The sun., 1897-03-28

vfoss Of a iarcs nvr,bsr Of sndn but tadspsndsr'
dealers toho ,csrs amar icith Ae business and who
had spent their lives in H. and who supported thom
selves and their families from the small pronts real
lied therein. Whether thev Be able tond other ace
sres to earn their livelihood 70 not waterfall be
cause II II not for the real prosperity Of any country
that suoh changes should which result In trans
forming an Independent business man. the head OF his
establishment salau tho,,gh MIGHT Be, into mere
servant agent OF corporation for selling the com.
modities which he once manufactured or dealt in,
having voice in shaping the business policy Of the
company and bound to obey orders Issued BY othcrs
There is q resemblance between this
utterance Of Judge PEcKBAM's and that Of
President CLEVELAND on the same subject
In his message of December last, which
suggests the inquiry whether the Judge
derived his views from the President or
whether he was the Presidents teacher.
Mr.. CLEVELAND said In his message:
Another topic in which our people rishtfuiiy
take q deep interest may bo hore briefly considered
refer to the existence Of trusts and other huge agg
CATIONS Of capital, the object OF which 10 10 secure
the monopoly OF particular branch OF trade. in.
dustry commerce. and 20 stine wholesome compet.
ton when these are defended II II usually on the
ground that, though they increase profits they also
reduce prices. and thus may benent the public. II
prices to the people 10 not OF the real objects Of
these organrations Is their tendency necessarily
in that direction. II occurs in particular case. IL
10 only because 10 socords with the purposes In
tsrests Of those managing the scheme.
" Such occasional results fall far short OF compen.
sating the palpable evils charged TO the account OF
trusts and monoposs. Their tendency is to crush
individual Independence and to hinder or prevent
the FREQ Of human faculties and the full develop
ment Of human character. Through them the farm
er the artisan, and the small trader 70 IN danger OF
disiodOmsnf from the proud position Of being his
master. watchfu Of all that touches his countrys
prosperity In which he has individual lot, and in.
torested in all that Affects the advantages Of business
Of which he is factor to be roeeated to the ievel of
mere appurtenance to great machine with little
free WILL with duty but that Of passive obedience.
and with little hope opportunity Of rising in the
scale OF responsble and helpful citizenship"
Thus, we find 1t asserted, both by a Judge
of the United States Supreme Court and by
a President of the United States, that 1t is
better that 7O,OOO,OOO OF people should
pay high prices for railroad freight and
travel, and for the necessaries of life, than
that few thousands of citizens should be
compelled to seek new employments, or, as
Judge PEcKHAM puts It, that the country
should be deprived of their services. For ex-
ample, IL by consolidating the sugar refining
business in the hands Of a single company
the consumers Of sugar could save one.
eighth of a cent per pound on the 4, 4,OOO, ,0OO,-
900 pounds they consume in a year. or, say
So. 900 900, they should not, in his opinion,
and that of Mr.. CLEVELAND, be allowed to
do it, because the consolidation might cost
some dozens Of little refiners the loss Of their
situations. So, too, the business public,
according to them, had better pay millions
Of dollars yearly in railroad fares and
freights, which would be saved to them by
traffic agreements between the railroad
companies, than that such agreements
should be permitted
Consistently with these views Judge
PECKHAM calls the substitution Of steam
for animal power and Of machinery for
human labor misfortunes," which, al
though they are the necessary accompani-
ment of progress, are none the less to be
deplored. Altogether, like President CLEvE-
LANDS, his political economy Is something
to the ordinary mind.