Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-04-28
MONEY AND TRUSTS.
No Good to Come Out of the Trust
Evil.

NO Good to Come Out OF the lrus'
EVIL.
A correspondent of the Atlanta Con-
stitution, who signs himself "a Com
mercial Traveller" writes to suggest
the growth of trusts is not likely to
interfere with his occupation. THE
same volume of business will have to
be done" he says, land commercial
travellers are an indispensable agency,
even to trusts"
II that is true the trusts themselves
are very sadly mistaken in their out
line of the economies they intend to
institute The Springfield Republican
quotes from a prospectus issued by
one of them as follows:
"The fourth item of saving, and one
the Importance of which is manifest,
is that resulting from the expenses OF
travelling statesmen. At present 1t is
not infrequent to find large number
OF statesmen at one place waiting to
show their lines to limited number
of customers, one-third of whom
would be more than adequate to per-
form the services of all. The large
army of travellers now employed could,
therefore, be reduced two-thirds, in
volving saving of the most enormous
magnitude
The statement has been recently
made that there are more commercial
travellers out of employment now than
at any time since the panic of 1893.
If this be true, it Is due to the econ
omy that small business firms-we
mean small as compared with the vast
consultations that lave already been
formed-have found to be essential.
The general demand for goods is very
much smaller than IT would be II the
money supply was adequate to carry
on business. There is supply of
money that seems to be even larger
than it was in 1890; but it is not in
circulation. 1t is congested in the
hanks, held in the money centers and
boarded in the treasury. 1t is avail
able for the trusts, but 1T is not avail
able for those who now borrow on
their record of integrity and their
known enterprise; and these are the
very men who establish new industries
and increase the volume of trade and
business and open profitable opportu-
mites to the unemployed.
Now. according to the calculations of
the trust whose prospectus we have
quoted in part, two-thirds of the
brightest, most intelligent and best
equipped business men in the country
will be thrown out of a job. Be it OBJ
served, we do not predict this result,
We merely base it on declaration
made by one Of the trusts. In the eff |
feet they will have on business, and |
on the relations of employment to
business, one trust is as like another |
as two peas. If, as has been freely |
predicted by those more capable |
of judging, perhaps, than we are,
trusts are to invade and take charge
of all the most profitable forms of
business and industry, we have before
us in the near future changes at once
revolutionary and destructive.
When invention drove the hand
loom weavers out of employment in
the early years of the century, great
deal of harm was done; but this fea-
ture of the revolution was soon recti-
fed by the increase in the number of
mills, and the field of employment was
actually broadened and widened. So
Il was when steam power was applied
to labor-saving machinery New ave-
nues of employment We're opened, and
a tremendous impulse was given to all
forms of industry.
But what is to be the compensation
for the appearance of trusts? What
is to intervene to restore idle labor to
employment when the trusts have
firmly established themselves as the
albiters of business and industry?
What is to lift and carry the burdens
they will impose on the middle class
es, provided they do encroach on and
take charge, of the agencies of distri-
button? When labor-saving machin-
cry was introduced and steam power
applied to it, there were many predic-
tions OF evil results land there were
evil results) but there were many far
sighted enough to perceive that the
actual result would be as beneficial to
tho individual laborer as it was to
mankind at large; but we know of no