The representative., 1900-04-05
honestly capitalized and content with
"a ir m q ruin Of DrOf3t On thoir o,,tru%

fair margin of profit on their output.
In nearly every instance, however, the
new organization or trust issues pre-
ferred stock far in excess of the value
| Of the plans purchased and then to this
is added large block of common stock
| which in most cases represents no
value whatever. These corporations
already foot about eight billion dollars,
! about one-half of which is pure water.
The efforts to pay profits on this ic-
tious capitalization necessitates an ad-
| vance in prices to the consumer. No
trust has been known to lower prices,
except temporarily, to crush out some
smaller competitor.
| Apologists are constantly referring to
the prices of coal oil during the war
and the present price as an example of
how the father of trusts has lowered
one of the necessities of life. They over
look the improved methods of refining,
the cheapening of transportation, the
discovery of new wells and the utiliza-
| ton of waste products, at first almost
valueless, to say nothing of the fall in
wages since the Standard Oil Co. was
| formed. Many other articles during the
same period which have not been con-
trolled by monopoly have been cheap
ened to even a greater extent. During
the past few months carbon oil and gas
line have been advanced from three
cents to five cents per gallon in terri
tory where the Standard Oil Co. reigns
supreme. The additional plunder in
single year would build several uni
versities.
! While worthless stock has been un-
loaded upon large and small capitalists
during the past year, in the aggregate
far exceeding the operations of the con-
| f1dence fakirs and contract frauds, ever
| imposed on the farmers of this country
! our sympathies are not especially with
the investors in common stock, but rath-
er with the consumers of trust goods,
the prices of. which are in many in
| stances doubled for the purpose of earn
| ing a profit upon large capital which
never existed 4@-
These .so-called. industrial corpora
| tions are trying to float about four bill.
| lion of watered stock. A five per cent
earning on this water means a total Of
two hundred million dollars per an
num-
| This is a heavier burden thrust upon
| the consumer of this country than that
| imposed upon the people Of Germany
in supporting standing army of nearly
half million men. Germanys annual
budget for the army is about $50, O,OOO,-
| OOO 1t is an amount equal to nearly the
entire wheat crop of the United States
for 1899, at so cents per bushel This
burden falls back upon the shoulders
of the man with the hoe" This noun
tain of fictitious value opens up an
economic question which makes the re-
latiOns of the travelling man to the
trust sink into insigniicance. The at
tempt to earn 5000, 900, 900 annually up
on something which never existed, is
| virtually tax levied upon the con-
sumers of trust articles. Capital, we
are told, is timid, yet capitalists fell
| over each other in subscribing for stock
| issued upon wind, backed by faith in
| the gullibility of the people and the con-
tinuance of the trust party in power.
| per cent of this imitation puts up more
| Capitalists are shy of imitation, yet five
than all the silver minted in any ten
consecutive years of our history.
| Does this stock stand for honest dol
lars? In attempting to pay dividends on
this dishonest capitalization prices have
| been forced up from ten to two hundred
| per cent. This has been shown to be
| true on a list of several hundred arti-
cles. Tinware and enameled ware have
been advanced from 40 to 60 per cent
| Crackers have been nearly doubled in
price. Nails and barbed wire have
within IA months been advanced $50
per cent, where one year ago it took
three bushels of wheat to buy a hundred
| pounds of wire or nails, now it takes
eight bushels. So we may go down
the list The milk trust robs the era
die and the coffin trust robs the mourn
| er at the grave.