Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1900-08-14

The lament OF David over Absalom. IS
enc OF the most pathetic passages of the
Old Testament The fact that the son
was in rebellion against civil as We'll as
parental authority did not shake the IA
theirs affection, and the anxious query.
us the young man. Absa.on. SAFE =
fingers in the memory OF all who study
the life CT the great Hebrew King ana
yet. the interest which David felt IN ms
son. Absalorn, has its parallel IN the more
Chan 100000 families which make up
the American people.
No language can describe mother >
love. or oyerstale the abiding lntereSs
which the father feels III the weiiare ol
his child. From the time when the tlotl ,
or'B lie hangs in the balance at ths poy
birth until The death of the parents there
81 scarcely a waking hour when the son
is not present IN their thoughts ana planS'
It is to this parental devoucn' 50 UNI
varsally- recognized. that desire TO ap7
peal on this occasion.
Appeal to Parental Devotion.
would call The attention of every IA
ther and mother TO present political ana
Industrial conditions. I would ask them
20 analyzs these conditions, investigate
their causes and their tendencies
would press upon them this question; Is
the young man, <-hsalom. SAFE are
you satisfied with the possibilities and the
probabilities whlchiAnow open before your
BOn2
Is ne SAFE Wnen foreign or luminosity
hnanciers are allowed to determine the
monetary system under which he lives?
Is he safe when national banks control
the volume of money with which he does
business?
Is he safe when the bond holding class
determines the size of the national debt
upon which he must help to pay inter-
est?
Is he safe when by means of taxes laid
almost entirely upon consumption he is
RnunnellRd IN Cnnfrfhllte according TO MS
wants rather than according to his pos
sessions?
Is he safe when corporate interests In
huence as they do today the selection
Of those who are to represent him In the
Senate of the United States?
II he is a wage-earner and you DO not
know how soon he may be, even II ne IS
not now, is he safe when he is liable
to be deprived of trial by jury. through
the system known as government by IN
Junction.
Is he safe. If laboring man. when he
Is denied the protection of arbitration and
compelled to submit to such hours and
terms as corporate employer may pro
poser
The Reign of Monopoly.
But, desire to call special attention to
the growth of the trusts, and to ask you
whether your son is safe under the reign
" private monopoly? If you cannot leave
him fortune, you can leave him some
thing more valuable than money, viz:
the freedom to employ his own brain
and his own hands for the advancement
of his own welfare. When there is in
dustrial independence, each citizen Is
stimulated to earnest endeaYor by the
hope of being able to profit by his own
genius, his own energy, his own industry
and his own virtue. But when private
monopoly reaches its full development
each branch of industry will be controlled
by one. or a few men, and the fruits of
monopoly, like the divine right OF rule.
-,,NNF 3. ~, q, ugrva ,f
few from generation TO generation, while
the real producers of wealth will be con-
demned to perpetual clerkship or servi-
tudo. When private monopoly reaches Its
full development, your son will buy the
finished product at the price which mon
opoly fixes; he Will sell raw material at
the price which monopoly fixes: and. II
he works for wages. he will work for
such compensation and upon such con-
ditions as monopoly may determine.
Charles R. Flint of the Rubber Goods
Manufacturing Co. in a speech delivered
In Boston on the 18th of May, 1893. out
lined the trust program with great frank
ness In speaking of the advantages to
be derived from the trust system he said:
outline of Trust Program.
Raw material bought In large guam
titles IS secured at lower prices. When,
for instance, one man buys all the WOOL
the price of wool will be lowered and all
who produce wool VIII sell at the price
AXed by the trust. A large proportion
Of our people are engaged in the produc-
qon of various kinds of raw material. and
they are thus placed at the mercy of the
combinations.
The second advantage is that those
plants which are best equipped and most
advRntageOusly situated are run continu-
ously and in preference to those less ia
vored."
This means that factories can be closed
n the smaller towns and business con-
sentrated in the large centers. 1t means.
disc, that whenever there Is a surplus on
hand, part of the factories can be closed.
end the burden OF maintaining prices
thrown upon the wage workers. There
are already scattered throughout the
land idle plants. which stand as silent
monuments to the evils of the trust syB-
tenn.
The next advantage mentioned is that
TN case of local strikes and fires. the
work goes on elsewhere, thus preventing
serious loss
This means that a monopoly can abso-
lutely control its Workingmen, for IL a
strike occurs in q factory in one state,
the factory can be closed down Indefinite
" while the employees are starved into
submission, and. as the trust can do the
work in some other factory without seri-
Gus loss, 1t Is quite independent of the
employees. and can absolutely prescribe the
terms and conditions upon which they
shall live. The more complete the mon
opoly the more opposed the managers
will be to arbitration, because, in case
of any contest between the trust and its
employees, the trust win have every adj
vantage and the employees will he per-
fectly powerless.
Another advantage cited by Mr.. Flint
Is that There is no multiplication of the
means of distribution and better force
Of statesmen Will take the place OF a large
number"
Drummers Dispensed with.
This is an intimation that under the
trust system the travelling salesman win
not be needed. When every retail mor-
chant must buy all goods of one class
rom single company. the work can be
done by samples. and no travelling men
will be needed. There viii be no COM
petition between different factories be-
cause all are under one management.
The first man to feel this viii be the