Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1899-09-15
TRUSTS IN ENGLAND.
HOW COMBINES THRIVE UNDER
FREE TRADE.

They Flourish More L~uxuriantly in
British than In American Soil, and
All h Better Because of the Al.
seuce of Protection,
Writing to the New York Press from
London, MIR. II. Curtis Brown, a staff
correspondent of that paper, presents
with much force and %distinctness the
subject Of trusts in England. Such, a
presentment is most timely. 1t comes
ct a moment when facts are important
In order to accurately determine the
extent to which trusts abound in q
country where protection is unknown.
From MI. Browns article, which APP
pears in the current issue Of the Ameri-
can Economist, it is learned, among
other things, that in free trade Eng
land the modern trust had its origin
and has attained to its most complete
development. To-day, says this we'll
informed writer, there are more trade
combinations to the square inch in
England than in the United States, and
1t will not be long at the present rate
before every trade in the tight little
island will be in q position to regulate
competition"
In spite of the fact that the tendency
toward monopoly in England in the
last year has been significant and al-
most startling, the average Englishman
will tell you, I'VE have nc trusts in
England. MI. Havemeyer evidently
had that idea when he declared that
-Nae customs tariff is the mother Of
Susts." How mistaken is this belief,
sA6 how firmly the trust movement, UNI
Ssr another name. has taken hold upon
English commercial life, may be con-
vlncingly learned from the facts set
forth in detail by the Press CORE
spondent. According to this well-in-
formed writer, organizations which in
trusts now control in England the fine
cotton spinning, the dyeing, screw
manufacture. salt manufacture, news
paper manufacture. cotton thread,
chemicals, the crushing of oil seed, bed
stead making. glass bottle making,
manufacture Of electrical fittings and
the cased tube trade. There is no open
market in petroleum, nickel, mercury,
anthony, lead pipe and fish. The Ma
tional Telephone Company now has a
monopoly, and the number of trades
in which the leading producers have
combined and have begun to squeeze
the smaller producers to THE inevitable
end of establishing what Is tantamount
to a trust is almost infnife."
In o. respect the trust idea has
been carried in England to an extent
thus far unknown in the United States.
The combinations operating separately
in different lines are engaged in com
blning themselves into still larger and
more comprehensive trusts. At last
accounts the dyers were thinking of 60
ing into the chemical manufacturing
business, making their own drugs and
dye stuffs, and establishing what
would amount to q practical monopoly
in that direction. Likewise the retail
chemists, themselves combined into as
soclatfons which regulated prices in
many districts, froze out the m%anufact-
urer of mineral waters by building a
factory themselves, and practically
controlling the market.
One of the latest combinations is that
of the oil-seed crushers, whose chair
mar Is Hugh Cullen Smith, late gov
n Of the Bank Of England, and the
manufacturers of the paper used in
making newspapers are said to have
formed a monopoly. Twenty-four lead
ing firms in the engineering trade have
consolidated with a capital Of $7O,OOO,-
600. Vickers & Co., armor plate manu-
facturers, have been buying up compet-
ing firms until they control the trade.
The Belfast linen yarn spinners were
lately reported to be organizing and
also the Scottish floor cloth manufact-
urers, also the bleacters, who are re-
ported to have n capital of $3O,OOO,O 900.
All this in free-trade England, where,
II Mr.. Havemeycr and his Demo-Pop
admirers are correct in their conten-
ton, trusts do not and can not exist.
1t appears however, that they can and
do exist, and that they thrive Won
derfully well in that ~non-protected
country-thrive all the better, it would
seem, because Of the absence of protec-
ton and the active and always increas-
ing competition which protection pro-
notes and insures. Such, it will be
found, is the truth concerning trusts.
They flourish witt or without a pro-
tective tarif-rather better without
than with 1t.
Where ia Jobailey Now?
We have heard from Bryan, from
Croker, from Altgeld, from 10 Black
burn. from Henry Watterson and from
others. 1t is plain that, apart from GER
tain retraction and fine, hearty crow
eating. all these leaders are in favor of
!i's Chicago plntform for 1900. and for
.. 'egula. 'Mnri,in,. however, sadly It
i" hav" disl" .:a'r! Harmony. long
.us mou.f:n" a.. " s. tllArcd perch, has
appareIt!:t frs,iii II lis ancient rOost,
The %renega''"s am '~.a.,ors of 1896
all at ieast wio iin-r i"t been provided
FOR Hfv1fNSt fisn ,.t ,., j,'ucv ~ "a