Gilpin observer., 1900-10-25

~ shAh DC my oATuebt anu conbGhHg Gnu
spirit
One of the main reasons why men
struggle so hard to obtain monop-
oily is that it enables them to charge
more than the worth of the goods or
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 keg, 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 140 per cent be-
yond the ordinary competitive price.
Coal Trust EItortions.
The coal combine was Investigated
by congress in 1898, and the report
declares Q) that in 1888 the extortions
of the coal monopoly averaged more
than 81 a ton, or 100000 for the
year; and (2) that from 1873 to 1856
$200.O0O,000 more than a fair market
price was taken from the public by
this combination. 1t also appeared
that in 1892 the combine raised the
s,price SIPS to $1.35 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 3s to So cents gal
Ion, or nearly S5,000,000 additional tax
on the yearly output.
\ In the same year the copper Syndi-
Nate put up the price from 10 to II
and 1S cents pound, or $50 ,0O0,0 900 au-
DION on the yearly outppt.
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 25 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 prics OF raw sugar and the price
of refined sugar was 76 per cent more
than in 1885 and about 70 per cent
more than in 1887, the year the trust
was formed. Recently sugar has made
advances amounting to a total of 2
cents on the pound. For dozen years
we have paid each year a good deai
more per pound for refining sugar than
we did in 1885 (although the cost OF
refining mas been constantly diminish
1ng), and our sugar bill mas averaged
at least s10,000,000 and perhaps $780,
100000 a year more because of the
/trust
Standard OIL Again.
Ahe 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 1t has nfted prices abso-
lutely as well as relatively, In spite
OF the vast improvements in processes
of manufacture, great cheapening OF
transportation by the pipeline service,
and the falling price of crude oil.
From 1894 to 1897, for example, the
price Of refined oil went up IA per cent,
while the price OF crude oil declined
8 per cent. Oil rose at wholesale in
New York from cents in November,
lo97, to 6 cents in December, 1899,
and It has gone still higher in 1900.
One may charge the fair value OF
tho services he renders without 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 S15 per phone for
service the government Is now sup
plying for Itself at cost OF $40 per
phone. and even in our largest clty
excnanros. where tho monopoly
charges 500 to $3.50, tAe service could
be rendered at n profit for n uniform
ylarge of $50 year.
= The Bell monopoly. in Grand Rap
ids, Wis. charged s36 for a house and
$4S for a business place. while a CO.
operative telephone exchange II oper-