The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-09-28
BRYAN SCORES THE TRUSTS.
A POWERFUL ARRAY OF FACTS.
Suggested Remedies for tho Giant
Evil-The Trusts Can be Killed If
rho PeODle Arc in Earnest,

the People Arc in Earnest.
The conference on the uses and
abuses of trusts closed it's session
in Chicago in blaze of oratory. VIM,
j. Bryan and Bourke Cochran were
the central figures and Mr.. Bryan
made great speech, end received ar
ovation equal to his reception in 1896
when he won the nomination for Prosl-
dent Mt Chicago.
Mr.. Bryan was introduced by Gov.
ernor Stanley, Of Kansas, who aotele as
chairman Sf the opening session. Wild
applause greeted the Nebraskan. w
joined frequently In the applause. Mr..
Bryan spoke, in part, as follows:
Within two years, moro trusts
have been organized than in the pre-
vious history of the country and the
people now come faco to face with this
question:
"'Is the trust blessing or curse.
II cure what remedy can be applied
to the curse p
Monopoly In private hands Is tnde-
fensible from any standpoint and in
tolerable. | do not divide monopolies.
There can be no good monopoly In pri-
vate hands until the Almighty sends
us angels to preside over us.
ter than another despot, but thoro is
no good despotism. The defense Of tho
monopoly is always placed on the
ground that II you will allow people to
control the markets aud fix tho pricc
they will be good to the people who
purchase Of them. The entire defense
Of the trusts rests upon n money argu-
ment. If the trusts will sell an article
for q dollar less than tho article will
cost under Othor conditions, then in
the opinion of some, that proves q
trust to be good thing. In the irsb
place I deny that under a monopoly
tho price will be reduced. In tho
second place, II under u monopoly tho
price is reduced, tho objections to =.
monopoly from othor stundpOints far
outweigh the financial advantage that
the trust would bring. But | protest
against settling every question upon
tho dollar argument
" In the early years Of Linc0ln'a I'd
ministration ho sent d message TO Com
gross, warning his countrymeu against
the approach Of monarchy. lie said
he saw in the attempt to put capital
even upon an equal footing with labor
in the sti ucture OF government, the
approach OF monarchy. Lincoln wa3
right. Whenevor you put capitv}
above labor in the structure Of Hpvcru-
mont, you are on the road to aid q GOV
ernment that rests not on reason bat
on force.
Nothing Is more Important than
that we shall, in tho beginning, rightly
understand the relation between money
and mau.
= Man is the creature o. God and
money IL the servant OF man, and pro
test against all theories that rnthronc
money and debasc mankind.
If you will go about over tho coma.
try, you will see whore people have
subscribed money to establish enter
prises, and where these entcrprisos
having come under the control Of tho
trusts have boon closed Up aud stana
now as silent monuments to the Sod0ol
OF the trust system.
"ln any case Of local strikes and
fires, the work goes on elsewhere, thus
preventing serious loss.
When branch Of industry Is found
In the hands Of one Of the great mo-
nopolies SO that every skilled man
must 60 to one man for employment.
the one man fixes the wages as he
pleases and the laboring men will then
share the suffering of the man who
sells the raw material.
"dut w Wtsih yOu tuaG WlGn tho
monopoly has absolute cuntrol, brains
yet had a taste Of complete trust.
But when the trust has rid itself OF all
competitors what is going to be the re-
suit, by which, my friends, all you have
to know is human nature. God made
man selfish.
"On the farm we used to protect
property from the hogs by putting
ring in their noses. Why So that
while they were getting fat, they would
not destroy more than they were worth.
One of the great purposes of govern
ment is to put rings In the noses of
hogs. If ! were going to try to find
the root OF the monopoly evil, would
60 back to, the Bible for an explana-
tion, and would find it in the declara-
tion that the love Of money Is the root
Of all evil.
railing prices, caused by rising
dollar, and the high tariff, have con-
tributed the desire to secure the fruits
OF the monopoly.
"Some have suggested that to put
everything on the free list that trusts
make, would destroy the trust. But |
do not believe that you could destroy
all trusts by putting ali trust-made
articles on the free list, because If an
article can be produced in this country
as cheaply as it can be produced
abroad, then the trust could exist
without the benefit OF any tariff at ALL
though 1T could not extort so much.
we cannot destroy monopoly until we
lay the axe at the root of the tree, and |
make monopoly impossible by law.
=" Discrimination by railroads has
aided trusts. That can be remedicd |
by laws which will place producers on
equal footing. But the remedy must
be complete right to prevent tho Or
ganlzation OF u monopoly. We differ
more In remedy than we do in our
opinlon OF the trust. Few people will
defend the trust as a principle, As to
the remedy both State and nation
should have concurrent remedies. In
the first place cvcry State h&s. or
should have, the right to create anv
private corporation which is conduciva
to the welfare Of the people Of that state,
believe that we can safely cntrust to
tho people OF o State the settlement OF
4 01patiOn whinb oonrerpa than Jf