People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-08-25
TAUBENECK TALKS.

Inc Two great factors which control
the distribution of wealth are money"
and Transportation" Whoever owns
these has power to collect tribute
from every individual in the land.
Just as the course of a ship is con-
trolled by controlling the rudder, SO
the distribution of wealth is controlled
by controlling these two prime fac
tors, money and transportation" At
present these factors are entirely In
the hands of a few individuals and
corporations, who exercise their power
Tor the sole benefit OF those who own
them. Just as the farmer cultivates
the soil or the laborer exercises his
muscles for The reward they may re.
ceive in return, so the men who own
the money and railways also use Che
power which they have over the dis
tnbution of wealth for their own
benefit
Mrs. Marion Todd, in her recent
work, Railways of Europe and
America" pages 81 and 50, says: "We
must not lose sight of the great fact
that railways cannot create wealth.
They can only assist the wealth-pro-
Queer in making distribution. Rail-
ways are only links between the pro-
Queer and consumer, and every dollar
they charge more than their service is
worth is an unjust tax on the indus
tries of country"
Great as the power of railways is in
the distribution of wealth, yet it is
secondary TO that OF money Reform
in our monetary system oyershadows
all others. Why? because the de-
mand for money is equal to the de-
mand for every other article" We
cannot buy or sell an article, however
large or small it may be, in common
business transactions, without money
entering into the circulation some
where. Every time we have demand
for certain article, say hat, a plcw
or railway ticket, we also have a
demand for a sufficient amount Of
money to pay for it. In civilized coun-
tries these two are inseparable. Thus
money performs a function in our
business transactions which no other
article can. Whoever controls the out
put the issuing of money, also con-
trolls its volume and has the power to
dictate the price for which all com
modities shall be sold.
Suppose you had the authority to
say how much corn should be grown
IN the United States. That would also
carry with it the power to fix the price
for which it should be sold. 1t would
De corn trust. Suppose you con.
trolled the sytput of sugar in this
country. You had the authority to
say how much should be manufactured
Then you could nlso dictate the price
for which sugar should be sold, just as
the sugar trust Is now doing. Suppose
you controlled the output Of coal; had
the right to say how much should be
mined. That would also give you the
power to fix the price which the peo-
pie would have to pay for coal, just as
the coal barons OF Pennsylvania are
doing to-day. Suppose you had the
authority to say how many shoes, hats,
stoves, plows or wagons should be
manufactured in the United States.
This would also give you the power to
fix the price for which they should be
sold
Thus whoever controls the produc-
ton or output of an article, however
large or small it may be, can also fix
the price for which it shall be sold
The power of trust to dictate prices
consists in its ability to restrict and
limit production. Just as it is impos-
sible to corner product which exists
without limitation, so it is impossible
for trust to control the price of any
article unless it can also limit its pro-
duction, The one essential element
which is absolutely necessary to the
existence Of a trust is its ability to re.
strict and limit production.
Suppose each article produced or
manufactured in the United States,
however large or small it may be,
should be in the hands of q special
trust so that few men could have
the power to control its output and fix
the price for which it should be sold,
as the sugar trust, coal trust, whisky
trust and others are doing to-day.
Think of the power these trusts would
have in debating prices which the peo-
pie would have to pay.
Again, suppose that on the opposite
side of all these trusts we had ore
more-a money trust, where few mel
had the sole right to issue money and
control Its volume; that is, this money
trust would have the same power to
limit the issuing of money, as each one
of the other trusts would have in con
trolling the output of the article they
manufacture. Don't you know that