The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-03-29
The se5. 900. 600 Salt rrust.

Speculative greed does rot appear to
have been discouraged by the failure of
the latest combination OF capital and
credit to control the prices of commCd-
tiles. The collapse or the Copper Syn
dicate has hardly ceased to excite COM
ment before it is proposed to make war
upon the resources of nature and the
laws OF trade in a gigantic conspiracy
to corner the worlds supplies Of salt. II
has been stated that the ring in process
OF formation for This purpose will b.
able 70 command a capital of 80, ,OOO-
600. The object of the combination, IS
explained by its promoters, is TO insure
Liberal dividends 70 the capital invest
ed " and at the same time 10 beneYo-
lently afford the best quality of salt at
reasonable prices'' % consumers.
So long as partial and unjust laws do
not interfere with free competition con
sumers can we'll afford to laugh at all
such cOnspiracies 20 enhance the cost Of
the necessaTies of living. y cOmbina-
tion like this may temporarily limit
supply and force mp prices, but failure
has been written upon the history OF
every similar scheme to defeat the laws
Of trade. 10 is only under a system Of
protection which sscriices the gen
erai welfare 10 the interests of a few
that ring for limiting aud controlling
The supply of a prime necessary OF eX-
is-ance can hope tC1achieve even par
tial success.
When production is stimulated by the
tariff lure of enormous profits the sup
ply soon OutstTips the demand, and
prices decline in the reactionary move
msnt until they reach a lower level than
that which existed before the formation
OF the conspiracy. The Copper Combs
nation is now undergoing this process,
and no one can predict how low the price
of cope: may fall in the general mar
kats before the normal relations between
supply aud demand shall have been re-
stored.
In the limited market controlled by
tariff system like ours, however. the
capitalists who have gathered large
winB ings in a conspiracy against trade
can readily combine TO limit production
until the demand shall have Over:aken
the supply. They car afford TO close
their mines and mills Cor a time and eX-
pend a portion of their gains in await
ing the turn in the market. On the
other hand, the woIkingmen in their
employment, whose capital is their dai-
ly labor, cannot walt. To them this
waiting process means loss of employ
Z
iZation. Indeed, in this consists the
the peculiar iniquity of these industrial
cOnsplracies. The masses OF consumers
can ACCOMMODATE themselves in some
degree TO the vicissltudes in prices p:O-
duced by this system, bat TO the work.
ingmen who are directly affected il is
| Pitiless in its cruelty.
In depTecating the oDlinious appear
| ance OF the Salt Trust upon the horizon
OF trade the New York Tribune pres
| sents a table 20 show how much the
price OF Michigan salt has declined in
/ the last twenty years under the influence
/ of Protection. The Tribune might as
well array tables showing the decline
| of beef, pork and nearly all other COM
mOdities from imitation prices and at
| tribute the result To the tariff In this
| downward range of prices the chief fac
/ tors are in the improved processes of pro-
/ ductiOn and in the marvellous develop
\ ment of the means of distribution, not
| only in this country but throughout the
world but these weighty factors the
tariff organ leaves wholly out of the
I account. Cheap as salt has become in
the worlds markets. the tariff system
! depTivesAmerican consumers of the full
benefit OF the reduction. In spite OF a
duty of 20 per cent, foreign salt j:
imported in considerable quantities, and
upon its cost is adjusted the price of the
domestic article. Now it is proposed *
take advantage of the tariff in order II
form q gigantic Salt Monopoly. A:
honest and brave old Tom Benton used
20 exclaim. the tax upon salt il
''a crime against human nature. u
Ibila. Record.