The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-10-17

Mr.. Flower touches upon this further
on and says that upon investigation he
finds that as late as 1880 yard of COM
mon cloth brought lie, the same article
being sold now for 4c. The products OF
iron. wood and steel have been reduced
from 80 to co per cent. and in some
cases so per cent. But, he says, II you
turn 10 the class Of industries in which
capital has not been concentrated, or
only TO a slight extent you will find that
the reverse is true and that prices have
not lessened in anything like the same
degree.
He also finds that since 1860 there mas
been an increase in the price OF fifty
classes OF products. the increase varying
from 30 to 300 per cent. but with one or
two exceptions they were all agricultural
or raw material products in which con-
| centrstion of capital and the use of ma
chinery had been very slight. On the
| other hand he finds 40 groups OF manu-
featuring products in which capital Is
concentrated and machinery extensively
used, and in all these prices have fallen
from 10 to 80 per cent.
Mr.. Fowler then makes the following
statement which should be Of peculiar in
terest to the workingmen. We quote:
THE fall in the price of products. pro-
duced by capitalistic methods, was
enough greater than the rise I'm the prices
1 lie
used, to make an average fall in prices
Of about four per cent. and permit rise
in wages Of about 6S per cent That is.
through the processes OF capitalistic
methods from 1860 to 1891 the purchasing
power of a days work was increased
slightly over 70 per cent, which is only
another way OF saying the concentrated
capital increased the public welfare "a
per cent. every ten years since 1902"
In the next place Mr.. Fowler remarks
that corporations in this country are more
prevalent than in any other country for
the simple reason that our Industrial de-
velopment has been so rapid and great
that we were unable TO create the in
dividual capital necessary to supply the
needs OF industry. II it had been other
wise. IL we had been compelled to wait
for the slow growth of individual capital.
this development would have been delay
ed fifty years or more.
With this introduction, Mr. Flower
comes TO speak OF the trust. which he
defines as simply larger form OF ccrpo-
ration. the Joining together Of small cor
| porations into enterprise. These produc-
tive corporations. he says. are not TO be
| COMPOUNDED with the trade agreements,
like the steel combination. &c. whose
only purpose and effect are to put up or
| keep up prices. while among real trusts
the opposite effect has been produced,
namely; an improvement in the product
and a lowering Of the price.
By way of illustration Mr.. Flower
cites some most interesting figures 10
| show how the Standard Oil Company has
reduced the expense of producing. REIN
| ing and handling OIL the result being
that instead Of a dangerous explosive
| oil which was used prior to the organi-
cation Of this trust and sold at twenty
! five cents a gallon, the public now gets
pure non-explosive oil at IA cents a
/ gallon. And so with reference TO the va
| rious telegraph lines of the country un-
| der one corporation. the result has been
| to get a quicker and more efficient SER
| vice with a reduction in cost OF service
of from 500 TO coo per cent. Many peo-
pie do not know perhaps. prior TO this
concentration IL cost TO send a message
from New York to Chicago 500. and now
the cost is only 40 cents.
The concentration Of capital as repre-
scented in the great railroad systems OF
the country Shows similar results. IN
1873 there were 7O.2S6 miles or railroads.
which moved lls.OOOOOO tons of freight at
a cost OF 2O2 cents per ton per mile
In 1885, through this concentrating policy.
there were Isl OF miles OF railroad which
moved 7G3 7Oo,s3, tons OF freight at a
, cost OF .0S cents per ton per mile.
Mr.. Flower finally comes 20 speak OF
] TIC CltSA VI AllN1F llAoAo OH NfAllftlttfh
and calls attention TO the argument that
II the trust control oil the productive pro-
cesses they will fix the price OF products
at any eXorbitant figure they choose. He
thinks THAI this might be true II there
were no competition or the fear OF com
petition, but that It is the object OF the
| trust to make the price or labor so high
and TO keep the price OF the product so
low as 10 discourage other capitalists
from engaging in the same branch OF in
dustry. In other words. that the trusts
| fight competition feared as vigorously as
they would fight competition material
ized.
He does not say so. but II Is also a
fact that these great organizations have
learned that they can make more money
out OF large sales with small profits than
out of small sales with large profits. IL
! is clearly TO the interest of the trusts 70
give to the people the very best article
at the lowest possible cost And Just here,
we were much interested some time ago
TO read IN a Southern newspaper. In con-
nection with TRADE against tho sugar
trust. the statement that the farmers OF
the South could not make sugar on their