The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-31
The BapainR Trust.


The statement was made in our dispatches
yesterday that the manufacturers of bag
| gng have determined to advance the price
Of that article from to / cents per pound.
They have formed a trust, and control
nearly all the baggng in the market, and
can, therefore, fix the price to suit them
| elves
! 1t has been suspected for several weeks
| that the manufacturers were forming
trust, for the reason that they have not
seemed anxious to put their goods upon the
market Intact, they have refused to make
lnr.e sales, and it has been charged that
they have been selling only enough to pre-
vent tine suspicion that they were forming
trust, and intended to squeeze the cotton
| planters, from being confirmed Had that
| suspicion become sufficiently strong, there
would have been large importations of bag
| ging at once, and tho formation of a
trust would have been rendered impossible.
The purpose OF the manufacturers has been,
apparently, to allay suspicion of their de
| signs until the demand for bagging became
| imperative and it became too late to i'm
port it.
There is no reason for such heavy ad-
vance in bagging. The price of the raw
material has not advanced, and the cost of
manufacturing is no greater now than it
has been for several years The cost is, if
anything, a fraction less, because of I'M
proved manufacturing facilities. The
actual cost of two-pound baggng is about
Ga cents yard. 1t is apparent, therefore,
that the profit which the trust proposes to
make is an immense one.
Tho amount of bagging outside of the
trust is not more than II, 900, 900 yards, and
the cotton planters will need at least
81, 100000. The chance for making en-
enormous sum, therefore, by the trust is
very great. OF course the $1,000, 900 yards
outside Of the trust will be held at the price
fixed by the trust, because the holders of it
will make every cent they possibly can out
of it, The amount that will be taken out
of the pockets of the cotton planters by
the increase in the price will be more than
$l,0O0,000 In fact it has been estimated to
be as much as s., 100000.
If it were not for the high protective
tariff, baggng trust could not be formed.
The tariff is cents a yard on two-pound
baggNg The Mills bill makes the mate
rial from which bagging is manufactured
free and greatly reduces the duty on the
manufactured article. If congress could
be induced to pass that portion of the Mills
bill at once, which deals with hagging, and
tine raw material from which it is manu-
featured, the cotton planters would be
greatly benefited. There is, however, no
possibility of its doing anything of the
kind. The republicans do not seem to care
how much the people suffer from trusts
Indeed. they seem to be willing to uphold
trusts in robbing the people.
The manufacturers of bagging should
have a fair profit on their goods, but laws
which permit them to practice extortion
should be promptly and emphatically con
demned. What have our esteemed protec-
tion contemporaries in this state to say in
defense of system which makes possible
trust that proposes to put its hand
into the pockets of the planters
and take therefrom S2,0000Oo this
season? Possibly Mr.. Mckinley, whom he
visits the Salt Springs Chautauqua,
next month, will be able to satisfy the cot
ton planters that they ought to submit
without murmuring to the exactions of the
bagging trust. If he touches upon tho
matter, his argument will undoubtedly be
interesting. 1t is noticeable, however, that
the protectiOnsts are careful to steer clear
of troublesome questions