Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1899-06-15

udices.
The operation of trusts is a very
different thing. Ts obtain monopoly
of things necessary or comfortable to
human existence and fix the price at a
point which means a hardship on the
people to pay it and immense profits
to the monopolists is something that
the public has very vital interest in
and right to interfere with and stop
| if possible. 1t is not always possible.
Monopolies do not always harken to
the voice of the people, rs expressed
by statute. The law might say that the
American Jaak-Knife company should
CHARGE only a quarter for jack-knives,
and the company might strenuously
decline to sell them at that price Fix
ing prices by statute has never proven
particularly successful. There are
other laws higher than those of Con-
gress or legislature that take prece-
dence. Not all OF these are abolished
by the formation of trusts, as some
would have us believe. Thus if the
American Jack-Knife company, in its
| desire to accumulate wealth, should
foolishly undertake to make the pub
lie pay half dollar for what was con-
fessedly worth only quarter, the pub
lie would conclude it was better to
get along with the old knife a while
longer, or use something else. or 90
without entirely While the public
would suffer in some degree, the greedy.
monopolists would suffer great deal
more and finally 90 to the wall
While a trust may control all of the
present output Of a certain article, il
is beyond its power to control all that
there ever will be. Human energy is
tireless and capital always abundant
where profits are alluring. About the
time a trust gets to work jouncing the
public, it finds a formidable COMPETE |
tor somewhere that speedily dis
courages this practice. The trust has
too many millions invested to even
risk the possibility of such COMPETE
ton. This world is too big and there
are too many people in it for blood
sucking monopolies (if there were any
such) to flourish long. The man
who worries in the fear that his bread
will sometime be denied him at the
hand of the trust is a victim of dyspep-
STA and couldn't enjoy cake If he had
it. The Creator has wisely seen 10 it
that nothing in this world is so neces-
sary to human existence that substi-
tute nearly as good cannot be provid-1
ed, except in a few instances, and
these he has made so plentiful that a
OF them is as impossible as a /
of water {
The most successful monopoly is the
one that fixes the price gifts commod- J
ty at the point which yields the great /
,st revenue, yet not at point that VIII {
competition. This does
lot mean that the price must be high !,
nough to keep it out of reach of the /
ommon buyer, of course. II is on i
lin that the greediest monopoly is alb {
olutely dependent. A railroad has i
ONE to he one OF. our greatest modern
necessities. If one having a complete d
in a certain section should 7
* its rate of travel at dollar a mile. \
instead of two cents, does anyone sup e
'ose its receipts would grow? If such 1
we're the belief, there are plenty of a
Dads that would have tried it long I.
90. n
That there are evils in trusts. one il
nay readily admit. The idea Of mo- a
opoly is distasteful. This very .
eminent curbs the trusts, sometimes n
eing worked beyond all reason. We Il
ave in mind a case. A certain tobac- j
o dealer was urged to patronize a n
ertaln wholesale concern on the n
round that it was not in the trust. II
lie was inclined to buy until he learn "
d thar as matter OF fact the trust y
ould and would sell him cheaper than Il
he Independent concern. which was
rying to work him. One of the worst fe
wills of trusts is over-capitalization .
hose who dabble in stocks should "
,ok out for this-it doesn't interest &,
nyone but the investor. A law re- is
uiring that the capital stock Of these u
ombines should not exceed the fair =
alue Of the property would protect :,
lese investors. =
Ii is the common practice to cartoon s
he trust as an octopus, with long. 8
,ntacled arms reaching out for every 8
ling and with a capaciOus nav. s.