The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-07-20
TRUSTS ARE GOOD THINGS
According to tho ProsidoDe OF tho Col
RADIO Fuel and Iron Company.

ACCO6OI0R 10 tho Hf0SlOOD0 Oh tue VOAOs
RADIO Fuel and Iron Company.
Denver. Col. July i9.-President Os'
good Of the Colorado Fuel and Iron com.
pany Is candid champion Of trusts. In
fact he declares that the labor question
can never be settled until virtually al
the great primary industries Of the coun-
try are regulated by trusts, and ne as
serts that the present coal strike Is a
good thing because it points to the neces-
sity OF permitting operators by law tc
form trusts. SO that production may be
limited to the requirements OF the mar
ket and miners may be employed on full
time.
The continued agitat ton OF the press
Of the country against trusts and COM
binations Of capital is more than any
thing else responsible for the democrat
lied condition OF industrial enterprises
and the distress among laborers." said
Mr.. Osgood. THE newspapers stir up
public opinion against trusts. urge legis-
latures to adopt antitrust laws and hin
der the economic evolution Of business,
which is inevitably tending toward con-
centration. The old system of petty
competition is recognized by all sensible
persons as wasteful and opposed 10 the
interests Of capitalist and laborer alike.
''Cf my own knowledge the great ma
jority OF the operators in the states af-
fected by the present strike, Pennsyi-
vania, Ohio. Indiana and Illinois. have
not been prosperous for good many
years. In fact many of them have gone
to the wall because they could not make
enought to pay intertst on thier bonded
Indebtedness.
Tho wage schedule against which the
miners are striking Is not unjust, as the
public seems to believe. The wages per
ton or per day are high enough in Penn
syivania, Ohio or Illinois for coal miners
to earn as much as silver miners or gold
miners Of they had steady work The
trouble is there are too many men seek
ing employment as coal miners and there
is not enough work 10 keep them en-
ployed more than fraction OF the year
Three dollars a day may be good wage,
but # a man can get only one days
work in q week he canno. live and sup
PO- ai-o AohIi3y Al
II don't deny Ut thatb such a change
would work hardship to some, but it
would be temporary. Besides no change
in methods Is ever introduced without.
hardship resulting TO somebody. The
benefit would be that where say 200. 900
men aren ow employed $50 days in the
year, 100000 men would be employed 800
days In the year. OF course 100000 men
would be thrown cut Of employment at
first. but instead OF 100000 men working
half time and earning insufficient wages
10 supply their families with the necessi-
ties. not TO say the comforts. of life, 100
900 would be working full ime and they
would earn enough TO buy the necessities
and some Injuries besides.
III a miner shall, by having steadily
worked, earn 5000 per year. where ne for
merry earned $3.50 a year. or .ess, he will
raise his standard OF living and things
that once were Injuries will become ne
cessities. He will want better and more
clothing, he will want an orfan or a piano
carpets. etc. and this demand for luxu-
ries will create a demand for labor that
will eventually abcorb those miners who
were thrown out Of work.
Our production and resulting s;agna-
ton in trade cannot be prevented un.eSs
the operators can combine so closely ,hat
they may control production Modern
necessitates combination be-
cause only by 50 doing can production
be carried on with economy.
"The newspapers have taught the peo-
pie TO think Of trusts as a bugaboo. Il
has become 50 that people take fright at
the word VIVA; Is a trust? Thief act
tseg Is seldom regarded A ,rus; is pri-
marty an extension % the principle 0.
in the production % wealth
[. is combination 20 rtd1ce ;he cos. os
production, no- BY reducing wages. bu.
oy avoiding the duplication 90 machin-
Fry, plants. agents. clerical force. etc
Fer Instance. in Denver. there are q
number q retail coal concerns. Each
seiivers Goa. II ali parts o. the town
Ind eacn must have wagons. horses.
salesSnea. drivers. Clerks, ETC. ard each
nus, have otsces. bo0kkeepers. duplicate
stationery, etc"
TFH NAYS AND Still. ALIVE