Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-10-12


the i!veryman and the newspaper
Tho Eject of Trusts
The lawyers are finding that with tho
growth OF trusts the business Is gravitat-
nag toward the Offices OF the big corpora
uon attorneys. while less fortunate prac-
utIoners are tecoming law clerks
Inc actors suffer from the theatrical
trust.
The small manufacturer IS constantly
menaced by the trusts
lie does not know at what moment some
large corporation will attempt TO mon
opoHze the business in which he is en-
gagged. and give him hts choice between
bankruptcy and particulation in an In
dustrIaI conspiracy against the rest OF
me country. Many have been driven into
the trust organization by the larger cor
porauons engaged in the same business.
or pS trusts formed 10 control iron. steel.
TIN plate or some ether product used as
a haSiS Tor further manufacture. In what
business can your son safely invest
small amount OF capital today? II he
starts into any independent business he
VIII hnd 1t difficult. II not impossible. TO
compete with II large organization II IL
attempts 10 undersell him In his ter
rftory. because Il can sustain itself DIV
collecting high prices in other parts OF
tne country. II he suppresses his moral
objections and takes stock In a mon
onoly. he does not know how soon those
IN charge may attempt to freeze out"
the smaller stockholders.
The merchant Is losing hi. independ-
cnce. The trust fixes the terms upon
"hiCh ne shall sell and often binds him
by contrac' not TO sell n competing artl-
Gle. When the monopoly Is complete
credit Will be shortened. and the nrer-
chant will he compelled to bear all tho
risks or trade. When the trust raises
prices. the merchant usually has TO divide
n Il ~. ~.
as stock on hand il concerned. but when
the trust overstocks the market and then
let's the price fall. the merchant must
Dear the loss on accumulated crock.
When. for Instance. the American Stee!
Il Wire Company closed several OF it's
factories a few months ago and threw
some SIX thousand employees out OF work
II dropped the price of nails and barbed
wire in ort.er TO work of a surplus stock
which had accumulated because the
high 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
10 explain this upon the theory that the
people are too busy TO sit down. | may
add that there is also dullness 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 5000 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 We're during the same months
OF last year. and this occurs in the midst
or good crops. and when 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
one has said 10 him. The hand that
guides the plowshare feeds the world"
He Is not a stakeholder in any OF the
trusts. but he feels the extortion prac-
ticed by them all. I am not farming on
IA 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 n dispatch
from Nebraska TO the effect that / had
just sold forty eight hundred bushels OF
oats Mt 30 cents per bushel supposed 10
be the yield OF 40 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 ci-
late upon the prosperity of the farmer.
using my experience as an illustration.
and asserted that the farmers OF Nebras-
ka were becoming so opulent that they
lffn -,
facts are. first: That l had five 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 OATS are
selling for less than 20 cents In Chicago,
instead of 80 cents in Nebraska, and
fourth. That the land upon which the
oats were raised cost me over 500 an
acre instead of Sc If, when threshed
my oats yield ~ bushels to the acre
and l sell them n Nebraska for 90 cents
per bushel the total income from the Ave
acres will be $40. or 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 | mention the facts in this case
to show how the Republican papers ex-
lnt IdTnltIs prosperity. ana
credit n Republican administration with
good crops. making no allowance for the
crop failures which occur from time to
time
Decline OF Farm Products.
But while on the cat question let me
call attention to the statistics given in
tho Investment guide already referred to.
According to Henry Clews & CO.. the
average prices received by farmers for
oats. during the seven years beginning
with 1898. and ending with 1899. were as
follows: 1893. 29.4: 1894. S24 1895. 1876;
1896, 1871: 1897. 2l.2: 1895. 255: 1899 249. Ac-
cording to these figures oats averaged
25 cents a bushel during the four years of
"a cents per bushel during the three years
present year is not yet complete. but
average.
average prices received by the farmers
49,: 1926. 26.4: 1896. 2l.5: 1897. 26.3: 1895.
2s.T; 1899. 800. making an average of about
sos during the four years Of Mr. Cleve-
lands administration. and PSI during the
three years of Mr.. McKinley's admins
tration-the fourth year Is not yet COM
plete, hut corn Is At this time above the
average.
Wheat. according to the same author
ity brought TO the farmers the following
prices: 1893 53S; 1894 4a1: 1895, so 9; 1896,
i2G; 1897, sos: 1898. 6S.2: 1899. Js.4. showing
a higher average during the last three
- l.