Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-03-26
"a FARNERS TRNST.n

n FAdMEHO IN CSI"
The movement reported from Ksnsa:
in THE GAZETTE CT yesterday cannot be
a surprise to any man Of ordinary intelli-
gence. There is not q patriotic citizen
in the United States who has looked
with unconcern on the growth OF the
Crust" principle, snd tie opinion is
daily cry5tailiztng into conviction that
this government must destroy trusts oy
law or, through Law, the trusts will
govern If not destroy the government.
The organization OF labor was The
Initial protest sgsinst the organization of
capital, snd this movement reported
from Kansas is the initial protes. Of the
consumer against tie trust, which is the
most compact form of monopoly. TIRE
GAZETTE doubts the feasibility Of "a
Farmers Trust" but the success or failure
CT the effort has naUght to do with the
patent fact thst "tTusts" must go. As
the daily laborer wss the first to feel the
grinding of capital organized for divi-
dens only, SO consumers are the first to
feel the price appreciated by "trusts" to
produce the It TOURED profits on Invest
msnt.
II this movement of the farmers will
result In focSGziDg public attention to
the danger q ".rusts," greas good to
the whole country viii be accomplished.
Early in the present mouth the general
laws committee CT the Naw York Legisls-
ture submitted to the Senate of that
state report Of It's Investigations Of
trusts. The conclusions of that report
are summarized IS follows: During the
Investigation the formation, manage
ment and feet OF the following combi-
nalions, commonly known Ss trusts, were
made the chief subiec. ofirquiry: Sugar,
milk, rubber, cottonseed oil, envelopes,
elevators, oil cloth, the Standard
Oh, butchers, the glass trust and the
furniture trust. However different the
influences which gave rise 70 those COM
bin2tions may be, the main purpose, msn-
agement End effect Of alI upon the public
is the same, to wit: The aggregation of
capital, the power of controlling the man
uiac'uIe and output of various necessary
commodities, the acquisition or destruc-
ton Of competitive properties, all leading
to the final and conclusive purposes of
competition and enabling the
combinations 70 6x the p ice at which
they would purchase the raw material
from the producer, and at which they
would sell the r:h2cd product TO the
consumer.
Ia any evcnt.the pu5lic at each end OF
the industry, the producer and consumer,
is, and is intended to be, in a certain
sense, at the marcy Of the syndicate,
combination or trust.
After considering several OF the trusts
the report says: The pro-
moters Of the Standard Oh, sugar snd
cotton seed oil trusts. all argue that their
combinations do not necessarily have the
effect of raising the price OF the manu-
featured srticle to the consumer or OF
lowering the price of the raw product to
the producer, hut that the high price
paid to the producer and the low
price charged to the consumer
depend to great extent upon
the plant controlled By the. manufac-
turer and upon the capital at his COM
mand, and that the larger the capital and |
the more extended the field of ils indus
trial operations, the higher will be the
price paid to the producer of raw mate
rial, and the lower the Price charged to
The consumer of the refined product.
Unfortunately for these theories, facts
Of recen. dste do not sustain them.
As applied TO the sugar trust, it ap-
pears that the price Of sugar has largely
advanced since the trust was formed, and
10 satisfactory explanation was given of
he cause of such advance, aside from the
combination complained OF Of So per cent.
If the sugar rehners Of the Atlantic COST
o put up prices.
As spilled to the cotton seed oil trust
appeared that cotton seed oil had ad-
anced, and might st any time he further
dvsuced, in price, By the will Of the ]
rust. which, in effect, holds the control
I almost the entire industry OF the coun-
~.
Tried by this standard, the Standard
ii monopoly has q better case apparent
!; for the price OF coal or kerosene oil q
as diminished steadily since the forma- '