Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1897-03-18
Competition.

Among the many problems that con-
front the student of present social con-
ditions, none is more puzzling than
that of competition.
The old saying that "Competition is
the life of business" has been repeated
so often that it has been accepted rs a
living truth in whatever form or de-
gree it may be applied.
Now like many other things compe-
tition is beneficial-cven necessary-to
a reasonable extent. The antithesis Of
compctition-monopoly-is generally
regarded us a public menace. lfa con
Germ has the sole control of the manu-
facture or sale Of a certain article in
community the chances are that it will
aim 10 make use Of its advantage by
charging exorbitant prices. lfthis ar
ticlc is a necessity, such monopoly
may be OF great injury to the commu-
nifty.
But on the other hand excessive COM
petition is hardly less dangerous. II
is species of business suicide, where
as a monopoly is a species of business
homicide. The one Injuries itself; the
other Injuries other people. At first
thought one would say that private
injury could not be rs dangerous as a
public injury. but whereas the in
stances are rare of a monopoly being
SO oppressive rs TO bring disaster and
financial ruin upon a community, there
are plenty of failures brought about by
competition A person who has good
income can afford, perhaps, to pay
tribute 10 4 coal monopoly, sugar
trust or a gas combine, but if this per-
son is competing with rivals in a mar
row field he may find his income re-
duced to the danger point
The theory is OF course. that compe-
tition is healthy If 4 and i are in the
clothing business and 4 sells goods
cheaper than the public is benefited
and 4 only gets his just reward In
practice, however, competition is often
dishonest and unfair. A may be
wealthy man who buys for cash. pays
no rent and sells at cost for the pur-
pose of iniuring or driving him ont
of business. In these days rivalry is
so fierce that this is frequently done.
b fails. his creditors lose and he. rob
bed of his small capital, is forced to
join the army of employment seekers.
II is in the field Of labor especially
that the i'll effects Of ovcr-competition
are seen plaineSt The man who will
work the cheapest gets employment,
provided his work is satisfactory The
man who lives on the lowest scale, who
has no ambition himself or for his fam
lily, whose weekly expense account is
the smallest. can of course work the
cheapest and therefore stands the best
chance Of securing employment. The
"sweat shops" of the bic cities are for
chile examples of what excessive labor
competition will do. Whole families
work fifteen or eighteen hours a day
every day in the year making clothing
They receive only a pittance and it is
but on account of the degraded charac-
ter OF their life that they can labor so
cheaply. The result is that those who
cannot or will not live as they live are
denied the employment that they Sc
cure. The question arises at once,
cannot the public afford to pay little
more for its clothing so that those who
labor to make it can receive more and
live better No doubt they can. But
how is this to be brought about La
Dor unions are doing a good work by
excessive competition of
this nature. One of the best things
that ex-President Harrison ever said
was, IL never want to wear coat SO