The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-16

the people against impending industrial
slavery.
Sixth. That the growth of private in
dustrial corporations under the general
laws OF the several states and the adj
vantages given to persons by such laws
threaten the extinction of all natural per
sons, as competitors with them in every
line OF business.
We. therefore, recommend that The
several states take immediate action TO
limit the purposes for which such cOrpor-
atoms may be formed and discourage their
further formation by the adoption of such
measures as their wisdom may advise
Organized Labor II Trust.
Samuel Gompers, president of the Amer
lean Federation of Labor, followed Sec
rotary Hays. lie declared that organized
labor is a trust, and continued:
The only practical use of the anti
trust and interstate commerce laws has
been to take from us the right of trial by
jury and to imprison workmen for con-
spiracy.
Il believe that instead of trusts and COM
binations OF capital opposing and antagon-
ling the labor movement they should
take a more comprehensive view of the
situation and try to make better friends
of the organized wage earners than they
have in the past"
Mr.. Gompers was loudly applauded.
Clark on MOnopOIies.
John Il. Clark of New York spoke in part
as follows:
''Monopolies are inherently evil; and
trusts that are true monopolies have an
evil element in them. The evolution that
is now in progress has already gone far
enough to reveal the difference between
an apparent monopoly and a true one.
Though all the goods of a certain class
were made in one overgrown establishment
the owners of il would not necessarily he
monoposts. If they could curtail the out
put of the goods a will and raise the
price 10 the point that would yield to them
the largest profit. they would be true mo-
nopolists, and could practice eXtortion on
the consuming public. and also on the
wage-earning class. If they cannot thus
control output and price, they are not true
monopofsts, and can practice no eXtor-
ton
Actual trusts have only a limited mo-
nopOlY power. and IL is a survival of COM
petition that holds them within limit. The
new mill that has not been built. but will
be built if prices reach a cert ain Level
is the means of preventing them from
reaching that high level. 1t is a common
though Inaccurate remark that trusts have
lowered prices; and it is a fact that they
nave NOT raised them by more than small
fraction of the amount that genuine mo-
nopolies would have added to the compel
tive and natural rate. 1t is the potential
competitor who is the cause of this Com
petition that to-day is latent, but will he
active tomorrow if the price of an article
is raised by / per cent, holds the price
as vigorously down at the natural level as
active competition would do.
AT present trust can make ruinously
low prices in one small area where some
competitor is operating, while sustaining
itself by profit made in twenty other areas
where It has a full possession of the mar
ket If il We're under the single necessity
of making one price for all buyers, 1t
would ruin itself by any attempt to com
pete in the cut-throat way as quickly as
1t would ruin a competitor"
The next speaker was NJ. L. Lockwood,
president of the American Antitrust
League He was followed by Mr. Edward
Keasley of New Jersey, who gave figures
on the number of trusts which called New
Jersey their home.
Prof. e. w. Bemis of the New York
Garland. ex-president of the Amalgamated
Association of Iron and Steel Workers
and David Ross also spoke.
At meeting of the committee on reso-
buttons, ex-Gov. Luce of Michigan, was
elected chairman, and the following sub
committee appointed to receive resolu-
lions:
Edward Keasley of New Jersey, chair
man; Cecil Smith, Texas; Attorney Cen
eral Gather of Maryland, S. II. Greeley
of Illinois, and Edward Rosewater of
Omaha.