People's voice., 1900-09-27

The Eject Of Trusts.
The lawyers are finding that with the
growth OF trusts the business is gravitat-
Ing toward the offices Of the big corpora
uon attorneys. while less fortunate prac-
utoners are becoming law clerks.
The actors suffer from the theatrical
| trust
The small manufacturer is constantly
menaced by the trusts.
| He does not know at what moment some
large corporation will attempt TO mon
opolize the business in which he is en-
gagged, and give him his choice between
bankruptcy and particulation in an in
dustrial conspiracy against the rest Of
the country Many have been driven into
the trust organization by the larger cor
porauons engaged in the same business,
or by trusts formed to control iron, steel,
TIN plate, or some other product used as
a basis for further manufacture. In what
business can your son safely invest
small amount Of capital today? If he
starts into any independent business he
will tnd 1t difficult, If not impossible, to
compete with a large organization If 1t
attempts to undersell him in his ter
rltory, because 1t can sustain itself, by
collecting high prices in other parts OF
the country. If he suppresses his moral
objections and takes stock in a mon
/ opoly, he does not know how soon those
IN charge may attempt to freeze OUT
the smaller stockholders.
The merchant is losing his independ
ence. The trust fixes the terms upon
which he shall sell, and often binds him
by contract not to sell a competing arti
Gle. When the monopoly Is complete
credit will be shortened, and the mer-
chant Will be compelled to bear all the
risks or trade. When the trust raises
prices, the merchant usually has TO divide
the advance with his customers, so far
as STOCK on hand is concerned. but when
the trust overstocks the market and then
let's the price fall, the merchant must
bear the loss on accumulated stock.
When, for instance, the American Steel
Wire Company closed several of its
factories a few months ago and threw
some six thousand employees out Of work,
II dropped the price of nails and barbed
wire In order to work off a surplus stock
which had accumulated because the
high prices had lessened the demand
EVERY merchant lost money on the nails
and wire on hand.
There is already overproduction in manv
lines. The supply of common chairs is
now considerably in excess of the de-
nand, but lest the Republicans may try
TO explain this upon the theory that the
people are too busy to sit down, l may
add that there is also dullness in the
shoe trade. The Iron Age in recent
issue pointed out that the production Of
iron was falling of, the decrease then
amounting to more than $4,000 tons per
month. Dun's report of July 2lst stated
that the woolen mills were running at
less than half their capacity; and even
recently the cotton manufacturers have
been threatening to either reduce wages
or shut down temporarily. According to |
Dun's report, the business failures have
been greater during each month Of 1900 |
than they were during the same months |
OF last year, and this occurs in the midst |
OF good crops, and when two wars are |
In progress.
Trusts and Arbitrary Fluctuations.
The contractor can figure with some ac-
curacy so long as natural laws control, |
but he cannot protect himself against the |
arbitrary fluctuations, which are not only |
possible but probable when a monopoly |
controls the market.
The farmer is one Of the most import |
ant factors in our national life. Some |
one has said to him, THE hand that |
guides the plowshare feeds the world" |
He Is not stockholder in any of the |
trysts, but he feels the extortion prac-
ticed by them all. am not farming on |
large scale, but the misleading reports |
which have been circulated concerning |
my oat crop justify me in making ref |
erence to my own experience. The New |
York Tribune recently printed dispatch |
from Nebraska TO the effect that | had |
just sold forty-eight hundred bushels of |
oats at 30 cents per bushel Supposed to |
be the yield of 120 acres) and that the |
amount received for the oats was more |
than double the price paid for the land. |
The Tribune article then proceeded to 6i- |
late upon the prosperity Of the farmer, |
using my experience as an illustration, |
and asserted that the farmers of Nebras- |
ka were becoming so opulent that they |
were joining the Republican party. The |
facts are, first: That / had five acres |
of oats instead of one hundred and |
twenty acres; second, That the oats |
have not yet been threshed, so that the |
yield is not known; third, That oats are
selling for less than % cents in Chicago.
instead Of 30 cents In Nebraska, and |
fourth, That the land upon which the |
oats were raised cost me over 500 an |
acre instead Of Sc. II. when threshed, |
my oats yield 40 bushels to the acre. |
and l sell them in Nebraska for 20 cents |
per bushel the total income from the five |
acres will be $40, or less than eight per
cent on the investment. After taking out |
the cost Of plowing, sowing, harvesting
and threshing. the net income from that |
five acre tract, will not exceed four per |
cent on the money invested. / do not |
mean to Judge others by my own expert |
ence, but | mention the facts In this case |
to show how the Republican papers ex- |
aggerate the farmers prosperity, and |
credit Republican administration with |
good crops, making no allowance for the |
crop failures which occur from time to |
time.
Decline Of Farm Products.
But while on the oat question let me |
call attention to the statistics given in |
the Investment guide already referred 10.
According to Henry Clews G. Co.. the
average prices received by farmers for
oats, during the seven years beginning
with 1898 and ending with 1899, were as |
follows: 1893, 2s.4; 1894, 324: 1895. 1876:
1896, 1877; 1897. H-2; 1898. 25.5: 1899. A.s Ac-
cording to these figures oats averaged
Is cents bushel during the four years OF
Mr.. Cleveland's administration. and only
"A cents per bushel during the three years
Of Mr.. McKinley's administration-the
present year Is not yet complete. but
oats are at the present time below the
average.
According to the same authority the
average prices received by the farmers
for corn. were as follows: 1S93 36.5; 1894.
45.7; 1895. 264: 1896. 2.5: 1897, 8.3: 1895
81; 1899. 3O.3, making an average Of about
@.5 during the four years of Mr.. Cleve-
lands administration. and 81 during the
three years Of Mr.. McKinley's admins
tration-the fourth year Is not yet COM
plete. but corn is at this time above the
average.