The silver blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903, 1900-11-03

priyate monopoly has always bsen
..Ar.trlsl sy.tem in which enc, OF . few
.utput or price Of any article ct msrchau
.,1srs extortio lon, the producer Of raw mai
:, the arbitrary price fixed; the laborer
,,otest a gaimst injustice, either IN WAC o. 4
holder 10 ut tho mercy Of the sPseulatOr.
,h,s salary to the overgrown profits Of the
r.oule can share in the advantages secure
rsmstnder of the people are not only exeiu
Victims Of every monopoly organised. 1t
Injustice that may be done, or to calcalats
the social and political welware Of the pc.
tain specifc remedies, pledges the party
monopoly in nation. state and city. hea
At shall be my earnest and constant end
spirlt
One Of the main reasons why men
struggle SO hard to obtain q monop-
.oly is that it 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 so cents to $3.50 key, 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-
yond the ordinary competitive price.
Coal Trust Extortiens.
The coal combine was Investigated
by congress in 1893, and the report
declares (1) that in 1888 the extortions
of the coal monopoly averaged more
than 81 a ton. or $50 100000 for the
year; and ~ that from 1873 to 1886
5000, 100000 more than a fair market
price was taken from the public by
tnis 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 pu,
the price up from SS to 81 cents u gal
Ion, or nearly 100000 additional tax
on the yearly output.
In the same year the copper Syndi-
cate put up the price from 10 to II
and Is cents pound, or $50 100000 al
DION on the yearly output.
A congressional investigation in 1898
brought out the fact that on the
strength of a rumor that the internal
revenue tax was to be increased by
congress the Whisky Trust raised Its
Iprices rs cents gallon, which would
amount to an additional profit OF $12.-
ik()0 (00 an ifc ri o,,fpuf
Jump In Sugar
In 1888, just after the Sugar Trus,
was formed, the average price of raw
sugar was he same as in 1885, but
the average price Of refined sugar ad.
yanced SO that the difference between
the pries OF raw sugar and the price
of refined sugar was rs per cent more
than in 1885 and about 70 per cen
more than in 1887, the year the trust
was formed. Recel ~ sugar has made
advances amounting to a total of
cents on the pound. For dozen years
We have paid each year good dea
more per pound for refining sugar thar
we did in 1885 (although the cost o
refining has been constantly diminish
ang), and our sugar bill has averaged
at least 100000 and perhaps $40,
100000 year more because of tn
trust.
Standard OIL Again.
Abe Standard Oil is another monop
oily that has kept prices form falling
rs much as the diminished cost o
transportation and refining would hav
caused them to fall in an open marke,
and at times 1t has lifted prices absO
1utely as well as relatively. In spit
pf the vast improvements in processe
OF manufacture, great cheapening O
transportation by the pipeline service
and the falling price of crude oil
From 1894 to 1897. for example. tn
price Of refined oil went up IA per esni
while the PRICE Of crude oil decline
per cent. Oil rose at wholesale il
New York from cents in November
roS7, to 6 cents in December, 1879!
and 1t has gone still higher in 1900.
One may charge the fair value Q
Che services he renders without mon
opofy. But monopoly gives powe
20 charge more than that value, i
tother words, monopoly confers the In
estimable privilege Of demandin
something for nothing.
The Telegraph Monopoly.
We pay twice as much for our tele
grams as government -ystems charge
the telephone monopoly charged tn
federal government SIS per phone fo
service the government Is now SUI
plying for itself at cost Of SO pc
phone, and even in our largest CIT
exchanges. where the monopol
charges so to $3.50, the service ooul
be rendered at profit for a uniforl
sAarge Of $40 year.
The Bell monopoly, in Grand Raj
DDS. Wis.,. charged $36 for house an
SIS for q business place, while CT
operative telephone exchange 10 opel