Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1900-10-10
WHAT HIS WORDS MEAN.

I'd which has been able, through non
or enforcement of the anti. trust Ia vs.
to crush all comretitiel and to exac
70 20 cents per gallon for coal oil tina
ought 10 sell at 10. Ex-Attorney
s General Monet, of Ohio, in q speech
}, in Indiana last week, declared that il
tho "att1rney gel ecal Of the United
}, States and the 7G district attorneys
Z. undec him would faithfully apply the
existing antitrust law that the Stand
= ard Oil Company and all other CON-
. binations could be forced into legimate
! business within sixty days"
Tue capital of the Standard Oil
Company is 100 million dollars. In
the past four years the net profits If
the company have been $l44, ,0O0s
as follows; In 1897, S33,OOO,0O0; in
1898, $4,000, 900; in 1899, $4,000 ,OCO;
in 1900 at present rate of dividends,
S4o,OOO,OO0. Becau e they control
the market, Mr.. Rockefeller and his
handful of colleagues reap a net profit
OF s13l, 500 per day; or $5,479 p r
hour. They so to sleep at night and
awaken in the morning more than
$4,000 richer. Their net profits last
year were two and half times as
great as were the combined salaries OF
all the postmasters in the Uni ed
States; or half as great as the amount
all the people Of the United States
pay In at all the postoHices for stamps |
and mail supplies during the same
time With all competition crush ed, |
and exacting merciless tribute from
the helpless homes of the laborer,
mechanic, farmer, washerwoman and
poor of the country, the profit of this
combination WAS greater than the en-
tire interest paid on the national debt
in whole year; and yet Senator Hanna
say, there are 70 trusts in this
country
The Senator's utterance is, however, /,
useful, because it is very signifca mt. |
If there are no trusts now, there will |
be none IN just the same way during
the next four years if Senator Hanna
wins the election. II the combines
that monopolize and fix at will the
price Of nearly every necessity that the
consumer must buy are net trusts now,
they will not, in the view of Senator
Hanna, be trusts in the future, and O
will not, therefore, be subject to ex-
ting antitrust laws. The same un- a
disturbed and unres trained destruction >
# Competition and arbitrary fixing Of
,rices by these combinations will con. CT
inue unmolested; for does not Senator u
Hanna say these are not trusts, and is y,
e not the master spirit at Washing 81
on? fo
The iron and steel combines will N
till hold up, perhaps as they have in
be past four years, still further adj D.
ance the price of every nail that is ar
riyen into farmers Darn or home, of I
very ploughshare, Of every harrow, of
very hoe, of every horseshoe, OF every a.
ewing machine, Of every tire. of every O.
'ol, of every bit of wire for fencing, OF
every implement or machine into OF
lie construction OF whish iron or steel re-
tiers. The same will be tue Of the ~
'mbinatioDs that produce cotton or U,
DOL cloths, and there V i'll be q trust mC
ice for every hat, every dress, every MI
'at, every blanket, every shirt. or va
her garment worn or used. In the =
me way every pane eff glass, every N
Iir Of shoes, every tin pan or bucSet, N
cry cur, every pound Of sugar and |
most every other article that people
~, will be sold at The price that the
mbine chooses to demand; for there
II be no competitor to turn to for a ~
wer priced article. These articles ~
lst be bought, and be bought by 70
ose for whom no combine increases SO'
e price of wheat or hay or oats or ii
her products that they have to sell OF w
g wages they earn. til
If Senator Hanna's words do not d7
can all this, if they do not mean that TO
e same competitjon-strangIing, price be
vancing combines that are not trusts th
W will not be trusts during four y,
ars more of Hanna's domination, =
en- what do they mean9 Is not the
nator's utterance worthy of the
m, unbiased consideration Of any IT.
an who pays trust price for every ~,
icle he buys, but has no trust to A.