The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1900-10-26

One Of the main reasons why men
struggle so hard to obtain a mOnOp-
oily is that It enables them to charge
more than the worth Of the goods OF
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 a key, whole
sale, securing thereby a monopoly
profit Of several million dollars That
trust went to pieces, but recently an
other has been formed, and wire nails
have advanced over 40 per cent be
yOnd the ordinary competitive price
Coal Trust E1tortIOns.
The coal combine was investigated
by congress in 1898, and the report
declares ID that in 1888 the extortions
Of the coal monopoly averaged more
than 81 ton, or $4,000, 900 for the
year; and % that from 1873 to 1886
$500, 100000 more than a fair market
price was taken from the public by
this combination. It also appeared
that in 1892 the combine raised the
price S1-25 to s1.35 a 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 put
the price up from 80 to 50 cents a gal
Ion, or nearly $4,000, 900 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 a pound, or SO, ZOO, 600 al
d4sIon on the yearly output
A congressional investigation in 1893
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
prices 3 cents a gallon, which would
amount to an additional profit Of S12,-
100000 on its yearly output
Jump In Sugar.
In 1888, just after the Sugar Trust
was formed, the average price Of raw
sugar was he same as in 1885, but
the average price OF refined sugar ad-
vanced so that the difference between
the price OF raw sugar and the price
Of refined sugar was IS per cent more
than in 1885 and about 20 per cent
AOLE L4dA4 IL 1851 the y the
was formed. Recently sugar has made
advances amounting to a total Of
cents on the pound. For a dozen years
we have paid each year a good deal
more per pound for refining sugar than
We did in 1885 (aIthough the cost Of
refining has been constantly diminish
ing), and our sugar bill has averaged
at least $4,000, 900 and perhaps S2O,-
100000 a year more because Of the
trust
Standard on Again.
he Standard Oil is another mOnop-
oily that has kept prices form falling
as much as the diminished cost Of
transportation and refining would have
caused them to fall in an open market,
and at times it has hfted prices ALSO
lutely as wei as relatively, in spite
Of the vast improvements in processes
OF manufacture, great eheapening OF
transportation by the pipeline service, /
and the falling price OF crude oil
From 1884 to 1897, for example, the
price Of refined oil went up IA per cent,
while the price Of crude oil declined
s per cent. Oil rose at wholesale in
New York from 8 cents in November,
1887, to cents in December, 1899,
and it has gone still higher in 1900.
One may charge the fair value Of
the services he renders without a mon
Opoly. But monopoly gives power
TO charge more than that value, in
other words, monopoly confers the in
estimable privilege Of demanding
something for nothing.
The Telegraph Monopoly.
We pay twice as much for our tele-
grams as government -ystems charge;
the telephone monopoly charged the |
federal government SIS per phone for (
service the government is nov sup
plying for itself at a cost Of SO per +
phone, and even in our largest Guy
exchanges, where the monopoly I
charges $50 to $3.50, tne service could /
be rendered at a profit fer a uniform /.
Charge Of $50 q year.
The Bell monopoly. IN Grand Rap 4
IDS, Wis, charged s36 for a house and I
SIS Tor a business place. while a CO I
operative telephone exchange is oper- I