The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-04-22
r UST eleven common commodities

+ = Tf
ated trusts or wide trade agree
ments will be left for the people to
buy when the prune trust, the buggy
whip trust, and the trust in derby
hats, now being formed, are complet-
ed Consequently, peope who are con-
tenplating the starting of boycott
of their own aainst modern concen-
tration of capital must make up their
minds whether they can get along
on those articles, which are the Only
ones of dailyg use whose sale is unim-
peded.. and the prices of which are
left to fix themselves according to the
constantly fluctuating law of supply
and demand.
All others but the following are
controlled by trusts: Cut flowers,
spectacles, millinery, coffee and tea,
vegetables, fruits Except prunes),
pies and cakes, eggs, butter and
cheese, poultry, and game, watches
and jewelry.
All the others are controlled by the
trusts The man who would make up
& his mind to he independent of them
would have to be Il vegetarian, or else
depend on poultry and game for his
meat foods. He would have to give UP
oatmeal and milk, all kinds of tobacco,
as well as beer and whisky. He would
Il have. to furnish his house unpreten-
4tiously or he would come in contact
& with the Furniture Dealers associa-
Il tion He could not even wear false
# teeth, and he would have to go bare
foot, or else pay the price OF the
+ leather trust. And the chances are
a that before long .he would have to do
up his own shirts and collars, for a
laundry trust is in progress Of forma-
and there are strong prospects
that several of the eleven commod-
tiles now free from the trusts will
soon be under control. 4
a man might live on these commod-
tiles that are. still free from the
trusts; but his tastes would be much
restricted. On the iother hand the
average citizen helps the trust almost
every time he raises a spoon to his
mouth at the breakfast table: He puts
on trust underwear and hosiery when
he gets up in the morning, for the
American Knit Goods company prac-
.tically controls the trade. His shoes
are made expensive because the
United States Leather company con-
trolls the leather market. He, puts
trust coal into his furnace and strikes
a3trust match to light the gas owned
& by a trust. (The gas trust does not
apply to sDuluth.)
When he sits down to breakfast the
spoon with which he eats the products
of the oatmeal trust is made by the
silver trust. If he eats cracker he
pays tribute to the National Biscuit
company. The price of sugar is con-
trolled by the sugar trust, and if he
prefers beet sugar, the American Beet
Sugar Refining company. If he pre-
fers glucose or cane sugar, he has to
pay the price set by a trust. If he
8 enjoys a sirloin steak, he has to pay
tribute to the dressed beef combina-
ton. The wall paper he looks at
comes from the wall paper trust. The
rock salt pool controls the price of
the salt he puts on his potatoes. His
morning paper is made more eNpens
i've because OF a trust in print paper.
He can not eat a broiled whitefish
without helping to pay the dividends
of $1O,O00,000 worth of stock of the
American Fisheries company He can
drink coffee whose value is fixed by
its quality and not by any trust-but
if he lTes in Chicago the big milk
up the price of cream he puts in it
ana he must use trust sugar and drink
out of II trust cup. unless he is able
to buy imported china.
If in the big eastern cities he must
buy ice cream of the ice cream trust
III he buys an eye opener i'll the morn
ing he must drink trust whisky. and
if he has beer at noon he probably
will buy trust beer. The filters by
which he keeps the microbes out of
his drinking water are made by a
trust. His overshees are made a lux
llry by the rubber trust, and if his
wife wears ribbons he must help pay
the dividends on the S1s,00O,0OO capital
s Of the ribbon manufacturers trust
Ii the new laundry trust puts up the
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