South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1889-07-12

eAsO J0otluCu
his opinion as to the consideration
which the people might expect from
the operation Of these selfish
schemes for it said: in any event,
the public at each end Of the industry
(lhe producer and consumerl Is and
is intended to be. in q certain sense,
at the mercy Of the syndicate, combi-
nation or trust.'
The United States House OF Rsp.
resentatives also adopted a resolu.
ton January IS, 1883, instrueting
the Committee on manufactures to
inquire into the names, number and
extent OF such alleged oombinsii ,us,
their method Of combination, their
effect on tho prices of the necessaries
OF life, upon our internal and foreign
commerce, and our revenues from
import duties.
The committee on manufactures is
one OF the large number or formal
committees which come down from
the past, whose only use in present
Congresses Is to give q craftsmanship
, and clerk 70 some member whose
real work will be elsewhere. But
Speaker Carlisle, in framing the com.
mittee q. the beginning OF the last
Congress anticipated the duties that
would be assigned It, and placed at
its head the Hon. Henry Bacon, OF
New York. an able lawyer and in.
dustrious representative.
THE Bio FOUR.
The committee devoted mapy davs
TO the Inquiry imposed upon it. anJ.
instea1 of scattering its examin alton
over large field, selected four com.
6inations for investigation. to wit:
The sugar trust. the Standard Oil
trust, the whisky trust and The cot.
ton bagging trust Two Of these, it will
be obs erved, were combinations as 10 ar,i-
cles protected by tariff duties, one as to an
article subject TO taxation under our inter.
nal revenue system snd one ss to articles
not imported, or at least not eubiect 10 tar.
alton under either tariff or excise laws.
This inquiry has given rs two lsrpe vol
umes OF testimony, and the committee in its
hnal report, made just before the Hual ad-
journment OF Cos gress March 1889 er.
rrees the opinion that this testimony will
disclose the nature, form and causes Of
trusts and that all Others 10 existence are
formed in Substantially the same way as
the four investigated. They declare that
the number formed and forming il very
large. and affects large portion OF the i'm.
porta1t industrial Interests Of the
country. and that they did not attempt a
list, because new ones are constantly form
ing, and old ones are constantly extending
their relations 30 a. 10 cover new branches
OF business and to invade new terri tories.
BY the help OF the material gathered in
these two Investigations, I shall attempt to
answer the questions Set before me- but be.
may clear the way for better understand
ing Of trusts. when come to delineate
then. BY some preliminary inquiry az 10
their genesis and development.
! Magical as has been their rise in the past
twenty.four months, and rapid as has been
taeis sweep over the country, they are not
sudden gro wths, springing forth into luxu-
iiance from some temporary condition of the
soil, without roots in the past. Nor are
they, as We are sometimes told, merely a
monster brood born of the Illicit commerce
between legal astutsness and corporate
greed.
II such were, theit genesis We
might anticipate their speedy disap,
pearance, or we might deal with
them by summary process.
Their Importance and their menace
lie In the fact that they are growths
which have their roots far back in
the past.
They represent development the
latest and most perfect development
OF the principle of combination the
last and most successful effort Of in.
dustry In its ever.continued struggle
to escape from the open sea OF com
petition into the unvexed haven CT
monopoly, for where the waves OF the
ore cease to play the dead calm of
the other has already begun.
THE ALLIES or INDUSTRY.
In this struggle modern Industry,
which in other days depended chiefly
on law or kingly prerogative, has
found three potent allies-the cor
porstion, steam and electricity. Pos
sibly, should amplify the last two
Into science and mechanical inven-
ton. At the basis of modern indus
try lies the railway, in whose devel.
opment these three forces have ex.
hib!sed their highest power aud their
most perfect union. Indeed the
railway lie not only the chief servant
OF modern industry but in It's own
history aptly illustrates the growth
OF that industry. The development
OF our gigantic railway system has
been marked by three welI.knnwn
stages First the era of rapid specu-
Iative construction then a period OF
sharp competition, and lastly a per-
iod Of steadily accelerating combina.
J ton or consolidation. In all this it
has but moved in advance of, and
TO large extent made possible. q
like development Of modern industry,
There, too, in many lines of produc-
ton We have seen more or less clear
ly defined the same succession Of
periods.
ln the first period the dominant
Idea everywhere was 10 build or So
cure as many railroads as possible.
Charters we're freely granted, capital,
stock or bonds subscribed for, public
credits loaned, public m 1neys pledg-
ed and public lands donated. There
seemed little forethougbt as TO cons
sequences, and the general feeling
with which the public in the United
States welcomed the new system Of
characterization In wall iftusISatod b.,