The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1900-10-18

struggle so hard to obtain monop-
oily is that 1t enables them to charge
more than the worth of the goods or
services they supply
In the Bramkamp wire nail case the
attorney for the trust admitted that
the combine had raised the price
from 80 cents to $3.50 keg, whole
sale, securing thereby monopoly
profit of several million dollars. That
trust went to pieces, but recently an
other has been formed, and wire nails
have advanced over 140 per cent be-
tyond the ordinary competitive price.
Coal Trust Extortions.
The coal combine was Investigated
10y congress in 1893, and the report
declares ~ that in 1888 the extortions
lof the coal monopoly averaged more
than 81 ton, or $39,0OO,000 for the
year; and (2) that from 1878 to 1886
$200,0O0,OO0 more than fair market
lprlce was taken from the public by
this combination. 1t also appeared
that in 1892 the combine raised the
price s1.25 to $1.35 ton on the kinds
used by housekeepers, though the
price of coal was already high and the
cost Of mining diminishing every year.
The Linseed Oil Trust in 1887 put
the price up from 3S to So cents gal
lion, or nearly $5,000,000 additional tax
lon the yearly output.
In the same year the copper Syndi-
cate put UP the price from 10 to II
and 18 cents pound, or $50 900, 900 ad-
d..lon on the yearly outppt.
A congressional investigation in 1898
brought out the fact that on the
strength of rumor that the internal
revenue tax was to be increased by
congress the Whisky Trust raised its
prices rs cents a gallon, which would
amount to an additional profit Of $12,-
100000 on its yearly output.
Jump In Sugar
In 1883, just after the Sugar Trust
was formed, the average price of raw
sugar was The same as in 1885, but
the average price of refined sugar ad-
vanced so that the difference between
the price of raw sugar and the price
Iof refined sugar was rs per cent more
than in 1885 and about 70 per cent
more than in 1887, the year the trust
was formed. Recently sugar has made
Advances amounting to total of 2
cents on the pound. For dozen years
we have paid each year a good deal
more per pound for refining sugar than
we did in 1885 (although the cost Of
refining has been constantly diminish
fing), and our sugar bill has averaged
lat least $1O,O00,000 and perhaps $780,
100000 year more because of the
trust.
Standard OIL Again.
The Standard Oil is another monop-
oly that has kept prices form falling
las much as the diminished cost of
Transportation and refining would have
caused them to fall in an open market,
and at times 1t has lifted prices abso-
lutely as well as relatively, in spite
of the vast improvements in processes
of manufacture, great cheapening Of
transportation by the pipeline service,
and the falling price of crude oil.
From 1894 to 1897, for example, the
price of refined oil went up Ia per cent,
while the price of crude oil declined
6 per cent Oil rose at wholesale in
New York from cents in November,
1os7, to 6 cents in December, 1899,
and 1t has gone still higher in 1900.
One may charge the fair value Of
the services he renders without mon
lopoly. But monopoly gives power
ito charge more than that value, in
other words, monopoly confers the in
estimable privilege of demanding
something for nothing.
Tho Telegraph Monopoly.
We pay twice as much for our tele-
grams as government -ystems charge;
the telephone monopoly charged the
federal government $75 per phone for
service the government is now sup
plying for itself at a cost of $40 per
phone. and even in our largest city
exchanges, where the monopoly
charges 500 to $3.50, the service could
be rendered at profit for uniform
charge of $50 year.
The Bell monopoly, In Grand Rap
ids, Wis. charged $36 for house and
s4S for business place. while CO.
operative telephone exchange is oper-