Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-14


years, free water, and in some instances
givs the land to corporations to have them
organize andef theif statutes and locate
Effect Of Hostility to Capital.
Hostility to capital meets with it's own
| condemnation. This is illustrated by the
| situation In Mex York, where discrimina-
ton against caNtal has prevented it's en-
pioymsnt and 0fTe$ it elsewhere, result
ing in a greatlN hSeased tax rate and q
, ,,ns,e naa to inclsase the number Of the
"All I have to- saysabout trade organ;za-
| tons and strikes is that. without violence,
| tney are natural They have one objection,
however-their tendency to reduce all labor
| to a low level.
Business is not philanthropic. Capital
| and labor VIII adjust their own relations if
| crates against. one or the other That
| means to the disadvantage Of both.
There Is no such thing as monopoly in
| these days. except that which results from
| munism Of pelf' is the customs tariff bill
! 1t says to the people: Here is the law we
| have enacted for your robbery. Do not
complain of IT,. but do your utmost to at
| tack and fnjure the machinery engaged in
extracting from you what we legislate shall
| be taken from you Keep UP the clatter
| while the voters on the tariff bill take ad-
| vantage of the, noise to enact laws that
cause your impoverishment and thus con-
| tribute to the greed and avarice of the few
| Il send herewith a statement of the sugar
product of the world, since 1894, showing
| the production and consumption of cane
and beet sugars, which may be of interest
to the committee. There is a prevailing
| hostility to wealth. This is perfectly il
| logical. Every one wants money. 1t is the
abuse of money, not it's possession, which
| is opposed to public interest. This hostil-
| ity finds it's outlet in hostile legislation, in
| unequal and unjust taxation. All this is
yr0h ah iS "
against the interest of the very class, 1
mean the poorer class, whom 1T is supposed
to benefit.
object of Corporations.
Corpora tions, whether directly such or
| in the form of trusts, are an eXpedient for
| uniting the interests of large number Of
persons of smaller means into a large ag-
gregation of capital. Attack upon them is,
| therefore, an attack upon their stockhold-
ers In the case of many well-conducted
corporations these stockholders are very
numerous and are often persons of moder-
ate means, dependent upon their income
| for their support. In the absence of all dis
| turbing causes, the direct tendency of
combination of capital Is to promote econ
omy, reduce expenses and diminish price.
This does not mean that q. person having
anything to sell will not, get for it the lar
gest price that he can 1t means that with
the abundance OF capital ready for invest
| ment which is always found everywhere
the only way to prevent competition is to
keep prices below the competitive point
Great public improvements, factories and
other enterprises requiring large capital
either are impossible unless through the
fundamentally of corporations, or pos
sible only through the action of individuals
themselves possessed Of unlimited capital.
1t is easy to, seef what in the latter case
would happen to 1.-The community.
Hostile Legislation.
lone form in which hostile action mani
tests itself is bFalegislation which is in
tended to keep corporations and their pro-
ducts out of particular states. This legis-
lation in some states takes the form of
bills which permit citizens to buy goods
and with impunity ITO refuse to pay for
them This is a premium on dishonesty.
In other states the1attempt is to exclude
articles which are u prime necessity. II
the producers of sush articles were to fol-
low the lead and to Combine to keep their.
sea m6at Sc state it is easy to
pie would be compsHed to go without, or
! they would be- Ieredf to pay an inordnate
price. Trade will always take care of it
rels. will see to it that does not have
any extraordinary advantages. 1t is only
when the state inteEferes that a situation
is created of which aHxantage can be taken
in these days thekAsars two forms, and
only two forms, of monopoly: One, that
which results from patent, and copy
rights. 1t Is universally recognized that
this is in the interest of, not against the in
terest of the public. The other, that which
comes from unfair tariff discrimination.
Tariff for revenue need not be consider
ed The expenses of the government must
of course, be provided for. Tariff for the
purpose Of equaltzing against foreign boun-
ties or foreign discrimination does not need
to be justified. Beyond that there is no
excuse for giving to one industry pro-
i nar
cent for another, or any more than 10 per
cent. The result is that the government
heeces the community at large In the in
terest of some favored industry. 1t must
be kept in mind that this is a rich country,
not poor country.
1T must be kept in mind that the OBJ
ject Of every one Is to make the country
stronger, Weather, more important, more
influential. The hostile action to which l
have referred. legislation against corpora
tons. II followed to its legitimate results.
would make the country less powerful, Its
people less prosperous and would destroy
the influence which comes from the rich
ness Of the land and it's people. Citizens
are divided into two ciasseS-the indus
trious and those who wish to live on the
industry of others. 1t Is they who are
without capital who are hostile to 1t. This
Is only another mode of stating the OBJ
vious proposition that it is those who are
without means who wish to have 1t with
out work"
Mr.. Havemeyer continued:
1.-The mother OF all trusts Is the custom
tariff bill"
How Far He Believed in Protection.
He said he believed in a protective tariff.
but only to the extent of ten per cent al
valorcm. He said that sugar Is now pro-
tected at the rate Of one-eighth cent
pound, which is equal to 81 cents ad va
loren. 1t should have a protection OF one
quarter of one per cent He said that the
United States tariff bill in assessing $40
ton upon raw sugar puts s10.OoO,O00 into
the pockets of a few Louisiana planters,
s1O 600, 900 into the profits of a few foreign
ers in the Hawaiian Islands. and "a 0O0OOO
in tho profits of people in different parts
Of the United States This he said Is sim
ply an illustration Of the whole tariff bill.
The witness quoted prices to show that
the cost Of sugar to the consumer has been
cut down during the last twenty years. He
said that If the plants Of the great corpor-
atoms could be put on wheels and carried
from state to state, that instead OF fighting
them, the states would make a bid to haKe
them within their borders. Legislation hos
tile to corporations had driven capital from
New York. He said that in Missouri LAWS
had been passed which allowed a man to
refuse to pay his debts with impunity.