The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-03-01
p. 4. MEAD. Editor.
TRUSTS.

TRUSTS.
Made possible by twenty-fOur yeare
Of Republican rule.
Commercial Combines Which Hold
Consumers In an Iron Grip.
Monpolists who Successfully Con.
spire to Restrict Production
Lower Wages and Raise
Prices Exorbitantly.
The Herald's exposure OF the trust
system has made q stir in the coIn-
munity.
The insidioue growth Of these mo-
nopolies in monopolies-which are
anti-republican and intensely un-
Anerican-has aroused the alarmed
attention not Of statesmen alone but
of the entire community.
When the supply and the prices Of
fuel. food and clothing-the neces-
saries Of life-are slowly but surely
coming to be at the mercy Of rings Of
monopolists, it is q state Of affairs In
which every man, woman and child
in the country has = vital interest.
And it is q danger which cannot wait
for the discussions Of theoretical po-
litical economists; it must be met at
once by the peoples representatives
in the halls Of legislation.
The Herald has shown how real
and present is the public danger from
the growth Of the trust system by .
recapitulation Of some OF those new
forms Of concentrated monopoly.
1t was shown how the impunity
with which the Standard OIL Trust,
in defiance Of law, has been enabled
to build up the biggest and most dan
gerous monopoly in the worldly
corrupting legislators and crushing
and running all competitors has en-
boldened other greedy monopolists
to undertake tho organization Of sim
liar schemes Of robbery.
1t was shown how = combine Of
a few coal barons controls absolutely
the supply and price Of the fuel We
burn; how the new sugar trust regu-
lates the entire sugar production Of
the country; how the trunk lines Of
railroad still have a pool, In def
ance Of the Interstate Commerce law,
and how the Cottonseed Oil Trust--a
child of the Standard-has obtained
q monopoly in this article which il
more of food product than people
generally are aware OF, for We must
eat it, willy nilly, in ''olive" oil, but
ter, lard and many other heretofore
innocent but now adulterated edibles.
Something was told about the rub
Der trust, the telephone combination,
the new warehouse trust and organ
izing fertilizer trust, which, il not 10
outrageous a. those which control
fuel and food, are, nevertheless, in
iquitous excresences.
But all this only scratches the sur.
face.
We give briefly sketch Of some Of
tina nther snnnnpnli0s ~lai.h 40
growing to be more and more dan
gerous in stealth and secret. For,
like other evildoers, the conspirators
who form these combinations meet in
holes and corners and use every ef-
fort to prevent the sunshine Of pub
licity.
COMBINATIONS EVERYWHERE.
As will be seen, our daily food-the
meat supply-is controlled by q clique
OF brokers and butchers: that the pa-
per trade has y half score OF coinbina-
tions; that the metal manufacturers
are held in bonds Of steel; that the
gas we burn 10 regulated by q system
Of pools which is spreading from city
to city; and that the makers OF can
vas, whisky, cordage, twines coke,
lard, mica and pitch are among the
many who seek successfully to upset
the natural laws Of supply and de-
mand by fixing arbitrary prices fol
their commodities.
The entire mutton and lamb sup
ply Of the New York incrkets is con-
trOlled by score Of men.
There are two combinations-one
Of brokers aud the other Of butchers.
They are both close combinations
and monopolies Of the most offensive
sort; for they will, under no circunl-
stances, admit any outsider to their
organization.
SHEEP CONTROLLED BIZ MoNorOLIsrs
The two combinations which have
undisputed control Of the mutton
and lamb supply are the Live Stock
Association Of New York and New
Jersey aud the Sheep and Lamb
Butchers Mutual Benefit Associa-
tion.
The first il an ironclad organization
of brokers who control all the live
sheep and lambs which reach this
market. The principal men in this
''combine" are Newton 4 Gillette,
Judd y Buckingham, +. =. kase, J.
F. Sadler, hallenbeck 4 Hollis, u.
Harrington, Everitt l. Pidcock,
James w. Pidcock and Hume e. Null
len.
These few men for the past
four years have handled all the live
stock in the mutton line. They have
their buyers at Buffalo, pittsburg
aud all the approaches to New York
Oh the various railroads, and
they secure control Of all the
shipments. They can hold hack
50 rs to regulate a. they please the
supply in New York and thus de-
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