The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-03-04
Trusts t 9: and ]; i:
=: Monopoly
n HE age of trusts and combina-
r fiorc ic bo .e,,1,sootl %o11y %odn1
Their Curse and q Cure.
BY d. A. Petre.l

|" HE age of trusts and combina-
| tions is the subject talk today
among a vast number of the
American people, who believe them to
be serious menace to industry, and
without doubt an apparently sound
conclusion. It would take up too
much time and space to mention the
hundreds of combinations which have
been formed in the United States dur
ing late years, besides the average
reader is well informed of the situa-
tion. -5!t@ W. 5,3 d. 81 .5ss
We all admit the evil from a COM
mercial point of view; but when we
leave the field of trade and discover
that measures are on foot to control
the education of our youth, the last
measure of wickedness has been added
to the already overaowing bowl Of
classification. referSto a bill before
the Illinois state legislature which
aims to put the public school teacfers5 I
of Chicago under the control of the +
Rockefeller University, Of which Afr.s
Harper is president. From political
and economic standpoint the average
reader can readily grasp the field of 1
thought which surrounds and gov--
erns this gentleman, and we can infer
from his past teachings III this parti-
cular, what the result would be should
the public school teachers of Chicago
be trained to educate after his way of / /
thinking. Another source would pre-
vent the organization Of any new col
lege without an endowme OF at least
100000. It is hardly possible, how
ever, to conceive that such a vicious
measure could ever be passed by any
Legislature which had the least idea
as to the result effect it would have
on the rising Grafton. The prop
osition now before the people Of
trusts apv.ssaa.. - sosist, u
is how to remedy the evil, it is All M
ways an easy proposition to condemn
existing conditions, hut it remains fcr
those to come forward and suggest ag
cure, without which the vague utter
ancess of the sdiseontent may even
prove worse than; the disease ITSELF
Recently suggestion was promul-
gated through the United States SUI
preme court that the remedy against
trusts laid with the several states to-
solve; but another outline for q cure
was not set forth, and thus, so far us Z
the courts advice is, concerned, We
must still grope in the dark, and con 81
tinue in the uneven tenor Of our way 4
But there are possibly remedies which
in the writer's opinion might tend to-
stay the progress Of monopoly, though
the plan is by no means original.
| One process would be through 81
graduated income tax (Which accoru-
ing to the courts under the constitu-s.
ton cannot be, ;l1..de valid hough
entirely correct in 1862, when an in-.s. 1: ].
= y 4+ j Is
come tax law provided for taxing all &
incomes over $60o;) but perhaps an 4
other plan might meet with better
and surer success, and that would be,
to leave the proposition to work out 4
it's own wreckage. It is an old motto oss
which says, ''that the best way to [
change bad law is to strictly enforce
it, Perhaps under this ruling there
fore, it would be well to let the system
of trusts and monopoly gain the
length of their tether, when the whole
public will be SO utterly surprised and
awed that they will speedily rise with
one voice and subdue by wise means cal
Il condition of society which is fast
pauperising the nation notWlthstanld- ll' l'alltl.
ing it's enormous productive wealth.