New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-30
TRUSTS WHICH DEVOUR NOTHING.

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The cartoonlst who portrays the trusts de-
vouring the substance Of Uncle Sam while ne
sleeps has an eye blind to facts. but open 10
the prejudices Of the many who never ask what
truth is Some trusts do no harm 10 any
body. but only good. Others do harm to scores
or hundreds of small competitors by undersell-
ing them and thus benefit millions OF consumers.
| Others still do much harm to competitors. and
yet are no; so wisely managed as To serve con
sumcrs or secure durable existence for them
selves. and rs these nrc. perhaps. more nuher-
Gus than any other class 1t may be pertinent
TO notice that they do not devour Uncle sam
substance neither by sending II out OF the coun-
try nor by keeping it themselves, hui presently
build up such shrewd and successful compefi-
tion that consumers are in the end permanently
benefited. not by their wish. The remaining
class few i'm number which establishes higher
prices to the injury Of consumers ana uses IFS
monopoly as greedily as it can. almost invaria-
lily gets smashed up with heavy loss in Il snort
time by competition. and the consumers reap
the benefit of enlarged production ever after.
In process Of time most persons will pre-
sumably discover that a sO-cnlled monopoly
which sllsans itself solely by undertaking all
competitors and serving the public more cheap
ly than they possibly cam is by no means II
deyourer OF the Nations substance 1t gets rich
exactly AS the most skilful doctor does who
cures more surely than any other. and charges
for his superior learning and skill. He sells
what belongs to him. gets good price. ana
still confers a favor upon everybody who pays.
There would be just as much sense in saying
that the doctor ought to work for nothing, ana
that he plumbers the patients who gladly pay
his fees as in asserting that manufacturers who
can and do undcrscll everybody are not entitled
10 profits for their superior service 10 the public
The trusts of this sort are apt to live and get
rich, and the country all the time gets part OF
the profit to which they are entitled by superior
skill and knowledge.
1t is nevertheless true that nearly all the
trusts and combinations that are formed come
to grief That has been so well known that
in the best trade journals men are continually
warned that there Is about rs much chance
of creating successful combination as there Is
of carrying through profitable corner i'll grain
or cotton Letter and Keene were able enough
but they went down with heavy loss, as have
many more and the combinations formed in
business have for years been as numerous as
flies in summer and about as large snare nave
lived through the first winter. Combination Al
ways invites new competition. If it seems to
be making anything more than ordinary profts
A large proportion Of the combinations has
not the superior knowledge or skill or the
shrewdness in management to live against the
attacks OF the sharpcst men in the business
when fighting for their own individual interest
4 still larger proportion of the combinations IL
formed solely for the big profits which the pro-
moters and few insiders can make by manipu-
latine stocks with knowledge which other peo-
pie do not possess. Nobody has any occasion
10 be surprised when such concerns. after
phenomenal advance of stocks which enables IN
siders TO realize, suddenly are found 10 have
no advantage whatever over competitors.
Mere size mere aggregation Of capital and
addition Of output, does not in the least degree
insure success. In fact. the complications OF n
great concern. with many associated interests
and exposed points. involve much greater
difficulty and require so much greater skill in
management that success is attained only when
the starting point is a head of phenomenal abil-
ity and not capital Of prodigious size, The
man who Is superior to all others in business
will make capital for himself as he goes along.
and step by step will train other persons TO
handle it. The great aggregatlons OF capital. in
the large majority of eases, are intrlsted To the
control Of men who were able 10 handle small
resources, or often to those who were not able.
Unless the man is larger and slrer than the
capital the combination is more likely to scatter
its own substance than TO devour the substance
OF Uncle Sam.