The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-07-04
A

In a recent article, The Charlotte
Observer speaking of trusts said:
"The hope, yea, the reasonable ex
pectation, is, that these immense com
b!nations will fall by their OWE weight.
The conditions which permit them are
abnormal; they are wholly unnatural
growths; and one day or other they
must go to pieces"
Similar articles have been appearing
in some Of our farm ex 3hacges and we
CAD to see that Col AL Fairbrother, OF
the Farrago, Of D nviile, has jlst
issued forth upon writers of this ilk
and has ripped 'em up the back in a
manner quite creditable to himself.
No doubt a number Of these newly
formed combines will soon collapse
but only the ignorant or designing will
use this to lulI the people into apathy
and inaction. As Col. F~airbrOther
says:
ITO illustrate, let US take the Ameri
can Tobacco Company, as we are ell
familiar with its visible workings
What has it done7 It has absorbed all
the competition in known brands Of
smoking and chewing tobacco and
cigarettes and cheroots. It is prac
tically independent of all competition
in these goods. The Liggett & Myers
plant, the Drummond, the BIll, the
R3ynolds-all these concerns were
making their millions single handed
and alone. E Ich n Of them was ex
pending thousands upon thousands of
dollars in advertising each year; each
one had scores of statesmen on the road
each one had many high salaried man
ayers Of departments and book keepers
and all that-and presto it all has been
changed. Ole high salaried man is
now where a dozen had been; one ad.
vertising contract answers for a hun
dred;-and by the combination one sat
of buyers On each market sufices, and
with the almost compete absorption OF
competition the price Of Leaf tobacco
hes been reduced fully two thirds
and, as figures prove, the consumer
gets no more of the manufactured
article for ten cents than he did when
the cost of production was fully twice
what it is today-and that is not the
end.
when the American finally trf
umphs, a2d its fendish scheme is fully
perfected like the Standard Oh Com
pany, it can az its pleasure raise the
price Of its manufactured tobacco the
fraction Of a cent on each pound, and
with the world as it's onsum and
slave, the increased profits Of a single
day can exceed a million doll are How
then, in the name Of common sense,
can such a gigantic combination ''go
to pieces" as the conservative man
tondly dreams?
docs any one dream that the Stand
ard Oil Company is going to pieces
when it's president is just about to
become @ billionaireG No one does.
And for the people to hope that a con
bination of tobacco brands, such as are
now in the hands of the American To
b1cco @ 1mpany, with almost the whole
world as C nsumers of n or the other
of them, will go to pieces is idle beyond
serious consideration.
For sensible men to sit down and
dream that a combination like the
American Tobacco Company. with the
whole world for a patron and the whole
tobacco growing country Of the world
in i1s power, to which it dictates
prices, is going to pieces, were al much
delusion az when the MiIIerites and
Tnomasites gave away all their world
ly possessions aud awaited the coming
of the worlds end
"And we're disappointed"