The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-01


The committee of the New York Legisla-
ture that is Investigating trusts is furnish
ing the public with a good deal
of information about them, but it is not yet
clear what the Legislature proposes to do
to make them less burdensome and danger
GUS They are burdensome because they
force the public TO pay more than legiti-
mate price for the articles they produce,
and they are dangerous because they make
millionaires of a few and help TO make
paupers of many.
The Standard Oil Company is the greatest
of ali the trusts and was the first one or
gained It's success led TO the organization
of others There are now the Envelope
Trust, the Cotton Seed Oil Trust, the Milk
Trust, the Sugar Trust, the tin lead and
copper trusts, and Others Of less importance
1t is evident that something must be
done to check the formation of trusts, and
to limit the powers of those already in ex-
istence. At the rate at which they are
being formed it will not be long before
about all the industries and business under
takings of the country will be organized
into trusts In that event the trusts might
defeat each others purposes, but it Is not
certain they would
The Standard Oil and the Sugar trusts
illustrate how the people are injured by
trusts The Standard Oil Trust, for in
stance, controls in this country the coal oil
market. 1t gets nearly all the crude oil
that is produced and refnes it. 1t has the
power to a great extent therefore, of fixing
the price Of petroleum and of refined oil. 1t
increases its wealth by levying a tribute
upon the product of the oil wells and
making the consumers of coal oil pay for
that article whatever price it pleases.
Having influence, owing to its wealth and
connections. it gets rebates on transporta
ton rates, and is, therefore. able to keep down
competition. Its little rivals, one after an
other, have been driven out of business
until it now has very little competition
which interferes with its plans. It's leading
stockholders are millionaires, and its stock,
although it has been increased from time
to time, is worth more than six times as
much as it was when the trust was first
organized
The Sugar Trust is new one, but its
power has been felt. 1t had hardly got into
working shape before the price Of raw sugar
dropped very considerably, while that OF
refined sugar advanced greatly. If this
trust is permitted to carry out its plans it
will undoubtedly take many millions of dol
lars annually out of the pockets of the
people beyond what the sugar refners, if
competing with each other, would be will
ing to accept as reasonable profit
The earnings of wage-workers are not in
creased by these trusts but the expenses
for the neceSsaries of life are. Trusts
therefore, make the rich, who are generally
benefciaries of them, richer; and the poor,
who are victims of them, poorer That
being the case it will hardly be denied that
they are evils, and very dangerous ones
They must either be abolished or rendered
less harmful How either of these things
is to be done is problem for legislators to
solve. Ii it is not solved, however, it is quite
safe to say that society will be confronted
with other and more serious problems, the
solution of which it will be impossible to
neglect or postpone.