The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-10-18

house and $1S for business place per
year and is making money. The ex-
orbitant rates Of express monopolies
are notorious. and even railroads have
been known to make excessive charges.
Municipal Franchises.
1T Is me same WITH all our city mon
opolies. Gas sells at 81 which can
be made for 20 cents and distributed
for Is, as we know from various gas
reports and investigations.
The above are but few samples
from an enormous mass Of facts dem
onstrating that private monopoly
tends to extortion.
Extortionate charges lead, of course,
to enormous profits and the building
Of vast fortunes which become, in theiS
turn, the instruments of further ex-
tortion. The monopolists roll in
wealth, while the working masses and
competitive classes are cheated out of
their fair share of the worlds wealth.
Those who build palaces do not live
in them.
Builders Enter Not In.
Those who dig coal have little fuel,
Those who make clothes are ill-clad,
Those who grow wheat and corn are
| poorly fed.
Those who build railroads do not
| travel.
Those who do most Of the work do
not enjoy the fruits of their labor,
while those who do little or nothing,
senjoy much; all because privat mon
opoly giyes-some men the power of
appropriating what others produce.
| Here are some of the profits private
monopoly has made:
Oil trust-$23, 000,O 900 in three months
about 100 per cent a year on the cap
ital, water and all. (The Oil monop-
oily has been known to make $50. per
cent on its whole capital, and on one
investment 5000 per cent per year was
obtained through railroad favoritism.
Wealth Against Commonwealth, pp
81, 80, 1909
Profits of Monopoly.
4 Steel trust-S42, 100000 year
about 80 per cent on water and all.
Sugar trust, 200 to 400 per cent.
| wire trust, OV per cent.
Tin plate trust. 40 per cent.
4 Pennsylvania coal, 80 per cent.
Fifth Ave. bank New York;, $50
Per cent.
/ Chemical bank (New York;, 200 per
cent.
/ metropolitan Telephone Co.. $50 per
cent.
Bell monopoly, $5.ooo,o0O year. As
Of Its total income.
Telegraph monopoly ION original in
vestment), 800 per cent year.
4 Bay State Gas Co., 60 per cent a
i year.
Cleveland Gas Co., IA per cent a
| year
/ New York Gas, $500 100000 in ten
/ years, or enough to pay 10 per cent on
4 the investment and duplicate all the
4 plants besides. New York Senate In.
yestigation).
i Metropolitan Street Ry. System, New
York, 20 per cent
Philadelphia Traction 81, SOC, 600
16 per cent on investment.
18th and 18th Street Co.. S. pc,
4 cent.
i Philadelphia City 81 per cent.
Ridge Avenue ~ per cent.
l Citizens Co.. 81 per cent.
% anda3d Streets, Is per cent.
Union, 81 per cent
The excessive charges and exorbi.
TAM profits Of private monopoly ar,
nothing more nor less than taxation
Z without representation. You are no
3 represented in the oil trust, the stee
trust. the coal combine, the Cnemica
bank. the gas. electric, street railway
telegraph, telephone, railroad, beef, gu
i gar, copper and tin monopolies. We
they levy taxes on you.
wstered Stock.
The monopolists know that. theil
8 outrageous profits may rouse the PEG
; pie IL they become known and SO man.
OF those most.op to the public gag,
= tryi,t hide their gains by watering
their capital. Ninety per cent on tn,
real investment is only per cent OF
n capital watered to tenfold bulk
Fraud ana extortion are among tn,
most prolific. and are quite the mos
Z. deplorable Of Ill the results Of priyat,
!. monopoly.