The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-03-09

OF the. e,gar-rehnfng business and 1T APP
pearcd. that the american Sugar Refining
Company was destined 10 furnish this coun-s
try with ali the refined sugar that it should
consume at Its own price. But the simple
fact that this trust made big profits and
declared big dividends was sufficient to
invite competition. and competition has
come. The war is now on between the
Sugar Trust and its compet itcrs, and the
Sugar Trust has been compelled to cut
its dividend in two. Moreover. 1t is said
that the cut in the price Of sugar mas
been so radical that. at present Prices prices
there IS no profit whatever an the Dusi-z
ness. Next TO the Standard OIL Company any
which ss a sort Of natural monopoly. the
American Sugar Refining Company was .s
the most powerful trust in the country
SO that people are beginning TO ASK = tne
Sugar Trust was not safe from co .l
titton. what trust is safe?
Eut this is not the whole story oy a
great deal Those of our readers VINO VINO aie
in the habit Of looking over The Times
stock letter from New York, have no.
ticed frequently Of late the saving that
.lndustrials were weak and that the
banks were not disposed to lend money
on some OF them, while the railroad
stocks were reported strong. The in
dustrials" are the securities OF Manufac-
turing corporations. and they have been
weak because these industrial combina-
lions have not, in many instances, been
making a good exhibit. But the earnings
of railroads have increased in almost
every instance from week to week over
the enormous earnings during the cores
bonding period of 1899. This means that
the railroad corporations of the country
are in good condition, because they have
been organized on sensible basis and,
barring the folly of rate-cuttinG, have
been conducted on good business princi-
pies. The railroad corporations Of the
country have passed through the expert
mental stage and there is no sort of
doubt that the time is not distant when
they will have entered into an arrange
ment among themselves by which rate
cutting will be done away with. and the
profits of these corporations assured.
But the Industrial corporations, other
wise known as trusts, have not passed
through the experimental stage. Some Of
them have been prosperous. notable the
iron and steel companies, although they
arc in no sense trusts, as that term is
usually applied, but others have made
poor exhibit and one Of them has utterly
tai of SIS, o9o,0OO went to pieces and the
stockholders got nothing, while the bond
holders received but little. There are half
4 dozen other trusts whose securities are
worthless, and it would surprise nobody
if these trusts should meet with the fate,
very soon, of the Flour Trust They were
not organized or conducted on business
principles, and they did not succeed.
The whole revolves into this, that there
are certain laws of trade and rules of
business which apply to trusts as they
apply to the affairs of individuals, and
these laws and rules cannot be revolu-
tionized by. any corpora ton, however
powerful it may be. The Times has often
said that, if let alone, the trust problem
would eventually solve itself. All that
the lawmakers of the country need to do
is to repeal such laws as have been en-
acted in the interest of the trusts. and
to decline to make any new laws in the
special interest of the trusts. If this be
done, there need be no fear in this coun-
try of the operation of industrial corpora
tions.