St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-21
THE LAW OF COMPENSATION.

THE LAW OF COMPENSATION.
There are sundry gentlemen in
THESE two cities who might profit by
a thoughtful reading of Emerson's
essay on Compensation. They are in
a frame of mind, induced by their
experience, to appreciate the truth
that always, it would seem, there is
the vindictive circumstance stealing
in at unawares, even into the wild
poeSy in which the human fancy at
tempted to make bold holiday and
to shake itself free of the old laws
this back-Stroke, this kick of the gun.
certifying that the law is fatal; that
in nature nothing can be given, all
things are sold.''
Some few years ago chemists dis
covered that the tallow of beeves
might be so combined with other sub
stances as to produce a substitute
Tor butter, hardly distinguishable
from it, healthful, and produceable at
less than half the price Of butter.
Forthwith the farmer took alarm.
Onmlndful of the fact that multi
tudes of their fellows were precluded
from the use of butter on their tables.
by the scantiness of their earnings
and the high price of butter, to
whom this cheap substitute would be
godsend, the farmers demanded
prohibitive legislation. The strong
arm of the state must be invoked to
save them from an imaginary COM
petition.
Congress taxed the product States
legislated more or less strfngently
against it. Minnesota's legislature
absolutely prohibited it's manufacture
within its borders, and, not content
with having the substitute sold for
what it was, decreed that it must not
have the color of butter, but must be
colored bright pink. 1t established
commission with learned and skilled
experts to hunt down the oleo-
margarine that, in response to the
law of demand. found it's way into
the markets. The first hue and cry
of unhealthfulness ceased before the
incontrovertible demonstrations Of
it's falsity. Utilizing the tallow, it
furnished new demand for it that
enhanced it's price. Using the cheap
er and poorer grades of butter from
the farms and dumped into barrels
and boxes by the country merchant,
it saved it from conversion into axle
grease and upheld the price of butter.
1t was one Of the triumphs of our
| modern civilization, the utilization of
waste.
Later some enterprising gentlemen,
| seeing the fortunes grow under the
| Slillful management of the managers
| of the meat packing industry
| thought to emulate their enterprise
and share their fortune by inaugu-
| rating similar establishments here
| This was in every way commendable
| There seemed no reason why cattle
should not be more profitably con-
verified into food at a point nearer
| their place of feeding. They, of
| course, knew that they were entering
into competition with the powerful
| houses already established, but they
felt able to hold their own in an open
competition and in fair field Sew
! eral hundred thousand dollars were
| invested. Today a Minneapolis pa
| per assures us the stockholders are
| going down in their pockets to take
| out the assessments needed 10 make
up deficit. The investment does
not pay.
Why not? The reason illustrates
| our text and shows how Imperative
| ly the law of compensation works,
| how sure is the recoil of the gun.
| The opportunity to utilize the tallow
| Of the beeves in making substitute
| butter added from two to three dol
lars to the value of the animal to the
| slaughtererS. The denial of the op-
| portunity deprived the packers here
| Of that profit, while their competitors,
| less unwisely protected, enjoyed 1T.
| It was one of the factors and the
main one that made up the margin
between profit and loss in the con-
version of cattle into meats, and the
want of it helped turn profit here into
| loss. A vicious law reacted on
| legitimate industry. We are not sure,
| but we think that these gentlemen
| were among those who approved of
| the anti-butterine act, and their ex-
| perience should be a valuable one to
| them in forming their notions of the
! functions of a state and of its inter-
| ference with legitimate industries. It
| has cost them enough, surely, and
| they should get some benefit out of it,
| But the farmer who thought to get
something for nothing, to shut out
competitor and retain his profits, how
! has the law of compensation worked
with him? He has prevented the
nearer, and therefore the better mar
! ket for his beeves. To the extent
that this unequal competition has
lowered price they have been the
| losers They have driven the maker
| of oleomargarine to articles to make
| his product so closely resemble but
| ter that experts cannot tell the differ
ence, SO that, instead of being sold
| for what it is at q cheaper price, it
| is sold as butter, and, by increasing
| the supply, decreases the price Of
dairy butter. And so all around the
| law of compensation finds it's own in
spite of the puny efforts of men to
! get without giving. Action is fol-
| lowed by the equivalent reaction, and
unlawful gain one way is ,onlpsn-
stated by loss in another. TO the
gentlemen who are now trying to
avoid the results of these efforts to