The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1899-07-05
Bill Arp's Letter.
Bill Gives an Interesting Talk on
Trusts.

i;onaires or oil trusts or sugar or
wbiskey or tobacco or even in chew
ing gum trusts. Trust in the Lord
and do good" is the only trust be
commended. I wonder why these
combines are called trusts. Ireckon
it is because the combiners know it
is rascally business and they will
have to trust one another to tote fair
aud divide square, for they can't en-
force it by law. These trusts seem
to be a modern invention-a North
American idea-an idea CT Our north
ern brethren 10 make the rich richer
and the poor poorer. The consum-
ers OF oil and sugar and such things
are not complaining Of the price
nor would they complain if they got
them for nothing, but these combines
are founded on sel6shness and greed.
They disturb the general welfare,
destroy the equilibrium and put the
public in constant peril. They can
raise the price when they wish to
and there is DO competition to keep
it down. If competition dares to
build up against them they can de-
stroy it in week or month. They
have no heart or pity or kind con-
sideration for their employees, but
can reduce their wages or discharge
them at their pleasure. They defy
the law and blibe courts and, law
makers. Now, it may be possible
that the oil trust or The sugar trust
sell US those commodities as cheap
or cheaper than if there were no
trusts, but We would rather pay
more and have free fight. 1t is
all one-sided business and the old
maxim that "competition is the life
of trade" has been virtually Destroy
ed.
We old men have not ceased to la
ment the destruction Of the hundreds
CT small industries that before the
war enriched our State and made
cur people happy and contented.
Tie time was when there was
wagon shop and>a blacksmith shop
at every cross rosds-a hatter's shop
and two or three shocshops in every
village-a lanyard in every settle
ment and little mills on every creek.
But big fish have swallowed up the
little ones. Their products may be
cheaper now, but the producers have
had 10 move away or 60 to planting
cotton. Northern capital takes our
iron and timber and bides and wool
and after paying freight both ways
sell back to US what we had been
making at home. Time was when |
wore shoes that were made in our
village-made from leather that was
tanned not far away. Time was
when I was proud of the wool hat
that Ben South made-made while |
was locking on. I remember that
the whipping post was planted not
far from the hatter's shop and how
I ran home on one occasion to keep
from seeing white man whipped.
Il will meet you at the hatter's,"
was time-bonorcd maxim, but is
not now. Time was when once
week rode the little bay mare to
mill three miles away and left my
grist so as to have race back with
some ether boy. And there was q
country school on the road and the
boys waylaid US because we had
dared to cry "school butter" This
reminds me to say in passing I re-
ceiyed letter the other day from
some Alabama school-boys wanting
to Know the origin and meaning of
school butter. My father was an
old-time school teacher and said that
in his boy hocd the expression was
':schcol better" and signi6ed tEat
"our school is better than Your
school," and it always provoked a
collision. Some very hungry boys
corrupted it into "school butter"
But the town boys lever go the mill
nowadays: the mill comes TO them.
Home made shoes and hats ale
things Of the past-everything comes
from the north, and is now made by
a trust; and on almost everything
we use or consume there is duty or
taliti, and we pay our palt Of it to
keep up the pensions and fight the
Flhpinos. Talk about the trusts
that pension trust is the biggest
trust of all, and the most corrupt.
How the north stands it [ cannot
understand. Over S2,O0O,0GO,OO0
have already gone that way, snd
John Browns soul keeps marching