The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1900-09-19

ton attorneys. while less fortunate prac-
titioners becoming law clerks.
The actors suffer from the theatrical
trust.
The small manufacturer Is constantly
menaced by the trusts
He does not know at what moment some
large corporation will attempt to mon
opolize the business in which he Is en-
gagged. and give him his choice between
dustrial conspiracy against the rest OF
the country. Many have been driven INTO
the trust organization by the larger cor
porauons engaged in the same business
or by trusts formed to control iron steer.
tin plate, or some other product used as
basis for further manufacture. In what
business can your safely invest II
small amount of capital todayT II ne
starts into any Independent business ne
VIII find 1t difficult, II not Impossible, 20
compete with large organization II III
attempts to undersel him in his ter
rttory, because 1t can sustain ITSELF by
collecting high prices in other parts OF
the country. If he suppresses his moral
objections ana takes stock in a mon
opoly. he docs 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
which he shall sell, and often binds him
by contract not to sell n competing aru-
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
as stock on hand is concerned. but when
the trust overstocks the market and then
let's the price fall, the merchant must
bear the loss on accumulated stock:
When, for instance, the American steel
Il Wire Company closed several OF Its
factories a few months ago and threw
some six thousand employees out of work,
1t dropped the price of nails and barbed
wire In or6er to work off a surplus stock
which had accumulated because the
high prices had lessened the demand.
Every merchant lost money on the nails
and wire 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
people are too busy to sit down. l may
add that there is also dizziness in the
shoe trade. The Iron Age in recent
iron was falling OFF. the decrease then
amounting to more than 10000 tons per
month. Dun's report of July 2lst 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 when two wars are
In progress.
Trusts and Arbitrary Fluctuations.
The contractor can figure with some nc
but he cannot protect himself against tho
arbitrary fluctuations. which are not only
possible but probable when q monopoly
controls the market.
The farmer is one of the most import
ant factors in our national life. Some
one has said to him, 1.-THE hand that
guides the plowshare feeds the world"
He is not a stakeholder in any of the
trusts. but he feels tho eXtortion prac-
iced by them all. am not farming on
Il large scale. but the misleading reports
which have been circulated concerning
my oat crop Justify me in making ref
erencc to my own experience. The New
York Tribune recently printed n dispatch
from Nebraska to the effect that had
just sold forty-eight hundred bushels of
oats at 80 cents per bushcl (supposed to
be the yield of 100 acres), and that the
amount received for the oats was moro
than double the price paid for tho land.
Tho Tribune article then proceeded to d.
late upon the prosperity of the farmer,
using my experience as an Illustration,
and asserted that the farmers of NcbraS-
ka were becoming opulent that they
were Joining the Republican party. Tho
facts are, nrst That had ive acres
OF oats instead of one hundred and
twenty acres: second, That the oats
have not yet been threshed, SO that the
yield is not known; third. That oass are
selling for less than % cents in Chicago.
instead of 80 cents in Nebraska, and
fourth, That the land upon which the
oats were raised cost $lOO an
my oats yield 40 bushels to the acre,
and sell them in Nebraska for 20 cents
II
acres will DO $40. less than eight per
cent on the investment. After taking out
the cost of blowing, sowing, harvesting
and threshing, the net income from that
five acre tract, Will not exceed four per
cent on the money invested. do not
mean to judge others by my own expert
ence, but 1 mention the facts in this case
to show how the Republican papers eX-
aggerate the farmers prosperity. and
credit n Republican administration with
good crops. making allowance for tho
crop failures which occur from time to
time.
Decline of Farm Products.
But while on the oat 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 1883, and ending with 1899, We're as
follows: 1Se3 294; 1894. 1924; 1895. 1876:
1896. 1871; 1897, PIP; 1893. 25.5; 1899 2Ie. Ac-
cording to these figures oats averaged
Mr.. CIeveland's administration and only
"A cents per bushel during the three years
OF Mn McIiinley's administration-the
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 We're as follows: 1898 3G5: 1891,
ISL: 1895. 2G.4; 1896, 2l.5; 1897. 26.3; 1895
2S.7; 1889 3o.3. making an average of about
sos during the four years of Mr. Cleve-
lands administration. and PSI during the
three years of Mr. MclSinley's ndminis-