People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1899-08-03

istic of Stanley-fails to do any,
thing. The Klondyke will stay, to
the continual disgrace Of the state.
An authorized mouthpiece of trusts has
Just boosted, in New York paper, that
three hundred and fifty thousand com.
mercial travellers have been thrown out
OF employment by the concentration Of
mercantile and commercial industries in
the trusts-that 5000 900 daily are thus
saved to the trusts, and that an equal
amount is saved to trusts by the conse
quent Withholding of advertising patron
age from country newspapers. In othel
words, the trusts in these two items alone
save to themselves six millions every day
and eighteen hundred millions annual,
all of which is withdrawn directly from
the people, with the farcical Argument
that it will enable the trusts to advanc,
wages, cheaper products and make lab
orers stockholders and owners Of the com
panieS. Great heavens! Was ever more
bitter irony or insult spewed out upor
mankind?
The exchanges are full of such state
ments. This is without doubt true
While the two items mentioned are those
in which the largest saving is made there
are many Others which will aggregate al
enormous amount. This throwing O
men out of employment, Cutting tn,
labor market, must, before many months
result in reduction in wages generally
The question naturally arises, who profit
by this saving in the cost OF production
and distribution. Not the consumer, fol-
almost everything he purchases has fiser
in price. Many things from so to Ioc
per cent. Not the wholesaler nor the
retail dealer for their margins are con.
stantly growing smaller. This saving Of
millions daily in cost Of production and
the increased price paid by consumers OF
millions more daily all goes to the one
place-the Golfers of the great trusts al.
ready rich beyond the dreams OF
avarice." No great trust has ever yet
gone to pieces and they will not. They
are capitalizing and watering their stock
to many times the original value, paying
enormous salaries to favored ones and
still paying good dividends upon a capt.
tai often ten times or more than ten
times actual value.
The tendency toward the accumulation
Of wealth i'll the hands of the few, alarm
ing as it has been for years, is now going
on with constantly accelerating motion,
and it will continue so to do until a new
order of things is established. The COM
petitive systeiD has broken down. There
is no competition among those interested
i'll trust. View this problem as we will,
whether it please us or not there can be
but one solution and that is public owner
ship of public utilities. Let a sill larger
trust, composed of all the people, absorb
those now formed. There is no p6%er
under the law to prevent the organizations
and development of trusts. They are
pointing out the way and showing how
large enterprises can be carried OH under
one management. Efforts to control
trusts in any other way will be as futile
and as senseless as were the efforts to pre-
vent the adoption and use Of labor-saving
machinery. Forces are at work which
will compel attention and lead to a care
full study of this greatest problem con-
fronting the American people today. No
one would think for one moment of turn
ing the postofice or the public schools
over to private control. If the railroad,
the telegraph, the coal mines, the light
ing OF our cities and many other things
of like character were now under public
ownership, the proposition to give any
one of them over to private control would
meet with the same opposition as would
the one to give over the postofice or the
public school now. Every step in this
direction of public ownership is step to-
ward the enriching Of all the people and
the wiping out Of trusts. Begin with the
and follow with the railroad,
city lighting and water and follow this
up as fast and far as conditions will adj
Just themselves and as is necessary for
the protection Of the people against the
modern robber, barons, the trusts.