The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-04-06
THE GROWTH OF TRUSTS.


one Of the most surprising things in
p'hucs Is the steady growth of trusts and
lnonopolles in the manufacturing lines. 1t
oh not seem so strange that they should
slring up Immediately after Mr.. HAIR
RsoN's election, nor that they should
multiply after the passage of the Nc
hiNLEY nili but that now, when every
tl'hs points 10 the overwhelming defeat of
HARRISON for reelection it would seem the
capitalists should go a little slow. The ex-
pAnatlon probably is that although the
lsnocracy will on the 4th of next March,
OILY about eleven months of, be repre-
sented In the executive mansion, the combi-
nations may still have power enough to
keep the present tariff duties intact. Until
tie Democracy is firmly established in the
legislative, as well as the executivs branch
OF the government, there will be the
temptation to organize these trusts to
destroy competition, to increase the prices
OF commodities and to keep down the
wages of industry.
scarcely week passes that we do not
hear OF the Incorporation of one or more of
these organizations. Last week we had
the absorption of the SPREcKLEs monster
sugar refinery, which had so long held out
and the development of fifty million rub
Der trust to control the entire business of
waterproof goods. These great enterprises
are the product of the example of vast
number of manufacturing combines. Their
capital stock is generally three or four
times the amount of money actually put in.
When rivals spring up or stand OUT against
them they are undersold until they can
stSld the pressure no longer To compete
with big trust, whether it makes crackers
or watches, or umbrellas, or collins, or
what not, has ceased to be.a privilege of
the American citizen. All the patents for
improved machinery are in the hands of the
monopolists, and the all-devouring corpor-
alton is as despotic and remorseless as
death. They run their establishments
when they please to and they close them
when they please to, regardless of season
or the necessities of their employees.
When the market is overstocked they dis
charge their workmen, and open up when
there Is conjunction of good demand
ard willingness on the part Of their hands,
reduced to want by enforced idleness, to
work at reduced wages
There is hardly necessity of life that
this czar-like spirit of greed has not be-
seged and forced to surrender, from the
agricultural implement to the school boys
slate and pencil. The effect must be TO
raise the price, impair the quality and i'm
poverish the labor which introduces it.
Quality is impaired partly because into the
manufacturing business are thrown men
who carry to 1t no skill, experience nor
aptitude, and who are attracted thereto
solely by the inducements presented by i'm
mense profits. 1t i by this way that we
sometimes hear of the failure of an over
stocked factory, managed by the son or
nephew of some rich money-king of New
England or Pennsylvania But such in
stances, as we have seen, do not deter other
capitalists from combining and taking part
in the vast work of raising up in this
country manufacturing monarchy to de-
YOUR the peoples harvests, gather in the
fruits OF their orchards and vineyards and
enslave their toll.