Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1900-10-19

t1iy approve OF this promise. II elected
'avor to fulfill the promise In letter and
ating in the same place at Sc for a
house and SIS for a 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 a 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 their
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,
enjoy much; all because privat mon
opoly gives some men the power of
appropriating what others produce
Here are some of the profits private
monopoly has made:
Oil trust-$23, O0O, 900 in three months
about 100 per cent 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.
67, 80, 1907
Profits of Monopoly.
| Steel trust-$42, 100000 year
about 80 per cent on water and ALL
Sugar trust, 200 to 400 per cent
Wire trust, 60 per cent.
Tin plate trust, 40 per cent
Pennsylvania coal, 80 per cent.
| Fifth Ave. bank (New York;, $50
| per cent.
| Chemical bank (New York;, 200 pei
cent.
/ metropolitan Telephone Co., $50 pei
| cent.
l nnl1 r
of its total income
Telegraph monopoly Con original in.
vestment). 800 per cent year.
Bay State Gas Co., 60 per cent 8
| year.
Cleveland Gas Co., IA per cent 8
year.
New York Gas, $500, 900 900 in ter
years, or enough to pay 10 per cent or
the investment and duplicate all the
plants besides.-( New York Senate In
vestigation).
Metropolitan Street Ry. System, New
York, % per cent
Philadelphia Traction-$5, 500, 900
16 per cent on investment.
18th and 18th Street Co., 65 Del
cent
! Philadelphia City 81 per cent.
Ridge Avenue AZ per cent.
Citizens Co., 81 per cent
I'd and Sd Streets, % per cent
Union, 81 per cent.
The excessive charges and exorbi
TAM profits of private monopoly ar
nothing more nor less than taxation
without representation. You are no
represented in the oil trust, the stee
trust, the coal combine, the Cnemica
bank, the gas, electric, street railway
telegraph. telephone, railroad. beef, su
gar, copper and tin monopolies. Ye
they levy taxes on you.
/ Watered Stock.
The monopolists know that thei
outrageous profits may rouse the PEG
pie If they become known and so man,
of those most open to the public gaz
try to hide their gains by watering
their capital. Ninety per cent on tn
real investment is only per cent O
capital watered to tenfold bull
Fraud and extortion are among tn
most prolific, and are quite the mos
deploreble Of all the results of privat
monopoly.