The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-04-22

ted States Export HS>:'riat ION
in 1es,iryinn rs to trusts hrfor,
the Indus, rial Commission. at Wash
inylon last week. gave the cue to the
mayna1r>. and ii may be taken for
! granted ha, the latter will Use lheil
/; pencils in doing some tall figuring
ON prices. with the view Of smashing
|, he 1r,i>i-sWaShtrS with >anh-hayS
loaded with facts. lie supported
trusts declaring / hat he at first had
i'een prrjudir,d against Them. brIirv-
ing that they would Cypress the public
With high prices.
Il mad" said Mr.. Thurbcr. mo con-
ceplion hat they were a natural eco
monte development consequent upon
| the development OF the great forces
which now control the worlds steam.
| electricity and machinery. or that
there WAS amy ra1ionaI basis for their
| existence. But a careful study Of their
effect. ranging over period Of years.
has materially modified my opinion"
Trusts. he said. began with the con-
soIidation OF the railroads into trunk
lines. Transportation rates had been
| reduced from $;.0S per ton for carry
in" ton OF freight Il mile in 1863 to
- cents in 1870. Under the conSoIi(l'-
i ion effected by he Standard Oil Co.
oil hal deprecated in price from 25.1
cents per gallon in 1871 to i.5 cents in
1SGS. The sugar trust resulted in
cheaper sugar. due to the purchase
of the raw material at a cheaper rate
than the individual refiners could get
it,. lie admitted that hardships and
in Justice had been encountered in the
transition from the individualistic to
the trust state. hui thought thar the
total results had been beneficial to
the public at large.
TIP 10 this point Mr.. Thurbrr talks
like an intelligent student Of economic
questions. but thereafter he tries to
make ii appear that trusts were formed
hrcau>n lnlCr organized.
"I.abor followed capitals example,"
he said. "and during the last decade
,h, organization Of labor had pro-
crossed faster than that OF capital.
and had forced division Of IL larger
share Of the profits Of industry for
labor than at amy previous period Of
| history. The profits of capital had
been steadily decreasing. while those
of labor. especially organized labor,
had steadily increased"
This -annot be true. for Mr.. Thurber
further on admits that "we are a
nation Of 75.ooo,ooo people. with a
producing power Of 150.000.00O. and
trusts are necessary THAT we might
keep the people employed by reaching
out for foreign markets"
If labor received more Of the pro-
duets Of its toll than formerly there
would be no need to export Il surplus.
The truth Of the matter is that in
1850 labor received G2& per cent. of
it's product. At that time labor owned
its tools. I'm 1890 labor received but
I, per cent Of It's product. because now
capitalism owns tine tools OF produce
non anu U'SiIiDllllDIl. II llDuI IL III
present receiving IL larger share of the
profits Of industry than at any pre-
vious period in history. it follows that
there must be Il more equitable divi-
sion than ever before. If that IS true.
from whence come The colossal for
tunes in the hands OF Il few hundred
mIlionirrs' Did rilry pull them out
Of the air! How comes it that the
trusts. the land and capital. can be
found in the grasp Of an insignificant
ninuri1v the rich. while the vast
ma juritN. the workers. remain poor?
As Tor labor on "aniZin" faster than
capital -WrlI how many Workers in
he oil. sugar. tobacco. hard coal. iron.
steel. wire and other ,r'I>t Industries
are nni"n:'
::