The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-05-10
MONOPOLY RIDDEN NEW YORK
Two Reports by the Legislatures In
vesLigating Committee.

TWO he ports Dy JDS 1eglS1atur0'S IN
ves.igating Committee,
ALBANY, n. Y, May 9.-The Senate COM
mittee on general laws, to which was =
tru ted the investigation into the various
trusts in the state, have reported to the
Sc ate. The republican members of the
committee -four in number) ma de a
majority report and the three democratic
members minority report. An immense
amount of testimony was taken, mainly
with regard to the following tusts:
Copper, sugar, jute bagging, milk,
eleva tor and wholesale groceries.
The majority say these trusts were
all formed for the purpose of regulating
the price and production OF certain com
modities and, in some cases, in total dis
regard of the law They therefore call the
attention of the Encouragement to the
facts. Sew raj of the trusts ara described
as simply 'co nersn and combinations.
REPORT OF THE MAJORITY.
The majority say;
Whether these forces can exist in the state
unrestricted by legislative enactment, and sub
ject only TO those natural laws which govern
commercial intercourse among men, without
danger to the Interests of the state its If, is the
greatest economic question OF the time. Ger
tain it is that no peaceful device, invention or
discovery ever occaSioned greater alarm on
the part of the people of the state and nation
than the subjects OF this lnqulry-comblnations
co nmonly known as trusts
The majority, in conclusion, frankly
state that while the trust, which is a new
form of an old and well-known pri ciple, is
full of dangers and should be repre- ,sed and
hedged around by law, do not believe it is
of necessity monopoly, or inconsi tent wit
public advantages within certain reasona-
Bile Ii nj ali Jus; that every combination
in trade has greater power either
for good or ell than the individual mem
hers of which it is composed; that its
power to fix prices or uuduly increase them
is indeed greater, but that the danger arls-
ing from lis exercise is greatly lesseneA by
the inventions and discoveries of this age;
that steam and electri city are factors of the
greatest consequence i / the adjustment of
wrongs and differences, which in former
times would have been without
remedy; that the new elements on
which the principle of combination seizes
are balanced and offset by other and, if
posi- lie, more powerful forces of mo fern
civilization, and that as a general rule,
society may rely upon those opposing
elements and compensations to keep peacs
between it and the conflicting interests and
inf1Ue ceS of the world of trade, no matter
how great their interests and influences
may be, and that such bala cling
forces are far more potent to that
end than any arbitrary rules of
legislative enactment. Comb lation among
lab ne S, OF the right to unite for p Otec-
ton, is a principle justly recognized BY
law. The limits within which SUCH right
may be exercised are plainly signated,
aud sharp penalties are prescribed for all
who overstep them. The principles upon
which such rights were formerly denied
bear a rema kable resemblance to those
which are now urged to deny absolutely
the right of combination TO capital.
WHERE THE MINORITY DIFFER.
The members of the mi lOrity concur in
many rr positions contained in the fore
gong report and acquiesce in the result to
tni extent.
We are of the opinion that at the present
time it is clearly impossible to obtain any legis-
lation more favorable to the interests Of the
people than is com non law, as the same was
declared by Judge Barrett 10 his opinion in the
action brought by the attorney general against
the North River Sug IT Refining Company The
decision in that case stands unrevers-d, and
this state. If it shall be affirmed by
the appellate courts the Wrstigation
with which the committee on general laws is
CHARGED will have borne ample fruit to ConSti-
tute its just fic ltion. We cannot subscribe to
the doctrine lat q yantic ordinations of cap
ltal, constituting virtual mOnopolies in dealing
with the nee sssares of life and exercising cor
porate powers without being subject to the gov
ernmental restraints ordinarily imposed on
corporations are harmless or bene6cent. nor to
the proposition that it is safe to trust entirely
to the corrective action of time and the law of
supply ami demand to eradicate the abuses in.
cident to Sucl colossal combinations of money
and power. While the copper syndicate sue
cumb4d to the weaknesses inherent in the in
struments by which it was formed, tbs Standard
Oil trust mas thrived and grown great under tn
manipulations of the extraordinary talent by
which it has been controlled, Although for one
cause an another minor attempts to
the sugar refineries company
contests inch by inca the power of the state to
attack lille Ultimate comb lations and the pow
erful associated elevator interests deny the
right and defy the authority of the courts and
legislature alike in attempts to make and in
force reasonable regulations of commerce..
Trusts succeed when destructi IN of comp ettioa
is possible. 1t tails Of its pur ose, and bows to
natural laws wnen the purses or skill of its
rivals or enemies prove superior to its own.