New-York tribune., 1899-07-22

,...,r,.I ana manufacturing interests are going
a. a rapid rate in every quarter OF the United
r,,rdon. II they pass without observation
-. md do not excite indiscriminate raving ard
s~.,san defamation against trusts and monop-
y,ss II is not because they differ in any essen
a., ,sspect from analogous Industrial consoli-
iatlons in America
rhs British OIL and Cake Mills Limited would
!. ,oossly described by Mr.. Bryan's followers
. America as a trust and a monopoly; but In
r,gIaud neither word is applied to It by dema-
.ogues. much less by intelligent writers for the
.-sss II is neither one thing nor the other. It
a method OF Industrial organization sane
aonsa by English law. These seventeen COM
,.n,es and firms have an unquestioned right to
,ou their property and business 20 Mr.. Bartlett
,,a TO buy II back again for themselves with
ne help Of investors. ana to manage their COM
ron interests for their collective advantage
so English statute can be quoted against the
,sality OF every stage Of this industrial con-
,olisaton. Corporations have the same right as
na,viduals to sell their property and 10 buy It
again
The new company in the oil business cannot
Be accurately described as a monopoly designed
10 raise prices and TO control production. Only
70 per cent Of the trade is included in It, and
Ompetition OF the remaining mills and rehneries
Eill thwart It Instead OF raising prices the
consolidated company is wellnigh certain to
over them by diminishing materially the cost
II production. The services OF hundreds Of
agents. brokers and middlemen will be dispensed
with; the purchase Of supplies and the dstribu-
ion Of stock will be simplihed and cheapened.
md there will be marked improvement in the
mechanical processes. The English consumer
S not likely TO suffer from the consolidation of
mills and reineries which have been actively
competing with one another. With the new
economies now possible in the trade he will
probably pay less for the products Of linseed and
cotton seed oil than he is now paying
GROWING INDUSTRY.
The business which Mr.. Bartlett has succeeded
IN recognizing in England is one OF steadily in
.reaslng Importance. Linseed oil is used in the
manufacture OF paints. varnishes soaps, OIL
.loth and many other articles. Cotton seed oil
IS made for table use and many other purposes.
md oilcake is largely employed for feeding sheep
and cattle. About eight hundred thousand tons
,i seed are now imported into the United King
dom every year for the crushing and refining
business. and the business is capable Of great
development through the cheapening Of prod
II the consolidation of 90 per cent Of the trade
be a serious menace TO the interests Of the
community. public opinion is not alive TO the
danger. but is utterly Indifferent TO it There
are no outcries from the press or from political
hgitators against Mr.. Bartletts successful cam
pagn in the oil seed trade.
Whatever may be the force of the general
argument against these new consultations OF
Industrial interests It is evident that they are
not confined TO America, and that they are under
the protection Of English law. The British Oil
and Cake Mills Limited. is an exact reproduc-
ton Of similar amalgamations in America, with
perhaps a single difference in detail 1t is
hard cash reorganization with no water In the
stock Only those corporations and firms whose
books have shown a dividend earning capacity
pt S per cent have been admitted into the con-
solidated company and there has been no over
capitalization, the goodwill Of each business hav-
Ing been purchased for one-half Of what would
have been paid for It by recent American prac
tice The investor has the assurance Of the &C
countants that the average profits Of the vari-
ous companies and firms will more than suf-
fee for per cent on ordinary shares and for
blb and a. per cent respectively on preference
shares and debenture stock In this as IN
other English consolidated companies. there are
safeguards against those evils of excessive CAPT
;alization which may lead to mischievous re-
suits in American industrials. and there has
been no undue secrecy in these reorganization
schemes. Otherwise the American example has
been closely followed in conservative England.
and there is not a breath Of popular agitation
against It. l. \. l.