The Globe-republican., 1891-03-25
CONCENTRATION.

There is so much said and written dur
ing these days Of general political effer-
vesence concerning the concentration of
capital. and its forces. that one feels the
same dislike to reading an article on
trusts. combines. etc. that he has to-
ward patent medicine advertisements.
Now is there not a possibility. yes a
probability. that the masses Of the peO-
pie are in error as to the influence of
this concentration of forces being for
evil? There is no factor potent for good
that is not also capable OF working evil.
Economy is Il trait that is often and
rightly commended. yet in no way can
so great economy be shown as by con-
centratiOn of forces. limited we stand.
divided we fall is almost trite saying.
the truth of which is apparent, yet it is
but another way of saying that concen-
trated forces are powerful.
In working for the accomplishment of
an end. whether it be lawful or other
wise. the main and continued mi JUNCTION
has been, is. and will be, to '.stick to-
gether." Now in the matter of the in
vestment of capital. The small savings
of the many, in the aggregate make a
vast sum. AID when invested in an under
taking give to each one the same per-
centage of gain that is made by the in
weston of millions i'm the same enterprise.
In no other way can the evils arising
from the accumulation of immense indi-
vidual fortunes be so thoroughly checked
and overcome rs by the united capital
and brain of the many with small means.
Since the first pedagogue logged and
instructed the youth of his period we
have been told to concentrate our energies
and pointed to the man with one idea.
as the successful man. The idea that all
trusts and combines are wrong. is destin-
ed to be short lived and is already giving
place to the more rational opinion that
it is the policy and duty of the weak as
well as the strong to combine.
This is a concentrated age. the splatter
guns have largely given place to the huge
rifled canon, the fleet of sailing vessels is
superseded by the steamer. and at the call
of one man the people of nation come
together. All this concentration of
forces is but the working of natures
economic laws. Is there then any good
reason why the two most potent factors
for both good and evil should scatter
their forces and waste their energies:
The power behind the throne of the
world is not longer to be pictured by the
face of beauty, but by the brawny arm
of labor. The power which supports.
must control the throne.
Labor and capital need not be antago-
nistic, nor should they be; labor is capt.
tai, and its waste or wrongful use is the
destruction of so much capital. Statis-
tics show that all the money (not all the
capitaD in this country passes through
the hands of labOrers at least once every
three or four months, so we see that if but
"h"i pOiSCutds,O VI tuiS 10 hCpt ny luC
laborer, each time as it passes through,
the labor capital can soon possess enough
Of the money of the nation. to make,
when united, the most gigantic combine
or trust in existence. There is no in
herent wrong in such a combine, but the
wrong comes through the abuse of so
great a power; the responsibility of
rightly using their talents rests as heavily
upon the labor capitalist as upon the
money capitalist; mistake or wrong
done by one is no more of crime than
when done by the other. The main diff
ference i'm the influence exerted by the
two kinds of capital may rest in the fact
that better minds are employed. and bet
ter judgment used in the investment of
money capital than labor capital. and the
one has learned to concentrate its ener-
gies while the other has not