Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-16
Bryan'S Antitrust Talk.

Chicago. Sept. 16.--The Civic Fedora
tion Trust conference was addressed to
day by Colonel w j. Bryan. The hal
was packed in anticipation of Bryan
reply to Cochran on the trust question
1t was thought Bryan had set of reso
/ jutlons to present, presumably antagon
| istic to trusts, as they now exist. He
| however, denied this. The speaker was
introduced by Governor Stanley of Kan.
| sas, who acted as chairman of the omen
| ing session.
In beginning his address, BRYAN said
The trust question has grown in imyort.
ance. Within the past two years more
trusts nave been organized, when we
come to consider capitalization and mag
n1tude OF interests involved, than were
organized In all previous history of the
country, and people are now face TO face
with this question: Is the trust a pless
ing, or curse? If curse, what remedy
can be applied to cure the curse? | want
to start with the declara ton that monop-
oily in private hands is indefenesibe from
any standpoint and is intolerable
The entire defense of trusts rests uuon
money against argument. If trusts will
sell an article for a dollar less than the
article will cost under other conditions
then, in the opinion of some, that proves
the trust to be good thing. In the first
place, l deny that under monopoly the
price will be reduced. In the second
place, II under monopoly the price is re-
duced. objections to monopoly from other
standpoints far outweighing the tinan-
cial advantage that the trust would
bring"
Continuing. Bryan said that whenever
you put capital on an equal footing with
labor or above labor in the structure of
the government, you are on the road to
aiding government that rests, not upon
peace. but upon force.
'The first advantage of moropoly.,
said Bryan, lis to lower the price of raw
material furnished by the people to that
combination. The next thing is, after you
have bought up all the factories, to close
part of them and turn out of their en-
ployment men who are engaged in them
In case of local strikes and fires, work
goes on elsewhere, thus preventing SER
ious loss.
What does it mean? It means that il
the people employed in one factory are
not satisfied with the terms fixed by the
and strike, the factory can
close down and let the employees starve,
while other factories go on without loss
20 the manufa cturers. When monopoly
has absolute control, brains will be at g, |
and relatives will be necessary |
10 fill these positions
What is the first thing to be expected !
If a trust? That it will cut down ex- I
oenses. What is the second? That it |
Will raise prices. We have not had in
his country yet a taste of a complete
rust, complete monopoly, and we cannot
ell what will be the result of complete
BY looking at the results that
ave followed the attempt to secure mon
poly, because monopoly has been lower-
ng prices in order to rid itself of competi-
ors, but when It has rid itself of COM
'etitors what is going to be the resut?.
MY friends, all you have to know is
uman nature. God made men selfsd, I
'elfishness is merely the outgrowth Of
he instinct Of seh-preservation. 1t i,
ne abnormal development of mans de-
ire to protect himself. Another thinpsI
hat to my Judgment, has aided monOn- Il
~ is high tariff. believe a high \
arih has aided the trust to collect more
ma nan the trust otherwise could collect, i
ut do not believe you could destrovl
II trusts by putting all trust-made arti.
les on the free list"