The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-27
the stock in trade Of the Anglo-saxen silisncs
speech makers. q. wuFRKD PRARcx.
BosroN, Jan. 90.
THE oLAMoR AGAIxsr Tn UsTs.
The Conbinstion or Capital and E~.terpriss
Beneficial to Society.

The Combustion OF Capital, and Esterpris.
Beneficial 70 Society.
To THE EDITOR or rHE suS-Sir: The re-
vlved clamor against trusts. the enactment of
new laws in many States to punish combine
lions formed. IL Is alleged. TO raise the prices of
articles Of merchandise. and the probable ap-
polntment OF q committee Of our own Legisla-
turo to investigate the subject and frame reme-
dial legislation II necessary impel mo TO direct
attention, as l have done many times In tho past,
to truths which are as old and as common as
the hills, but are often strangely forgotten.
1t Is as true Of business life as II Is Of animal
or vegetable. that It is the fttest that must and
docs survive. 1t Is q dispassionate. pitiless, and
unswerving law. Tho fttest In business means
the man or the company that can sell tho best
thing at the cheapest price. The struggle that
in tho animal world is violence in business 10
represented by competition. The application Of
the law may seem harsh in individual instances.
and sympathy. outrunning judgment, may at
tempt to interfere with IL. But all such at
tempts are alike f~ruitless and undesirable;
fruitlcss because they are an attack upon . law
Of nature; undesirable because they would
benefit the few at tho expense of the many. and
compel tho entire community 10 pay high prices
for that which can be sold at lower prices. II q
man, a company. or q trust can sell anything at
o certain figure, no law ought TO keep alivo .
feeble competitor whose needs compel him TO
sell 1t higher.
The tendency Of the rates Of return on all
forms Of invested capital is toward on equality.
II It 10 found that tho profit Of any business ID
greater than tho profit Of the average business,
capital will seek that business as water seeks q
level. Ifa manufacturer making cotton cloth
at q profit of 4 per cent. on tho capital invested
nnds that q brother manufacturer In the same
street 10 making knit stockings At . profit Of 8
per cent. on the capital invested, he will mako
stockings instead Of cloth In his factory. This
is the natural check which economic laws afford.
with far greater efficacy than pertains to any
act Of Congress or LEGISLATURE, to unjust monop-
olies or to profits beyond the bounds OF reason.
Two o. three centuries ago obstacles to the play
Of such reactions might have been raised BY .
tyrannical monarch: but such obstacles are
rare In any civilized country to-day. and least
Of all In our own land, where all avenues are
monopoly can be maintained here which does
not undorsell In the open market every COM
Full Of smashed /" corners" trAfic agreements.
trust deeds. pools. and all sorts OF slmilar ar
mental law. and were themselves destroyed.
The only trusts. so-called. which have lived
tuinnus( reduet,on OF UrIess To Inc consum.r and
to levels below that attained by all their rivals.
such being tho case; y Is evident ths. the
tho laws in restraint of trade. They are based
upon the ignorant fallacv that free composition
necessarily means many sellers or producers of
an article. and that 1t may not resnlt. asit often
does, In tho concentration OF such sals or pro-
duct,on in a few strong hands.
The tendency OF all modern business Is to-
Msra this Th eso ssy 81 psSdssi,oo apd is seS. how
are two. consolidated and singly directed effort
by the trusts and labor saving and time saving
machinery. The benefits that they have con-
ferred upon the human race are beyond all
estimation, yet both, have encountered. for
hostility TO laborsaving Inventions has sub.
sided, and in Its rise and fall may be traced
ultimate fato OF the hostility to concen-
t~ratIons OF capital. When. IL the middle
of %,,, a9I; century M Witch MACHINE. och, man es ssSIa do 10 ,S be
look beyond .upe5asI.i and faslsIve eiy:
| meant a diminished number OF employers and
employed. and, finally, the elimination NJ all
which would hold consumers at their mercy.
The opposition assumed many rms stringent
a:snssinntion but II did not STAY business enter,
prise and the inventiveness OF the human mind.
Then IL wa, found that tho imarined evils did
advantage. The numbor of old employers was,
FOR . time. propor'ion.,ely decreased: hut ATM,
s:.ss sy ' MI: a'isSss.s' .s sSss vi:
succeeded. The number OF employee. Instead
OF men. instead OF being filled to replstlon. were
augmented and sharpened In n thousand novel
ways. 1t was discovered that monopoliss might
exist in theory. but 10 their practical operation
in q free country was opposed an memorable and
automatic bar. The similarity Of this opposi-
ton to that against trusts Is obvious. The
operation of these great forces has not wrought
injury. but prosperity. In our own country.
while the population has only n little moro than
doubled In thirty years. wealth has quadrupled.
the general standard Of living has been highly
raised. the prices of every commodity have been
enormously cheapened. while the wages OF the
laborirg man have Increased.
There IL no basis for the present cutlery against
trusts. Three-quarters OF II comes from cheap
demagogues and politicians, who do not mean
or know what they cay. The remaining quarter
comes from tho'e whose hearts are Developed
at the expense OF their heads, who. out OF mis-
bic society. In which the prudent the ~inteili-
gent. aud tho Industrious should divide their
substance with tho iinprovident. the ignorant.
and the lazy. COMMON SENSE
NEW NORK. Ian. 90.