The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1899-11-15
TRUSTS AND PARTY PLAT
FORMS.

We have been watching closely tn
resolutions adopted by political pa
1 ties with reference to the trust prol
lem. Out of bushels of chaff we fin
just one grain of wheat and about
peck of chalf with this grain. Th
one sensible thing we have seen in th
platform is this:
"Every trust rests upon a corpora
ton, and every corporation is crea
ture of law"
: The suggestion is then made tha
the proper method of dealing witt
trusts is to limit the powers of corpo
ratlons and hold them to the strict con
struction Of the law. This is the wa,
out and the only way out with safct,
to the public. 1t is perfectly silly fo
politicians to get together and adopt {
platform simply denouncing trusts OF
proposing that if they become danger
Gus they should be destroyed altogether
The modern trust is not corporation
holding in trust the stocks of other
| corporations engaged in the same line
OF business, clos ng up part of them,
and controlling he output of the rest.
This is the old form of trust which has
been declared illegal. In the modern
form the trust is simply a gigantic
corporation owning the plants them
selves and has been declared 10 be legal.
These large corporations are essen
tial to the business of the country and
to destroy them, as some of cur politi-
clans foolishly and ignorantly propose
to do, would be to cripple the indus
tries of the country and turn back the
dial which marks the progress of in
dustrial development twenty five years.
Either we must tax the franchise,
apart from the property, Of all corpora
tions and thus make them pay the
equivalent for immortality and the
freedom of the individual from liabil.
ity for corporate debts, or else we
must become socialists and the people
themselves as a people must own these
corporations.
AS we see it, there is no other solu-
ton of the trust problem. The social.
istic wave that is likely to pass over
the country with all its risk to property,
to free institutions, and to life itself,
has its source and power not in those
who preach socialism but in the greed
and avarice which leads to the forma-
ton of trust and to the ignorance and
cowardice of the politicians who think
the problem can be solved by mere de-
nunciation. We must either limit the
powers of corporations and thus make
them the servants instead of the mas.
tcrs of the common people, or else the
people must become the trust and own
the great enterprises which furnish
manufactured products, transportation
and distribution. Should we 90 on an
other quarter of century as We are
doing and have been doing, the corpo-
ratiops will wipe out the individual in
all lines of manufactures and distribu-
ton as it has alleady wiped out The in
dividual in transportation. The cor
porations will tltcn by combinations of
interest have the laborcr and the con-
sumer entirely at their mercy and this
means revolution, financial, social and
political.
There are lines in which public own
crship is possible. 1t is possible for
the city to own the street railways, the
gas factories, the Lighting plants, as it
is possible for the nation to own the
postollice, the telegraph, and possibly
even railroads, but to talk about the
public owning factories and mines is to
talk nonsense, and pet if things go on
as they have been doing and political
conventions arc, as now, apparently in
the hands Of men who have never
given any study to the question, but
arc simply passing resolutions 70 catch
votes and pandcr to interests or prciu-
dices, even this MAJ be seriously at
tempted. The plain, simple and di-
rect way is to tax the franchises of
corporations as an equivalent for i'm
mortality and freedom from liability
for corporate Indebtedness and to com
pei publicity as in the case of national
banks ; in short, for the state and ma
tional governments to apply to all cor
porations for pccuniary profit the same
principlc that has been applied to sue
cessfully for thirty years to national
banks. This requires no amendment
to the constitution of the States or the
United States. 1t is simple justice.
1t means safety to the public. 1t
means a lowering of taxation, both
State and national. 1t means prosper.
ity. 1t means practical cooperation,
for great industry managed in this
way will be able to dispose of all its
stocks and bonds to the public, who
will thus find safe Investment for
surplus capital. Unless politicians be-
come statesmen and give serious study
to this trust problem, it is likely to in
v0lve us in more trouble than superb
clal thinkers yet dream of. -Waliacc's IS
Farmer.