West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1888-03-09

Of NO public benefit. Agreements
10 control vast industries, all details
OF which are thus sedulously con-
cealed, must be of such character
that those concerned in them dare
not allow the facts to pass into the
possession of the public and its
grand Jurors and prosecuting off,
GERS. The written agreement which
forms the constitution Of the sugar
trust is kept so secret that Mr..
Parsons has intimated that he would
20 to Jail rather than produce it.
No criminal secret involving the
lives OF . band Of political conspi-
rators was ever more closely guard.
ed.
We doubt If any possible expos
ure of the operations Of the trusts
could do so much to influence the
public mind against these new de-
vices Of monopoly IS this policy OF
concealment. The inevitable infer.
ence is that there must be something
behind all this even worse than the
public has suspected. This appears
to have occurred to the more astute
members of the Standard oil, for
when John ID. Rockefeller was call
ed to the stand he, after q mere for
NAL protest, gave the committee n
COPY of the famous deed OF trust
that serves as the constitution OF
the Standard oil trust, and assumed
an attitude Of great frankness TO-
ward the committee. Either this
attitude or, something else had such
an effect on George Bliss, one Of the
committees counsel, that he han
died Mr.. Rockefeller with great ten
derness, and even protested against
pushing the investigation too far.
Even il this investiga-
ton. covering a wider range, only
serves to emphasize the facts elicit
ed by the present investigation in
this city, it will be of great use. 1t
is of less importance that legisla-
tive remedy shall be devised than
that public opinion against the
growth Of monopoly and the con-
slant tendency Of enormous power
to concentrate in an ever lcssening
number Of hands shall he aroused.
We arc entering on a presidential
campaign in which the tariff will be
the main issue. Nearly all OF those
engaged in these conspiracies to en-
nance prices. limit production and
control the wages and opportunities
for employment of labor, are protect
ionists. Into the testimony show
ing that they close factories while
guaranteeing profits to their owners
but nothing to the men thrown out
of work, they inject the familiar
cant about the need OF tariff to
protect American labor against the
pa1per labor of Europe. The hy-
pocrisy OF such pretense is so bold
that it must excite the derision Of
even those workingmen who have
hitherto been deluded into belief
that the protective system is main
tanned for their benefit. The fullest
possible exposure of the tactics of
these high tariff trusts will be most
effective in opening the eyes OF the
masses to the fact that what our
protective" tariff really protects is
monopolistic robbery, and not the
wages of labor. Now is the time for
such an exposure, and the closer the
the rebellion against protection
can be linked with general attack
on all monopolies built up by legis-
lation or conspiracy, the better will
be the chance for securing popu-
lar verdict in support of that move
ment. Tariff reformers in Congress
cannot afford to ignore the subject
of trusts.