Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-02-19
TRUSTS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
PowERLEss TO RAISE PRICES.
HARMLESS Unsupported by Tariffs.
EVIL Results Of British Subsidies
TO Shipping.

hvAk NC80At8 W
TO Shipping.
~ Thomas Scan1On, liverpool, Eng.
I have been at considerable pains to
inquire if we had in this country any
thing approaching that alarming spe-
cies Of trade-monopoly which our
American cousins call trusts" In
Great Britain we have to search for
trusts. In America they come I'M
sought for, and insist on remaining.
We have, 1t is true, a large number
Of joint stock industrial and invest
ment associations to which the name
Of trust" is unfortunately applied,
but these organizations have little or
nothing in common with the all-ab-
sorbing, priee-dictating combinations
which have sprung into such danger
Gus prominence on the other side Of
the Atlantic. ALI the evidence goes
to show that we In England. at all
events, do enjoy, to whatever cause
1t may be due, a substantial immunity
from those evils which r associated
with American industrial monopolies.
Nmsland's Trusts, are Few and Weak.
/ do not say there is no tendency
here towards commercial and indus
trial monopolies, and to the substitu-
ton Of amalgamation for competition
In business. Such a tendency Is plain
ly observable. The British trader is
probably as anxious to control the
market as his American rival. But
though combinations on a large scale
have been attempting in many
spheres Of industry-notably in the
bicycle trade, the salt trade and some
OF the textile trades-4 am unable to
discover any case where the prices of
the commodities have been apprecla-
bly, raised in consequence. I ought
perhaps make a qualification. At the
present time January, 1907 we are
paying exceptionally high prices for
coal, the best Wallsend (London) be-
Ing quoted at aid 1850 per ton, as
compared with It'd Is ($4.20) this time
last year.. The congestion of traffic
on the railway lines is the excuse gen.
orally given for the abnormal rise.
But there is amongst many outsiders
an uncomfortable suspicion that pre-
concerted action on the part of the
colliery owners may have something
to do with it. What effect a coal COM
bination would have upon sober Eng
lish public opinion, the following ex-
tract from the Spectator may serve
to show:
Indeed, IL there were evidence of
the probability to say nothing Of the
actual formation, of a national syn
dictate for the control of the coal sup
ply in this country, the case for drastic
intervention on the part of the State
would seem to us overwhelming"
The British Parliament, Liberal or
Tory, Lords o Commons, would not
stand such an %audacious monopolist
plot for one week. 1t would assume
control owe the industry and it has
no Supreme Court to question it's de-
crees. The formation of a coal trust
was advocated a few years ago by a
late weu-known colliery owner in the
ostensible interests of both masters
and men II it should ever appear
1t will not long survive it's first ia
tack On British industry.
Results Of England's Shipping Subsi-
dies.
But It Is in the transport trade that
the attempt to dictate prices somewhat
on the American plan, though a long
way behind it, appears to have been
most successful. The free trade system
under which England lives and thrives
does not entirely cover the transport
trade. That trade even under the
most favorable conditions tends to de-
velop monopolistic features. To begin
with, it needs a considerable amount
Of capital to make railways and steam
ship lines, and before there can be any
effective competition against establish
ed lines the public are not unwilling
to put up with some inconvenience.
That is, of course, what may be not
urally expected. And then the COM
petition when it comes does not usually
come from a large circle of competi-
tors, as in the case of industries re-
curing less capital, but at the ut
most from two or three. This. of
course, facilitates the formation of
rings" and coalitions which may help
to keep freight rates above their nat
ural competitive level. In the recent
history of the British transport SER
vice enough has t~ranspired to Illus
trate the effect Of protection" upon
prices. 1t matters not whether that
protection be given in the form of
tariffs" subsidies" or "bounties.' y
the effect is to benefit the foreign
consumer at the expense of the on