The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-04-11
TRUSTS AND SOCIALISM.

mark you, staid, Conservative, old
Massachusetts,, not Kansas nor Indian
| Territory-elected a Socialist may or
as a result of a reaction against the
greed of corporations. And many cap
italists are beginning to fear that sim
liar results on an infinitely larger
scale will attend the general reaction
agai. Ct trusts which seemsnowt to cover
the whole country.
AS an instance of this fear, we give
the following extract from the leading
editorial in a recent issue Of Harper's
Weekly, a 1urnal which considers it
a duty to carefully guard the interests
or capital. But it is wise enough to
see that capital is ''going 100 fast"
and nay fall into the pit it has digged
for others. After saying that 'iG is
time to carefully consider the question
of trusts because never before in the
history of the country have so many
powerful combinations Of corporations
and capital been brought into exist
ence," it goes on to point out the fact
that these gigantic combinations may
become as destructive to honest cap
itaE as TO labor itself
IN a word" says the Weekly, "the
tendency of these great accumulations
Of capital is t toward the danger which
de Tocqueville pointed out. The ami,
hilation of the feudsl system and the
vaDquishment Of kings were due to the
revolt Of the individual, and all the
blessings of democracy are due to the
dominance Of the free citizen in the
State, in society, and in trade and bust
ness. The organization o. capital vas
wise and inevitable. IL was q neces
sity Of modern development, and has
often been called the leading charac-
teristIc of the nineteenth century. In
many respects it has been the most
benefc ut OF our material chsracteris
tics, for it has certainly given TO al,
to the hUmblest and poorest as we'll as
to the powerful and rich, the industrial
advantages of the age far in advance
OF the time when the world would
naturally have en- Eyed them if it had
been obliged to wait on the efforts of
single individuals. Combination has
worked ma-vels, but it is in danger of
going beyond bounds and inviting re
volt It seems as if all modern life,
except the law, had changed itself to
to harmonizs with the new 20 YER; but
il the law does not assume the respon
sibilities which are thrust upon it by
new conditions. there is nothing so
likely to promote the ultimate triumph
of socialism as the huge trusts, which
are commanding every avenue of trade
including the labor trust, which de
MES to the individual the right to earn
his living except as a member of a
union and in obedience to it's laws. IG
is evident that we cannot depend upon
the trusts themselves to be continent
They follow the law of their nature
ruthlessly, and unless they are checked
by law before the community turns
and demands it's own, we shall have O
hard experience; for it will not, prob
ably, be the individual who will insist
effectively On his rights against the op
preston of trusts The community is
likely to demand that all shall share
alike in the benefits Of capital, before
the individual can learn that the
tyranny of the community will be
more oppressive even than the tyranny
Of the UrusJs themselves
To sum it all up in a few words, the
Weekly is convinced that the trusts by
depressing the people and sitting com,
may cause the people tt go to
the other exTreme-soCialism Con
Guiding, the Weekly says that there
is no valid argument against trusts if
they stick to their proper work, do
that work honestly, treat the individual
justly, and keep c~orrupting hands off
politics; - and that what we need
more than laws which restricG and pre-
vent the formation of trusts are laws
aud courts that will hold them to a
high standard of honor, that will pre-.
vent misuse of their power, and that
will especially prevent their oppression
of individual competitors" The Week
ly warns the trusts that the people are
as jealous OF their liberties as ever. 1.-The
individual who overthrow kings ar d
the teudal system will not remain for
ever under the yoke Of any power. 1t
then behooves the State to change its
to meet the new social and eco
nomic conditions, to the end that or
gained capital shall be restrained by
the government instead # constrain
ing it's legal organ ar"