Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1897-08-06

there were no railroads and no department
stores He had to keep all kinds of merchan-
disc, from pins to p.ows, and traficked with all
the people who came in trading his goods for
home-spun cloth and products of the farm.
Then the spinning-jenny was invented, and
threw the spinningwheel and loom out of the
farm house because the machine could make
cloth cheaper Then the farmers wives and
daughters went to raising butter and eggs, and
the products of the farm, instead of going to
the country store, went to the big cities.
"The lessening of the cost of production by
improved machinery necessarily demanded an
increase of capital by the city merchants, who
attempted to carry enough general goods to
supply the wants of the trade. This great
capital needed drove merchants into special
lines. Instead of carrying general line,
merchant would carry only hats, or shoes, or
furnishing goods or groceries, or clothing, and
every big city became filled with rows upon
rows of little stores, each carrying special lines
of goods. This was exceedingly costly-a
great waste of energy. Suppose, instead OF all
this myriad of small shop keepers, struggling
one against the other to procure the largest
share he could of that already produced, that
they were all combined in one great store, un-
der one management? Don't you see that the
combined business could be run much cheaper,
and consequently, the goods sold for less!
That is what is being done by the Capitalization
OF capital in big department stores in recon-
bning twenty or fifty stores under one roCf 1t
is the economy III producing and distributing
that has led to the Capitalization of railroads,
telegraphs, oil, sugsr, meat and those things
under one management In these big monOp-
olies, the law of economy is being wrought out.
A dozen little dealers couldn't give us oil as
cheap as we get it when the entire production
is controlled bv one Rockefeller"
WHY OPPOSE TRUSTS?
''If it's such good thing, them" interrupt
ed the Socialists friend, "why do the public
oppose monopolies, trusts and syndicates? If
an oil trust, for instance, makes cheaper oil
for the whole people than if the distributing
of oil was open to all competition, why do cam
paign orators rail against it and newspapers
denounce the system?"
"Smply because the monopolist, a Rookie
felier, for instance, has taken for his own indi
vidual use and benefit business that you and
l and all have an equal equity in. Let Inc illus
trate it this way: A few years ago, shoe
maker invented a peggng-machine with which
one man could do the work that it required ten
to do before. And then the nine shoemakers
thrown out of work by this machine stood
around and watched Bill Jones run it, and
grumbled good deal about it. And, bye and
bye, the bosses said: This is good thing
let's buy out Jones and control it.; and they
did So and soon 10000 men were displaced by
I 900 men running pegging machines, and one
man, or a few men, who combined their capital
to control these machines, reap all the benefit
from it. The patene laws permit them to do
so"
Tie Socialists friend leaned back in his
chair and put his feet corner of the table.
you?" he asked
"No, wouldn't, because they help along
capitalization and Capitalization. The funda-
mental law underlying this whole question is
that self preservation is the first law of nature
That law is made more complete in every sense
when the preservation of all is considered.
That is self-evident proposition. This idea
Of self-preservation caused SO much invention
and then capitalization to control inventions.
But the interests of the masses should be
thought of before that of Individuals and so
the masses should be protected by the govern
nent taking charoe of all Inventions and one
rating them for the good of all. There's no