The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-02-09
am s.,,xpEHs' BILL AGAIN.

Mr. Saunders bili ioroi"' my 49,.
vhatever with perfectly free conpe''''o',
This il tbe same thing as asserting 'ha' al
oon,oo,i,ion il necessarily good. and that any
,r,a,feronce withlperfecty free competition Is
,aoosso,;lv bad. Nothing is palmer thah
that this proposition is not sound ana no
,ronosition in political economy ~ easier OF
demonstration than exactly the reverse %
this.
The tendency of unbridled competition IS
First Self destruction
Second. TO extortionate charges ythe sur
yivor until il has recOuDed itself on the puDhc
of what it lost in its contest with It's adversary
If there were two lines of steamboats, plying
the James river between Richmond CITY ana
Norfolk it is plain that they would compete
with each other for the business until one hau
killed the other and driven 1t of the river
II is also plain that the survivor would at once
raise its prices for transportation to the iast'
cent that the business would bear until IL re-
covered the money that it lost IN its stilie'
Every man who scans tho subject over III Dis
mind can recall some instance IN which IN
bridled competition has worked out Just these
two results.
Now it is plain that such competition as this
is not for the interest of either business OF
the public and it is equally plain that there
should reside somewhere a power corrective
of such competition as this. Where should
that power reside: Mr. Saunders would say
no doubt in an act Of Assembly. But legis-
lation is as impotent TO deal with this subject
as 1t is with the currents of air or the changes
in the tides An act of Assembly 10 hard and
fast applying a fixed rule TO all situations.
But IN business every situation has It's own
conditions. and the conditions Of no one are ex-
actly the same as the conditions Of preced-
ing one 1t would he the same thing for the
Legislature to say that all hats should be Of
a certain size when, as Q matter Of fact, heads
differ in sizes.
What. then, is the corrective? 1t is for the
Legislature to Let the subject alone "a one in
capable in its nature Of being dealt with. The
corrective is to leave the matter to the con
tests Of trade Mr.. Saunders bill would
make it impossible for the two James rVer
steamboats, TO pool their issues and DIVIDE
the business equitably between themselves
which they would certainly DO as soon as one
found that the killing of the other would DO
an expensive business.
We have before our mind at this moment
lust such case that has recently occurred IN
Richmond city. One manufacturer had had
quite q monopoly Of q certain business which
had made very lucrative returns. The re-
turns tempted another manufacturer b 60
~. ftr-t Ia
fierce war upon the second. He kept the war
up until he found that the first had come
really prepared to stay, whereupOn they
pooled their issues which they could not have
done under Mr.. Saunders bill. and each IS
now making a very fair prOdt. We refrain
from naming these parties for fear that if We
did we should direct Mr. Saunders legisla-
tive batteries upon them and thus break
their combination and trade up. IL is true
these two businesses are supporting not less
than 0OO mouths in the city of Richmond and
thereby contributing enormously to the pr 8
perity IF the city and the taxable values OF the
State. But. in Mr.. Saunders opinion, these
facts are not to have n feathers weight
against the dogma that competition must not
be interiered with. The American Tobacco
Company is not referred to here.
Mr.. Saunders Will ask how is the public to
be protected against the possibility that this
combination Will put prices up to an immod-
crate figure The answer is that he Is taking
fright at bogy. If they are lett to them
selves the inevitable tendency OF their busi-
ness is to put prices down since the cheaper
they sell the more they will sell and the
more they sell the more money they viii
make. The inevitable law Of trade is for the
dealer to sell his goods as low as lie can con-
sstently with fair profit 70 himself. since
his business grows in volume as his prices
come down and his money is made from vol
ume of business and not from profits in spe-
cial transactions.
We conclude. therefore, that under somo
conditions competition is not for tie benefit
either Of trade or the consumer. and that the
true corrective principle upon unbridled COM
petition and the true security TO the con-
sumer against extortionate charge Is ia the
laws Of trade itself which inevitably tend TO
low prices Just in proportion as they arc left
alone TO work out their natural results