Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-28

Moreover in 1868 when the company
sent only 6, 404 ,595 messages, it cost the
company on an average G3. 4 cents per
message, and in order TO make a profit
on the capital invested, the average
price charged to the community was
81 .047 per message, leaving 4l.3 cents
profit per message. In 1887, when the
company sent A 1894 $50 messages the
average cost per message was % cents
and the average toll to the community
was reduced to 80. 4 cents per message
leaving only A cents profit per message.
It viii thus be seen that during the TWEEN
ty years Of this monopoly the average
cost of messages to the community, to
all points has been reduced "A 4 cents per
message, or over 20 per cent. and that
the profits have been reduced SO per cent
per message. In other words the total
cost of the service to the community to-
day is l0.9 cents per message less than
the profits alone were before the organ
ization Of this company.
These figures show conclusively that
whatever have been the gains of capital
the public have been benefited enorm-
ously by the use of machinery and i'm
proved processes operated by large or
CARNATIONS.
Large organizations can afford to in
vestigate, experiment with and develop
improvements which individuals or small
organizations cannot. There is, perhaps,
no better illustration of this than the sue
cessive reductions and improvements in
our postal system, by which the cost of
sending a letter has been reduced in eom-
paratively few years from % cents to 2
cents, and penny postage is now consid-
cred a possibility of the near future a
postal system conducted by individuals,
or number of small organizations could
never have accomplished this, for the
reason that they could not afford to take
the risk of the experimenting with the
successive reductions, which for a time
showed a loss.
1t is probable that had the telegraph
been owned by the people and operated
by the postoffice department, the reduc-
ton in the postage on kilograms would
have been as great as it has been on let
tiers.
Large organizations can also afford to
employ the best business talent, aud it is
safe TO say that almost any unorganized
industry, by combining and employing
the best talent it has in directing the
whole, can effect economies which, with
out raising prices to the consumer, can
earn much larger returns for the capital
invested.
Combinations also tend to improve the
quality of products, while competition
tends to debase quality. This is espe-
cially true in products where it is difficult
to define the standards of quality, as in
some branches of food products and in
the clothing trade, extreme competition
tends towards misrepresentation and low
ering of quality, while wherever fair
profit exists the standard of quality is
better maintained, and large and respon-
sible organizations tend in this direction.
The difference between trusts, corners
and trade associations
l. Trusts, aside from corporations, are
the most permanent form OF organiza-
ton, and are usually for manufacturing
purposes. They proceed upon the theory
of uniiication of interests through joint
ownership or management. yet, if prices
are sustained at an unreasonable point
for any length of time, Kew capital is at
tracted to that particular line, and the
effect Is for supply TO ousrun the demand,