The Monticellonian., 1899-09-22


 What Remedy Can be Applied to
 Eradicate the Evil.
 Chicago. Sept. 16.-The Civic Federa- ton Trust conference at Central mu- sic hall was addressed by Col. W. j.. Bryan. The hall was packed in an- ticipation of Col. Bryan's reply to W. Bourke Cochran on the trust ques- ton.
 It was reported that Col. Bryan had a set of resolutions to present. pre- sumably antagonistic to truts as they now exist. He, however, denied this, saying: T have none prepared, and am not sure whether 1 have time to prepare any for presentation
 The speaker was introduced by Gov. Stanley of Kansas, who acted as chair man of the opening session.
 Col. Bryan spoke in part as fol- lows:
 MT. Bryan's Speech.
 'The trust question has grown in i'm portance. Within the past two years more trusts have been organized, when We come to consider the capitalization and the magnitude of the interests in N0INed. than were organized in all the previous history of ;he country, and the people now come face to face with this question: Is the trust q blessing or q cufse2 If q curse, what remedy can be ap- piled to the curse? l want 10 start with the declaration that monopoly ill private hands is indefensible trGm any stand point and intolerable. One trust may be less harmful than another. one trust magnate may be more benevolent than another; but there IS no good monopoly in private hands. and do not believe il Is safe for society to permit any man or gfoup of men to monOpoliZe any article of merchandise or my branch of busi ness.
 The Defense of Monopoly.
 "The defense of the monopoly is always placed on the ground that if you will al low people to control the market and fix the price, they will be good to the people who purchase of them. The entire de- fense of the trusts rests upon q money an article for a dollar less than the arti ele will cost under other conditions. then, in the opinion of some, that proves trust to be q good thing. In the first place, I will be reduced. In tte second place if under a monopoly the price is reduced the objections to monopol, from other standpoints far outweigh the financial ad- vantage that the trust would bring.
 IincoIn's Warning.
 "In the early years ofIIncolnis admins. traitor lie sent message to congress and in that message he warned his eoun- trymen against the approach of monarchy. He said Il WAS the attempt to put capital upon an equal footing with if not above, labor in the structure oe government, and in that attempt he saw the approach of monarchy. Lincoln vas right. Whenever you put capital upon an equal footing with labor or above labor, in the strue- ture of government, you are on the road to aid q government that rests not upon a
 Nothing is more important than that we shall, in the beginning rightly under stand the relation between money and man.
 The Purpose of Trusts.
 What is the purpose of the trusts or the monopoly? For when 1 use the word trust, l use 1t in the sense that the trust means monopoly, and what is the purpose of monopoly?
 'The first advantage of a monopoly is to lower the price of the raw material furnished by the people to the combina- ton.
 "The next thing s that after you have bought up all the factories to close a part of them, and turn out of employment the mer who are engaged in them, and if you will go about over the country you will see where those enterprises, having come under the control of the trusts, have been closed up, and stand now as silent monuments to the wisdom of the trust system. In case of local strikes and fires the worK goes on elsewhere, thus prevent ing serious loss What does it mean? Ii means that If the people employed in one factory are not satisfied with the terms fixed by the employer and strike, they can close down that factory, and let the employees starVe while they go on in other factories without loss to the manu- tacturers.
 some of the Effects
 When branch ofindustry is entirely ir the hands of one great monopoly, so that every skilled man in that industry has to go to one man for employment. then that one man Will fix wages as lie pleaSes and the laboring men will then share the suf fering Of the man who sells the raw ma terial
 ''Whetn the monopoly has absolute con tro}. brains will be at a discount, and rel atives will be necessary to fill these posi- tons. There Is no question about 1t. A trust monopoly, can lessen the cost of
 In the Hands of One Man.
 There will be no need for commercial travellers. because when anybody wants goods all he has to do is to write to the one man who has them for sale, and say. w hat Will you let me have it for to-day ?'
 He can not only fix the price of what he sells, but he can fix the terms upon which he sells. You have to trust to that mans generosity and his decision upon what is fair when he is on one side and you on the other.
 What is the first thing to be expected oi d trust2 That it will cut down eX- peuses What is the second? That it will raise prices. We nave not had in this country yet q taste of complete trust 4 complete monopoly, and We can not tell what will he the result of &n attempt to secure complete monopoly, because in the attempt to secure a monopoly the monopoly has been lowering prices in or der to rid itself of competitors; but when t has rid itself of competitors what is go- inG tc be the result?
 Human Nature.
 My friends. all of you have to know is human nature. God lldda men selfish SelGshness Is merely the outgrowth of m instinct 9t self preservation. It is the ab- normal development of a mans desire to protect himself. We must recognize sel- nshness, and We must sJ make our laws that people shall not be permitted to tres pass upon the rights of others in their eff orts to secure advantages for them selves. l believe that society Is interested city is interested in this because if man dies and leaves no provisions for his wife and children, the burden falls upon so- cietY
 "l believe that the principle of monopoly finds it's inspiration in the desire of men to secure by monopoly what they can not secure in the open field of competition.
 Tsrin and Trusts.
 Another thing that to my judgment has aided monopoly, is a high tariff. No- body can dispute that a tariff law. an im- port duty, ables trust to charge for it's product the price at ,,s of 2 similar foreign
 NOW, some have suggested that to put every thing on the free list that trusts make would destroy the trusts. I do not agree with this statement, as 1t is made so broadly. l believe that the high tariff has aided the trust to collect more than the trust otherwise could collect. But I dc not believe you could destroy all trusts by putting all trust made articles on the free list Why Because If an article can be produced in this country as cheaply ;s it can be produced abroad. then the trust