The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-02-22
CONFERENCE ON TRUSTS.
MEANING OF THE TERN DEFINED
BY RAILROAD PRESIDENT.
Parallel Drawn Between Wages and
Prices of Products Now and in
Time of Small Roads and Indivf-
dual Industries-Profess Talks.

NEW YORK, Feb. Z.-The conference
on trusts before the Peoples institute, IN
Cooper Union, was continued last night In
the hall of the union when THE Eco
nomic Effects OF Industrial Combination
formed the topic of discussion.
The first speaker on the economic GUS
toms involved in Industrial combinations
was w. II. Baldwin, jr.. president OF the
Long Island railroad, who elucidated the
meaning of the term trust" In the hrst
place, he said. a trust was a combination
of capital In order to purchase raw ma
terial; secondly, to pay high rate OF
wages. and thirdly, TO sell at lower
price than could be offered by any small
er combination of capital. That said Mr.
Baldwin. was the only kind of trust.
either economic or political, that could
survive public opinion or the final nnaly-
sis of the great question of trusts.
Mr.. Baldwin drew a parallel between
the rate of wages paid in the time CT
small railroads. when the average was
$50 a month and the present rate. as GER
titled to by Mr.. Arthur, of $50 TO s225
month for engineers working seven and
eight hours day. which latter result, he
said. was only possible under the COM
blnatlon of railroad interests and econo-
mics of operation that could be brought
about under no other conditions Mr..
Baldwin gave II as his opinion that the
onward current toward combinations
could not be stopped and that the aim
must be TO control the trust and TO guide
It along so as to make II serve for the
common good.
Prof +. w. TaussIg. of Harvard uni
versity, drew the distinction between pub
lie service industries and industrial COM
binations. taking the ground. In opposi-
ton to Bourke Cochran. that there were
such things as partial monopolies. He
said that Il was characteristic Of smaller
"A a. s.tx
gle management under the watchful eye
of the man whose pocket was affected by
the methods employed The test of the
large combinations he said, was whether
they could survive under hired mana ge-
mcnt. and he commended that some of the
alleged advantages of combinations on a
large scale were ilusory. He defended a
telephone monopoly and said that several
competing systems would work as great
harm as If there were several postal sys-
TENS He said that cities could regulate
such monopolies when franchises were
10 be granted
Prof. Taussig said that neither the pro-
tective tariff. railroad conditions that
gave advantages to large shippers nor
the reckless offering of corporate privi-
leges in some states was to blame for
present conditions but that altoge.he
they were in a large measure responsible
Mere prohibition, he said. could accom-
plSn notnlng- III leu only 10 legislative
hafr-splitting and evasion. yet this was
the path that the United States and the
various states had followed with con-
spicuous failure He cautioned patience
quiet. the belief in the ultimate triumph
OF right and every effort to improve the
machinery of government and explana-
ton as the remedies that would work out
the general welfare.
John s. Crosby, the single taxer. said
that the sole business of the government
was to establish justice and not 10 lend
its powers for private purposes. In ar
raigning Wall street and stock gambling
Mr.. Crosby said that the government was
responsible for the worst form Of gam
bling; that of stocks, while it often
sought TO stop boys from shooting craps