The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-05-08
THE DOMINATING ISSUE.



to destroy competition in illuminating oil.
The total OF Industrial trust stocks ana
bonds authorized in the first two months
Of this year was 81, l06. 100000 as against
"a total OF $o16,17e,ooo for the twelve
monhs Of 1898.
The Financial Chronicle estimates that
the total authorized output Of industrial
trust securities for 1899 will exceed
s6oOo,oO0,OOo. This is exclusive of such
transportation combines" as the coal
trust
All OF these combinations have as their
objects the creation OF monopoly. the
limiting Of production, the control OF
prices both for raw material and finished
product, the Gripping or, IL possible. the
destruction OF competition, and the pay
ment Of dividends on a largely inflated
capitalization.
AS to the influence OF these trusts upon
the people there are two opposite views
held respectively by men of all conditions
and OF every shade of political belief.
There are rich men who denounce mo-
ncpoly. poor men VINO uphold It. There
are democrats like Flower and Whitney
who applaud and practice monopoly, -
publicans like Pingree and Chandler who
! denounce it.
The attorney general Of the United
! States, Mir. Grggs, has recently said:
With reference to these large comblna-
tions of capital which are now forming,
my own Judgment Is that the danger is not
so much to the community at large as II
is to the people who are induced to put
their money into the purchase of the stock.
| on the other hand, HaZen Pingree. gov
4 ernor of Michigan, recently said in an
official communication to the Legislature
Of Michigan;
It is no extravaganza of despair t.
anticipate the time in the not distant flu
ture when the passenger and freight rates
| on every train traversing the country,
when the charges for telegraph and tele-
! phone service in every State, and the
ownership and control of every street car
| line and suburban railroad shall be cen
/ tered In one great office in the City OF
| New York, in the hands Of one board of
managers, and possibly in the hands Of one
man who may have the genius and the
4 power to control his fellows.
| 1t has invaded other fields with the
/ power Of a glacier and the rapidly of
! torrent. One by one each of the great
staples which form the necessaries of life
] ID ldlIlNS INTO the nhn0S OF It's special
| syndicate or trust or trade combine which
/ are but other names for a group of men
/ dominated by one man Of superior force
I and genius. into whose single hand is con-
centrated more power than any king pos
scsses and in comparison to whom the
robber barons of feuda ages were pigmies
in their capacity fer extortlon aud oppres-
| sion.
Even in the small retail trading Of our
M mr. Of {-
too apparent. Our cities no longer pre-
sent the onco-familiar aspect of miles of
busy streets, occupied by thousands of
small bu respectable merchants each
doing moderate hut satisfactory trade
with his more immediate nelghbors and
In line to which he had been trained
by long experience looking forward to
| the accumulation of modest competence
Tor his old age and to the transmission
to his heirs OF an honored name and repu-
tation for fair dealing. which was as much
family property as his house or his
goods.
When the process Of concentration has
worked itself cut to completion the law
which governs both prices and wages will
assert itself with Irresistible force. The
consumer will be charged the highest
price that can he squeezed out of him
me laborer will be paid the lowest wages
upon which he can keep life enough in
his body TO perform his daily task.
Ana the supreme court of the United
states has used this remarkable language
IL IS true the results of trusts or COM
pima lons OF that nature may be different
IN dherent kinds of corporations. Yet
they all have an essential similarity and
nave been induced by motives OF indi-
Vdual or corporate ACKNOWLEDGEMENT as
against the public interest
In business or trading combinations
they may even temporarily, or perhaps
permanently, reduce the price of the arti-
oie traded in or manufactured by reduc-
ing the expense lnseparable from the run
ming of many different companies for the
same purpose.
lraae or commerce under those circum-
stances may nevertheless be badly and
unfortunately restrained by driving out
or business the small dealers and worthy
men whose lives have been spent therein.
Mere reduction In the price of the COM
monty dealt in might be dearly paid for
pY me ruin of such a class and the alb
sorpuon OF control over one commodity
by an all-powerful combination of capital
It is IN the power of the cnnlbi-
nation to raise II tthe price,, and the re-
SUIT in any event is unfortunate for the
( country by deprivinE IL OF the services OF
a large number OF small but independent
dealers
II is not for the real prosperity of any
country that such changes should occur
as result in transferring an independent
business man-t the head OF his establish
ment, small though it might be-ints a
mere servant or agent OF a corporation
ior selling the commodities which he once
manufactured or dealt In. having no voice
IN shaping the business policy Of the COM
pony and bound TO obey orders issued by
another.
Nor is It for the substantial interests
OF the country that any one commodity
should be within the sole power and sub
leet 70 the sole will OF one powerful COM
plnatlon OF capital Supreme court deci-
sion, United States vs.. Trans Missouri
Freight Association. March %, 1897
II Is not denied even by those who favor
monopoly that monopOlies are an evasion
OF the laws. And the history of monopoly
one long story OF defsnces OF law, OF
nnoeries of political parties by campaign
contributions of false swearing on Wit
ness stands-show how tolsome. how ex-
penslve. how degrading, have been the
enorts OF its promoters to enforce upon
the people its benevolent intentions OF
cutting down prices raising wages, pre-
venting the people from becoming glut-
tonous and wasteful by over indulgence in
the necessaries OF life.
AS the statements OF representative
governors and attorneys general in all
parts of the Union published on this page
To-Day plainly show, the growth OF mo-