The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-09-18
What Chance Has the Young Man or the Man of Small
Capital Under the Reign OF the
Trusts?
HOW THEY ARE AFFECTING HI LAB0RlNG MAN

titles is secured at lower prices" When
Tor instance, one man buys all the wool,
the price of wool will be lowered and all
| who :roduce wool will sell at the price
fixed by the trust. A large proportion
Of our people are engaged in the produc-
ton Of various kinds OF raw material, and
they are thus placed at the mercy Of the
ordinations
The second advantage is that chose
plants which are best equipped and most
advantageously situated are run c%Ontinu-
ously and in preference to those less ia
vored.'
This means that factories can be closed
in the smaller towns and business con-
centrated in the large centers. It means
also, that whenever there is a surplus on
hand, part of the factories can be closed,
and the burden of maintaining prices
thrown upon the wage workers. There
are already scattered throughout the
land idle plants. which stand as silent
monuments to the evils Of the trust Sys-
TEN.
The next advantage mentioned is that
In case of local strikes and fires, the
work goes on elsewhere, thus preventing
serious loss"
This means that a monopoly can abso-
lutely control it's w~orkingmen, for if a
! strike occurs in q factory in one State,
the factory can be closed down indefinite-
ly while the employees are starved into
submission, and. as the trust can do the
work in some other factory without serf-
Gus loss, it is quite Independent of the
employees, and can absolutely prescribe the
terms. and conditions upon which they
shall live. The more complete the mon
nnO1v tho moro ODDOSn0 the managers
will be to arbitration, BECAUSE, in case
Of any contest between the trust and its
employees, the trust will have every adj
vantage and the employees viii be per-
/ fectly powerless.
Another advantage cited by Mr.. Flint
is that There is no multiplication OF the
means Of distribution and a better force
of statesmen will take the place OF a large
number
DRUMMERS DISPENSED WITH.
This is an animation that under the
trust system the travelling salesman will
not be needed. When every retail mer-
chant must buy all goods Of one class
from a single company, the work can be
done by samples, and no travelling men
will be needed. There will be no COM
petition between different factories be-
cause all are under one management.
The first man to feel this will be the
salesman, who Will lose his occupation.
The next man to feel it Will be the hotel
man. who Will miss the trade of the
travelling salesman. The railroad will lose
the mileage paid by the travelling man;
the liverymen will lose their best pat
rOns, and the newspapers will lose the
advertising, because it will not be 4 Gees
sary to advertise when there is no com
otit; All tJio ,,;r1i bo 4o1oroIln If
the saving thus made went to the con-
sumer, but as a matter of fact i goes to
the monopoly. My attention has been
called to a prospectus issued by the In
ternational Steam Pump Company, or
ganized March. 1890, under the avs of
New Jersey, and capitalized at $27. 500, geo,
of which nearly half is preferred stock,
and the remainder common stock. | call
attention to this prospectus, because it
sets forth the plans Of the trusts, and
show who are to be the beneiciaries.
The international Steam Pump Com
pany was organized for the purpose of
manufacturing steam pumps, and ac-
cording to the prospectus, acquired con-
troll OF the business of the following cor
porations, either through the conveyance
of the title to the properties, and bust
nesses of such companies, or by the own
ership of not less than two-thirds OF their
Stocks as may be found practicable"
Then follow the names Of five pump COM
panfes, accompanied by the statement
that these companies are estimated to
transact ninety per cent. CT the steam
pump business of the United States, ex-
elusive of high-duty engines. The ma
jorfty of the companies also manufacture
such engines.
SAMPLE CASE OF TRUSTS.
Che Of the companies, taken into the
combination had assets estimated at a
little more Than six MILAN dollars; an
other company had assets estimated at q
little more than three millions; the third
company had assets estimated at a little
more than one million. The fourth COM
pany had assets estimated at eight hun
? dred thousand dollars, and the fifth COM
t pany had assets estimated at seven hun
l dred thousand dollars. The good will was
t not estimated in the above figures. The
f, total assets, therefore, Of the five com
a panies, not including the good will, were
less than twelve million dollars, and the
: prospectus states that the combined net
: profits of the five concerns for the year
S 1898, estimated on the business of ter
months of the year, would amount tC
: twelve hundred thousand dollars. Under
t the head Of Estimated additional earn
4 lHSS from CONSIDERATION L fnd the fol
r lowing:
Each of the five companies now main
tains agencies in the principal cities O
S the United States. The Worthington ant
d Blake companies have stores, and carry
stock in London, Hamburg, Vienna ant
other cities. Some of them have expen.
o slVe salaried managers. All these agen.
|: cles IN this and other countries will b,
consolidated. The stores and agencie,
maintained in the cities of this country
l. and the forces of, clerks, statesmen. etc.