Omaha daily bee., 1888-01-06
The Trusts vs.. the Laborcrs.


There are unmistakable indications,
now the various so-called "trusts" have
been organized in the interest of cap
ital, and in direct antagOnism to the in
terest Of consumers and the public, that
they next propose to seriously reckon
with the labor of the country.
Nothing can be more clearly evident
than that in any state or community the
price of products, including that of la
Dor, can only be economically deter
mined on the principle of free competi-
tion. 1T may be claimed that Il pro-
tecive tariff tends to raise the value of
labor as well rs of the profits of capital.
For the noncc admitting this to- be true,
still there are influences at work which,
under the stimulus of an exceedingly
high system of protection, will force
the manufacturing capitalists to
combine to depress the wages of la
Dor in their interest, in order
to recoup themselves for the losses due
to excessive home competition; for it
cannot be denied that protection carried
to an abnormal degree will so multiply
manufactures as to cause Il glut of their
products. Indeed, the promise of the
protectio onistS, itcratcd and reiterated,
is that their system will so cheaper pro-
duction as to enable its bencfciaries to
compete with the manufacturers of even
free trade countries. These gentlemen,
meanwhile, take no note of the fact that
when the manufacturers of "A protected
country reach this stage of the system
they must be prepared to cut down not
only the profits of capital but the wages
of labor also, in order to place them
selves on a footing of superiority in in
Ia nj mad nnt ion
Now, no one will care to MAINTAIN, as
regards Great Britain, our principal
| competitor. that the profits of capital in
| the United States can be cut down to
figures which are there considered re-
muncrative. For one thing, interest on
money is more than double in the United
States what it is in Great Britain; for
another, rent, taxes, and incidentals are
much higher here than there; for an
other, raw material is much cheaper
there than here.
There remains, then, and will for
years to come, to these trusts only one
possible way by which this country can
internationally compete with power
full free-trade community, or even by
which it can preserve the semblance OF
home-man ufacturing competition. That
is by reducing the wages OF labor So
far our tariff has given n great artificial
stimulus TO manufacturers at the ex-
pense Of agricultural, at the same time
that the latter's profits are rapidly di-
minising. The result is nm enormously
increased home competition, accompa-
MED by decreased profits. To recoup
themselves by action in two directions
the principal protected industries have
formed themselves into so-called trusts.
One object of this is TO regulate compe-
tition. Another is to regulate the
wages Of labor. The iron and steel in
dustries have set out to effect both OBJ
iects. Tee railroads, led by the Read
ing. have followed suit. ~ the heels
Of these come the glass, the book, the
cigar, the cotton, the boot and shoe and
other manufacturing interests. Having,
as they believe, TO their profit and salts
faction, already reckoncd with the con-
suming public, the trusts have no set out
with the direct purpose OF similarly
reckoning with the laboring classes.