The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-21
woMEx rAEx ABour TRUSTS.
The Conelusisn They Arrived At seemed Favsgs
sSie to Combinations OF Capital.

nblo 10 Concentrations OF Gnpttnt.
The West End woman's Republican Associa-
tion met yesterday afternoon with Mrs. Cornelia
8. Robinson, tho now President, in the chair.
Upon motion Of Mrs. James Fairman. Mrs. Clar.
ence Burns was made an active member as well
as honorary President, with all Of the privileges
of an active member.
Mrs. Robinson announced that Prof. George
Gunton, who WINS to have talked to tho club on
trusts. had been called out of town ana had
sent his lecture on this subject with the request
that como one read 1t for him.. Miss Helen
Varick Boswell consented to do this. The clos.
ing paragraphs as sho read them were listened
to with great attention. They were az follows:
ITO sum It up in q few words. then. the trust
Is the nineteenth century and 1t will be tho
twentieth century form Of industrial orEaniza-
ton. 1t lie needed by the economies OF large In
dustry. 1t is needed more in this country than
in any other, because the capital that In required
Is SO much greater than individual wealth
can supply. To insist that corporate organi-
cations shall be limited to a given capital,
or that corporations shall not integrate as
trusts, Is at once to put a check to and kill
all industrial development, all Industrial
economies. and we no sooner do that than We
stop the process which gives profit and makes
higher wages and shorter hours possible. The
only way laborers can get q larger income is by
taking 1t from the capitalist. There is no doubt
about that; but they can only have 1t from the
capitalist to the extent that the capitalist can
cconomize tho forces of nature SO as to create
larger margins. II VIC stop capitalists from cre-
s sf,ns f i%r sham me so ioMsr rh prio %S ana mdk we II make imso Il
impossible for them to yield larger wages. We
may force him to 6 DI J, wS may drive
resort to socialism. even, but whatever comes.
lower prices and higher wages are absolutely
which enables the capitalist SO to organize in
dustry as to create larger margins.
Therefore, the reason we have trusts Is be-
cause wo are making industrial progress.
Trusts are the order OF the immediate future
Ssc1%sS they hey arc tho most fssv efficient &c emf for form q q In, In,
e order q 5'i today i AND and tho he III viii be- Be the
having low wages that has any millionSires or
that has trusts or that has large corporations 2
England, Germany. Franco, Belgium and
down the whole calendar of the coun:
iabor cost SSu in %r prod nma an increases @ 9 jus ,a IN p nne
divided, corporate extension limited, and the
the capital is less than $l3 per head. while in
the United States 1t Is more than So 900 per
it Is most efficient, because 1t Is its increased
efficiency that causes its concentration. Capt.
for any reason but the fact that it will yield q
larger margin. That margin Is In tho form Of
Pre- and whenever scr th profits 3nbsr are large nnS ,t there Gom is
u y Nhi' W 80 "b' thV Nohh-
munity; the community to get lower prices and
the la6o TSor to get hi higher wages Is. and i"ii shorter q CT
stead Of hinder"
nouncod Mrs. Robinson at the conclusion Of the
paper. , .b,,s I, ,s . aood ,h,r. 70 hovo .uo,
asked Mrs. Burns. addressing tho Chair.
Mrs; Robinson is a graduate of Prof. G%unton's
il it is a good thing for all Of the money in a
country to be controlled by n fcw." she began.
the capital MdneS of fe a so llatis o' Whee the T people GeH wans
is the greatest possible good for their day labor.
and whatever gives them the greatest amount
munity. We must all agree that small capital
cannot produce economical results. II concen:
tration of capital Is necessary, the capital will
go to tho exports. and experts in anything are
few. Therefore r, trusts are a natural tendency
"In tho scientific world said Mrs. Elizabeth
St 81 John. "phEs,iS s.In arc becoming ION In re experts by
Morld u r. sp soads d mem are com 1a1 in th IN business sssh q
way as to lead one to ask, What is to become of
"In the concentration of capital" said Mrs,
Robinson. the small dealer is absorbed In the
much as his profits were a certain month when
no was in business for himself. but ut tho end of
better of. His income becomes assured, which
Is always a, practical way of living"
Would it be our duty :y,1 To- pa!ronize a large
Humanitarian princlplel' asked Mrs. st. John.
Our first duty Is to ourselves" answered tho
speaker. "Our first duty IL to go where we can
get the most for our money. l remember when /
used to buy a spool Of cotton. pay eight cents
for il, and have to take 1t home. Now we buy a
spool OF cotton for n cent and have 1t delivered n
hundred miles away. II we divided these big
stores into small stores could we do that r.
Don't you think it is q mistake to call the
concentration OF capital q trust D. asked Mrs.
James Griswold Wentz.
There's nothing offensive In the term trust"
argued Mrs. Robinson. The trust is q now
economical form Of industry, a disturbance, an
innovation, and that's why we worry about IL,
Whatever comes after the trust we'll worry
about, too. We used TO worry about the power
loom. We don't now, do WEIR