The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-01-19
CONCENTRATION OF CAPITAL
AND IT'S EFFICIENCY.

MR.. EDITOR:-CaplGdI concentrates
to escape sharp competition, and labor
co operates to secure their share Of the
combined product of labor and capital.
The movement Of each is the logical
result of the application of steam to
machinery. In the days of small con
Germs the concentration of capital and
men were not necessary. An idea and
a little capital would start man in
business
The application Of steam to machin-
cry changed this and the small con
Germs unable to compete with the large
we're absorbed by them The applica-
ton of steam to machinery called for
the concentration Of capital and labor.
This concentration is based upon eco
nOmiCal principles, vice the larger the
capital employed, the cheaper prOduc-
tiOn The concentration Of capital and
men is inevitable, as it cheapens and in
creases production.
This fact will forever prohibit us
from going back to the era of small
concerns. The fact that concentration
of capital and men cheapens (this fact
ls well known to capitalists there will
be a rapid concentration of capi al
from small concerns to larger ones
until each industry is controlled by
syndicates or trusts. Great railroad
combinations will absorb the smaller
until all are unler one heard. One
company could do the transporting
cheaper than 1, $50 One president and
one set of directors will cost less than
1,75O. The earnings will run up into
the hundreds of millions. City buyers,
with their millions of capital, will i'm
port direct and buy of manufacturers
and sell to the consumers, making i'm
mense savings to the people. These
will absorb the small stores, as thelarge
machine shops absorbed the small con-
Germs at the cross roads.
All opposition to concentration is
powerless. One large concern repre-
sents scores of smaller. One machine
with one head can run cheaper than
score with as many heads,
The Standard Oil Company has re-
duced the cost of oil to the consumer
66 per cent, put one hundred millions
of dollars in the cOmpany's pocket and
saved the consumers twice this amount
This is the direct result of the COncen-
tratiOn of capital and men; one oil
company can do the work cheaper than
a score of companies with as many
systems Of transpOrtatiOns. One-half
of the men in the large concerns will
do the work Of the score of companies
The concentration Of capital and
men means economy and economy
savings. The efficiency of the concen-
tratiOn Of capital is aC1noWIIedg ge1 Dy
all who have given the subject thought.
The greater the concentration of Capi-
ital, the less complex the business. In
small conc rms grading is impossible
and the labor must move from one part
to another, losing time In large con
| Germs each is a part Of a machine, per
forming an allotted part. There is no
shifting about and each becomes an eX-
pert and acc0mplishes double the work
in the same time. The large concerns
can buy their material cheaper and
distribute cheaper. In large works
men are assigned the work they are
| best adapted to.
The logical sequence of the COncen-
| trati0n of capital and men is economy
and cheapening, giving a larger amount
of the necessaries and luxuries of life
to be distributed among the people.
| With the establishment of an industrial
| financial system, giving us a volume
| of money sufficient to do the business
of the country on cash basis, and the
| elimination Of the elements that pro
duce panics, there will be a rapid pro
| ductiOn Of wealth.
With an abundance of money, there
would be a company organized with
two or three million dollars to handle
| dry goods, boots, groceries and hard
ware This company would establish
| large bazaars in the cities and one store
in each town of good size; they would
| buy direct of manufacturers and import
on a scale greater than hundreds of the
| present importers and wholesale men.
! They would have their agents at each
| town, and this would dispense with
300, 600 drummers, eliminating a cost
to the consumer of four hundred mil
| lions Of dollars each year. These drum
mers would be added to the producing
| class and would add to the wealth of
| the country sixty million dollars each
year. In all the large stores in the
cities goods would be classified and a
| clerk assigned to each department
| there would be no running from one
part of the room to another. and one
| third Of the force now employed in the
small stores would do the work now
| done by all. One store in town where
| there IS a dozen, would do the work,
| with One-third Of the present force.
| This would add two thirds of the pres
ent force to the productive class and
add three hundred millions of dollars
| to be distributed among the wealth.
producers. This concentration of cap
| ital and men would add to and save
the consumers six hundred and sixty
million dollars each year. This illus
tration could be carried into every in
dustry, showing that concentration of
capital and men cheapens by eliminat-
ing the unnecessary middlemen. That
which has been accomplished by the
Standard Oil Company, will be accomp-
lished in every industry. Business
men are studying how to reduce cost
and eliminate unnecessary expenses.
Exnerience has taught them that con