Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1900-08-14

Inc lawyers are nnding that with the
] growth OF trust5 the business g grayitat-
| ing toward the o1dces Of the big corpora
| ton attorneys, while less fortunate prac-
utionera are becoming law olerks
me actors sutrer from the theatrical
The small manufactures Is constantly
menaced by the trusts
he does not know at what moment some
! large corporation viii attempt to mon
/ opoltze the business in which he Is en-
gagged and give him his choice between
| bankruptcy and participation In an tn-
1 dustrtaL conspiracy against the rest OF
| the country. Many have been driven Into
/ the trust organization by the larger cor
/ poradons engaged in the Same business,
/ or by trusts formed TO control iron. steel,
| TN plate. or some other product used as
| basis for further manufacture. In what
i business can your son safely invest
small amount OF capital today? II he
! starts into any independent business he
viii find it difficult if not impossible. to
| compete with a large orEanizat ton IL it
/ attempts to undersell him in his ter
/ ritory. 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 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
/ by CONTRACT not to sell competing ard-
| Gle. When the monopoly Is complete
credit will be shortened, and the mer-
| chant will be compelled to bear all the
risks of trade, When the trust raises
prices, the merchant usually has to divide
| the advance with his customers, 50 far
as stock on hand is concerned. but when
! the trust overstocks the market and then
! lets 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
-
| 1t dropped the price of nails and berbed
| wire in ORDER to work OF surplus stock
/ which had accumulated because the
I nigh prices had lessened the demand.
! Every merchant lost money on the nails
! and wire on hand.
There Is already overproduction In many
lines. The supply of common chairs is
now considerably In excess of the de-
| mand, but lest the Republicans may try
to explain this upon the theory that the
| people are too busy to sit down, may
add that there is also dizziness in the
shoe trade. The Iron Age in a recent
| issue pointed out that the production of
! iron was falling of. the decrease then
| amounting to more than $1,000 tons per
! month. Dun's report of July 21st stated
that the wooden 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 whom 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
1 one has said to hiIA 1.-THE hand that
| He is not stakeholder in any of the
| trusts, but he feels the extortion prac-
| ticed by them ALL am not farming on
/ a 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 busheI (supposed to
be the yield of 100 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 ct-
late upon the prosperity of the farmer
using my experience as an Illustration.
and asserted that the farmers of Nebras-
1 ka were becoming opulent that they
were Joining the Republican party. The
facts are, first: That I had i've acres
| of oats instead of one hundred and
twenty acres; second That the oats
have not yet been threshed, 30 that the
yield Is not known: third. That,oa s are
selling for less than u cents In Chicago,
instead of so cents In Nebraska, and
fourth, That the land Upon which the
oats were raised cost me over SlOO an
acre instead OF IS. If, Wnen threshed
my oats yield 40 bushels to the acre,
and I sell them Nebraska for 20 cents
per bushel the total income from the fve
acres win be $40. or less than eight per
cent on the investment. After taking out
j nE NNTra
and threshing. the net income from that
fye acre tract, viii not exceed four per
cent on the money invested. I do not
mean to judge others by my own experi-
ence, but mention the facts In this case
to show how the Republican papers ex-
aggerate the farmers prosperity, and
credit a Republican administration with
good crops. making no allowance for the
time.
Decline of Farm Products.
But while on the cat question let me
| call attention to the statistics given In
the Investment guide already referred to-
According to Henry clews & Co., the
average prices received by farmers for
| oats. during the seven years beginning
| with 1893, and ending with 1883, were as
1886, ISL; 1887, M; 1855. 255: 1889, 2l.a Ae-
cording to these figures oats averaged
/ Is cents bushSl during the four years OF
Mr.. Cleveland's administration, and only
a cents per bushel during the three years
Of Mr.. McE1nIoy's admfnistrRtion-th0
| 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: 1883. 3s.5; 1854.
z5.7; 1895, 2s,4: 1856 21-5: 1897. 26.3: 1sos
\ 81; 1899, sos, making an average OF about
\ 5o.5 during the four years of Mr. CIeve-.
| lands administration. and 81 during the
three years of Mr.. McEinley's admins
tratfon-the fourth year IS not yet COM
4 plote, but corn is at this time above the
/ average.
wheat, according to the same author