Arizona republican., 1899-02-10
A REAL TRUST OCTOPUS.

There is a startling object lesson o1
 one of the dangerous phases of modern
 industrial consolidation in the fact
 that four Chicago meat firms absolute l ly control among them the meat sup
 ply of the world and therefore hold the
 inhabitants of the globe at their mercy
 as regards the meat supply. They con-
 ttol so overwhelmingly the market of
 raw material"-that is, the supply of
 cettle-that they can arbitrarily fix the
 prices of refrigerated and preserved
 meat, upon which the civilized nations
 must now rely in greater part, and hay | ing by competition driven out of bus1-
 ness vast numbers of small dealers who | formerly supplied the demand they
 could, if it so pleased them, in order to
 raise prices, infiict meat famine upon | the nations. Certain economic laws l tend to reduce this danger to an inn probability, of course. The world might live on a vegetable diet, and in case of imposition by the meat trust, it could
 by popular revolt resort to that expe-
 dient, thus tending to bring prices
 down to a just level. The vast sums
 invested in monster plants require that
 the trust, in order not to suffer great
 loss. must maintain an enormous out
 put, and if it finds exorbitant prices
 leading to a diminished market it will
 soon bring it's figures to the proper
 level Yet another economic condition
 serves to assist in their maintenance of
 a monopoly and their chance to exact arbitrary prices. The vegetable, cereal
 and fish supplies are in many years be-
 low the amount required to feed the race, even if there were a revolt prac-
 tically of the whole world against the
 meat trust, and the race would find it.
 self compelled to fall back upon the trust and beg for sustenance at the
 trusts own figures. Thus the beef
 kings are supreme in any event, pro vided, of course, the world would main
 tain so great respect of their vested rights as to submit to utter dependence upon them. How great is the scope of their power is shown by a startling fact brought to the mind of thoughtful men by the recent war investigation of army supplies, namely, that without the consent of the meat trust, which controls 15, ,OOO,O 900 head of cattle and hogs yearly. no nation of the civilized world dare go to war, for without as surance of ample food supplies any one of them so cut off would be foredoomed to defeat and disaster. Four Chicago 1 men, therefore-Armour Morris. Swift | and Hammond-in a sense control the | destinies of the great powers of the | world. If Russia and England come to blows and Russia succeed in enlisting | the active sympathy and support of | the Big Four" either through senti- lnent or money, England is whipped | before she fires q gun, and a great em- pire is at the mercy Of a rapacious ri val and it's business allies. It is well [ known that England and Russia are at dagger's point, and either would only want assurance of overwhelming sue cess to settle cid riyalries and injuries. The Big Four could provoke the | greatest conflict of history by assuring either of these powers of it's undivided favor, Thus the meat trust has the power not merely to prevent but to pre- ciPitate war. These hypotheses may 'epresent-very remote possibilities, but they are nevertheless reasonable, and | they show that the world is at the feet l. of a quartet of millionaire packers This condition of things carries it's own moral. It is q state of affairs fraught with the most tremendous dangers, in volving as it does the fate of millions of human beings in their individual and as great nations, and 1ne against which the people may rise
 in that day when they appreciate it's rull significance. There may be room for debate as to whether the good of the greatest number is conserved by he modern trust tendency in trade iealing with articles of luxury or con- 7enience, but it is hardly deniable that he welfare of the race demands an eff ective check upon an industrial system which permits the cornering" of the worlds supply of necessaries by handful of men. f