kind last year
over S5S 100000 came from sugar alone,
which is equivalent to more than one
| fourth of the customs revenue for the
year. When Mr.. Cleveland penned his
message he knew that one of the largest
trusts ever organized in the world, the
sugar trust, was in full operation, and
that If protective tariff was helpful to
that trust, he was giving it all the aid
both official and personal in his power.
If the words of his message are true he
is himself responsible for levying these
countless millions upon the pockets of
all consumers of this country for an ar
ticle of universal use among the fami-
lies of the land. Cheers and cries of
"That's SOL Nor was Mr.. Cleveland's
silence the only boom which the sugar
trust received. When the Mills bill was
under consideration the President of the
sugar trust (Mr. Havemeyer), we'll
known, active Democrat of New York,
appeared before the Ways and Means
Committee, and, according to the state
ment made in open Senate by Mr.. ALI
son, of Iowa, obtained such an arrange
ment of duty as was equivalent to So
100000 in the pockets of the trust.
TSensation. If, therefore, the price of
sugar has been unduly advanced to the
consumer, the responsible parties, ac
cording to the Presidents doctrine, is
the President himself and the Ways and
Means Committee who concocted the
Mills bill in the interest of that trust l
think, moreover, that wherever you find
one of the necessities of life cornered
land controlled by an association of men
for the purpose of reaping undue profit,
you will find the supporters of Mr..
Cleveland at the head of the movement.
THE SALT TRUST.
Sugar may indeed be accounted lux
ury, for we can exist without it; but salt
is one of the primal necessities of life.
We all know that a salt trust exists in
this country, and the man who is now
at the head of it, openly and ayowedly
conducting its affairs, is Wellington r.
Burt, the present Democratic candidate
for Governor of Michigan. Mr.. Burt is
earnestly advocating the removal Of all
duties for salt. This would seem an
other form Of contradiction of the Pres
ident's theory that protection is the first
cause of all trusts; and it likewise fully
justifies the ground taken during this
canvass that trusts exist more freely in
a free trade country than in protective
country-more freely in England than
in the United States. l am fortunately
able to give you piece of information
that has a strong bearing, l think, on
~
hold in my hand a copy of the London
Times Of September 3, from which l
learn that they are forming "a salt trust"
in England. The statement in the
Times, quoted from two English papers
locally interested, is this:
''The efforts to form the great salt trust
have succeeded beyond the most sanguine
expectations. All the Cheshire salt works
have been Professionally acquired by
London syndicate represented by Messrs.
Fowler & Co., solicitors, Westminster,
and negotiations are proceeding fayora
bly, to purchase all the extensive works
in Worcestershire and Durham. The
capital required is fixed at three millions
pounds sterling, and has been subscribed
in advance many times over. In conse-
quence of the monopoly thus created it
is expected that the price of common salt,
now sold at two shillings and siXpence
ton, will rise to ten shillings."
Let me ask, now, if any man in Indi-
ana believes that Mr.. Wellington R.
Burt's salt trust in the United States
and this great salt trust in England are
likely to prove rivals to each other? Do
you think they will cut down prices and
deprive each other of their respective
profits when the English trust points out
the way to increase the price of salt
four-fold at single jumpf Do you
think Wellington R. Burt is the modest
man to say "no" to proposition to
unite the two trusts? All stock |
holders are on the ground floor and
both united in an agreement to advance
salt 800 per cent to the consumer in
Great Britain and the United States. |
Applause and laughter. Thus you see
the danger, apparently without a reme |
dy, that will follow an international
trust organized on the basis of free
trade.
Alexander Hamilton laid it down, in
the greatest financial paper submitted
by him to Congress, that behind pro-
tective tariff, competition would always
insure reasonable prices to the consum-
er; and 1 ask you if our experience does
not Justify the wisdom of the first and |
greatest Secretary of the Treasury in all
the years that have elapsed since he
wrote those significant words2 Cheers.
But If we should reach the basis of free
trade, the Presidents great goal of pros
perity, and the manufacturers and hold
ers of an article of the same kind in any
foreign country unite, where is your re-
liefr Where is your defenseH Cheers
and cries of "You are right"
Well, gentlemen, these are not the
only two Democrats trusts. We have
now spoken of one necessary luxury and
and one absolute necessity.
THE WHISKY COMBINE.