The Portland daily press., 1898-01-27
ooNaREaATloNALlsr CONFERENCE
Quarterly Meeting at the High Street
Church Yesterday.

The Cumberland Conference of Con-
gregational churches met at the High
street church yesterday forenoon. Owing
bat during the forenoon two subjects OF
interest were discussed. Ono was the
trust, and the other was the question Of
| the relation of the churches with refer
ence to law and order. introducing some
comment on the prohibitory law "a it is
enforced hereabouts. The discussion also
introduced illusions to other topics, such
as the propristy of accepting gifts from
| men identified with trusts. After devo.
tional exercises conducted by Rev. Mr..
Southwprth. Rev. DR.. j. @. Merrill
spoke on San Arrangement OF Trusts, ;"
his rsmasks being based on L1oyd's
Wealth VS.. Commonwealth, book
commended by Rev. DR.. Hale as the
Uncle Toms Cabin of the Industrial
question. Mr.. Lleyd lie Chicago 5ourn-
elist, whose professional life hast of
sarTice in preparing him for the consider
alton of such q question. His appeal ia
to the American people in whom he be-
lieves. He thinks that people who have
been pioneers In political liberty may be
the pioneers in Industrial liberty. Polit-
ically. we are free; iudustrially, we are
not. A committee of Congress may say
that a man is entitled to look out for
himself alone in business, hut this doc
trine Of the survival of the fittest would
not be tolerated If applied to family and
other conditions OF life. Mr.. Lloyd
arraigns the meat, sugar. coal and whis-
key trust He describes the attempt of
the secretary of the whiskey trust to
blow up rival distillery. and then tells
how the secretary escaped the peniten-
tis-y where his "damnsble' scheme should
have sent him. Most OF Mr.. Lloyd's at
tention, however, Is devoted to the oil
trust, and he charges that in order to
build up the gigantic business of the
trust, industries were wrecked and law
overridden. These charges, said Dr..
Merrill. are proved by extracts from the
testimony in trials, the reports of legis.
lative committees and other sources. The
only attempt Of which DIR. Merrill knew
to answer this remarkable book is an az.
ticle in an economic magazine. This
was written, as is generally understood,
by New York attorney Of the oil trust,
and was distortion Of facts,
and based only on statements of some OF
| the directors Of the trust. DR.. Merrill
| then read summary Of the book nara
ting the history of the oil trust, abiding
to Its secret compaets with the railroads,
| which enabled Ii to crush out It's compel
itors and buy up the works of rival cPer-
ators at 80 cents on dollar. The oil
trust has at times not hesitased to stoop
! to crime, men connected with 1t icing
tried for attempting to blow up rival
| refinery; the trust has put public officers
On It's pay roll. not hssiessing to corrupt
| them; it has elected men to the Senate
aud secured subsidies for steamship lines
in which tt Is interested.
Rev. Mr.. Hack said he thought every
body in the community should read this
book, and also "Ci4iHzaticn
and Decay. Mr.. Hack thought thet it
had been shown that as rule under q
monopoly the quality of tbs product
deter!ornted snd the price went up. Mr..
Hack commended che book and Dr.. Bier
r;il's review Of it.
Rev. Mr.. Southworth sail that this
condition Of things must be met; the
question was. how. He spoke of the de-
vslepment Of the middle class which had
done so much in ENGLAND and this conn