Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-11-18

are. or We're. supposed to underlie the
law organizing the Interstate Com
merce commission. Whether the report
be accurate or not, the tendency of rail
road management has long been in this
dlrection-that is, toward treating the
business of railroads as legitimate enter
prlses which should be conducted for
the purpose of making money on the
capital invested. And this is the second
stage in the history of stock companies.
when investments are made in the Sc
curities for industrial and not for finan-
cha reasons-that is. for the money that
is to be made out of the business, and
not for the money that is to be made out
or the manipulation of the stock. Event
ually 'industrials'' will follow the ex-
ample OF the great railroad securities,
ana Will be bought for what they really
represent in the way of a business.
1t is absolutely certain that when the
day comes that an "industrial'' trust or
combination is managed on strictly bust
ness principles by men who have no in
terest except to make as. much money
economic value of combination will be
seen, and every one but the demagogue
who may be interested in keeping the
antitrust issue alive will acknowledge
the saving effected in the cost of opera
ton and administration, and the adyant-
age to the consumers and the laborers
from the evenness of production that is
possible when the market is in the con-
troll of a single will and production is
not subject to the caprices of COMPETE
tlon. AS to prices, that is a matter
which will probably regulate itself under
combination as it has under compete
ton. 1t is true that a monopoly has the
power to fix the prices at will: but, in
the first place. there are scarcely any
monopOlies, for if there is no ompeti
ton in the precise product. there is com
petition in similar products which serve
the purposes of the consumers nearly or
quite as we'll: and, in the second place.
! the so-called monopolist must consult
the possibilities of the market. He can
not fix his price so high as to prevent
the growth of the demand for the prod
uct.
The growth of these great enterprises,
DR.. Hadley thinks-and rightly, we be-
lieve-will not be sudden, mainly because
OF the great difficulty of finding men ca
pable OF managing such vast aggrega-
lions OF capital, II such complex and
delicate machines of business as these
combinations must be when their ener-
gies are honestly directed to producing
as cheaply n as ~abundantly as posi-
BILE. DR.. Hadley says that three points
must be kept in view ito make matters
run in the right direction" These are:
y, Increased responsibility on the part
of boards of directors"-this, we believe,
trative control. greater publicity, a SUI
pervision over the productive enter
prises, such as is now exercised over
banks and insurance companies: "2,
A change in the legal character Of the
labor contract" with a view to prevent
ing the interruption of production by
strikes; 70. An increased care in the i'm
position of high import duties"
When a condition of affairs is reach
ed which transforms the trust into a
productive machine, managed on BUSH
ness principles. supervised by the state.
and standing in the courts on an even
footing with the individual, there is
likely to be a halt called to the move
ment, If movement there be- looking to
the state ownership Of such enterprises.
If we can secure the changes in admin