New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-07-03
ENGLISH ECONOMICS.
TWO GREAT COMBINATIONS IN NAVAL
CONsTRUCTION-THE TELEPHONE
AND ELECTRIC LIGHT
MONOPOLIES.
London. June II.

do not attempt 10 make partisan use OF tnem'
Several months ago | gave an account OF the
Overs trust in Yorkshire. which went INTO
operation without a remonstrance from any
section Of the press 1t - one OF the many
trusts organized for the control CT production
and the regulation Of prices Whenever manu-
facturers or mine owners find that they are
cutting their own thrOats by competition, they
are constrained by the law OF self-preserVatioh
10 unite for mutual advantage. The commonest
method is the formation Of a new company
heavily capitalized, which buys out all the COM
peting firms and carries on the general business
with a managing director In every establish
ment. Trusts abound in industrial England
and they are multiplying year by year. Ihey
are here under the free trade system just as
they are in America with protective tarln'
As there are trusts In Free Trade England. so
also there are combines OF great lndus,riai
properties. Even the American WORD mas come
into current use. One OF the most recent liius-
trations Is the lmalgamation OF one OF the great
shipbuilding and engineering companies OF the
Clyde with one Of the largest armor-pia'e rae
tories in England. II is known In financial CIR
Giles as "the Clydebank and John Brown COM
bine" and 1t is the sequel to a similar amasa-
nation OF the Naval Armaments Construction
Company OF Barrow with the WORKS Vi Mes''''
Vickers Sons and Maxim
The Thomsons went into the shipbuilding
business nearly fifty years ago as a private
firm. and subsequently added large engine
works to their yard on the clyde between Glas-
gov and Dumbarton. A limited company was
formed nine years ago and this was converted
info the Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuild-
ing Company. with an ordinary capital OF ABOUT
MOI the Paris, the New
York and a feet Of Cunarders built at clyde
hank hut also battle ships, armored cruisers
and vessels of war Of all classes for the BRUSH
Admiralty and for foreign navies. 1t Is one or
the largest shpyards in the world 1t Is now
building a great battle ship for japan several
armored cruisers and torpedo boat destroyers
for the British Navy and feet OF ocean liners
and cargo vessels It's naval contracts have
reached a scale Of magnitude which renders
combination with an extensive mandatory OF
armor- plates Indispensable.
The steel business OF Messrs. John Brown q
Co. Of Sheffield. started In smal way
but acquired such importance that a liHii'ed
company was formed generation ago. "hIc"
now has an authorized capital OF about So'-'"'-
900 in ordinary shares. The most important
branch of its business Is the manufacture VI
armor- plates in which II has competed V'sor-
ousIy with Messrs. Vickers Sons and MAXIM
When the latter firm entered into cofho'h"-
ton with the great shipyard and naVai com
struction works at Barrow. John Brown " o.
Limited. was forced to make similar aihaisa-
nation with the Thomsons or ClydeDahK' Ihs
has been done by the formation or new COM
nanv which will buy out both companies and
provide a single management for the JOINT bus'-
ness The details have not been arranged out
there will probably be capital OF Slo'"""'
evesixtbs of which Will be in preference shares
and the remainder in ordinary shares.
TWO GREAT sYNDICATEs.
nation whose imperial prestige depends
upon the maintenance OF pre-emnence IN sea
,ouer &c deenlv concerned In the free play OF
the forces OF competition in naval construction
Nv these two amalgamations two powerful syn
dicates for the production OF warships are Gre
ated. two great shipyards with their engine
works securing exclusive control OF large man.
ufactory Of armor plates. The Armstrong; ana
other yards and factories remain outside put
the effect Of the two combines is 10 concern
trate the resources Of production and thereby TO
restrict competition. One would naturally ex-
moo, 70 hear some public cutlery against these
combination especially when the Admiralty
has large contracts for construction outside the
rense amount of armor plates for its own opera
,fcrs In shinbuildIng There Is no discussion OF
the subject in the press. The new combine" Is
regarded AS q financial project chiefly interest
ing TO investors. Not a word OF remonstrance Is
hoard against the power Of monopolists. tbs
tyranny of capital and the evils OF plutocracy.
Financial Journals like The Statst' point out
that the shipyard Will now save the manu-.
facturers' profit on the armor plates; that there
will be increased economy in expenses OF man.
agement in the joint concern; that shareholders
will be spared the burden Of promotion money.
ard tina, capital will be provided for the extern
sion of the works at Clydebank and Sheffield.
There the matter ends.
There are. OF course occasions when the Eng
lish press is eloquent in it's denunciation OF N
dustrial trusts, syndicate combines and the
conspraces OF monoposts against public well
fare These occasions arise when the New-York
correspondents of the London journals have
something to say about industrial and financial
combinations In the United States and the polit-
ical agitation caused by them The subject
seems TO require the perspective OF the broad At
lantic and the background OF the American pro-
tective tariff in order to command English at
tention. The same phenomena in free-trade Eng
land pass without observation or reproof as the
natural results OF the increasing power OF cap
ital the destructive force OF cut-throat competi
ton and the Industrial tendencies Of the times
What occurs here is discussed with the serenity
OF contemplative philosophy. What happens In
America, where there Is a high protective tariff
is condemned with fine irony an abomination
OF plut0racy In The Land OF Trusts"
AIMING AT THE TELEPHONE MONOPOLY.
English public opinion however is always sem
sitive respecting monopoes when there is any
chance of bringing them under the restraint Of
Government competition Mr.. Hanbury's Tele-
phone bill, which under discussion yester-
day in the Commons on second reading aims to