Washington sentinel., 1900-03-03

III ltS OPe Hius EeulaTk IL states tina
,the report has not falsifed anticIpa
tons, inasm uch as the Republican party
has shown in various ways recently that
it was not unfavorabIe to the institution
Of trusts" To arrive at this concIu-
sion 1t adds; "An exaggerated import
ance mus. have been attached to the
evidence OF the eminent gentlemen with
particular ends Of the ir own to serve
The question was mentioned in Presi.
dent Mckinley's message, It says. But
in a most ambiguous and noncommittaI
manner. They evidently know Nc
KinleY over there as well as we do. And
then 1t goes on to say: "The message
was probably nothing more than a
device to take the wind out of the sails
OF the Democratic party, and we shall
hear nothing more Of II between now
and the Presidential election, unless
public opinion shows itself in a most
unmistakable manner" They know
Mckinley cannot act. for without the
trusts, campaign funds would be
scarce.
"The findings of the commission"
the article says" appear to us to be
extraordinary In the abstract they
justify the assumption Of bundle Of
virtues, which would make everyday
business impossible" The findings
state that: "By amalgamation economies
OF many sorts are possible, collective
action imparts strength, and the reduc-
tion of prices which results is a good
thing I'm practice" says the editorial,
the thing works out differently. The
economies OF working and the evidences
OF increased strength have been unmis-
taxable. But the consumer has not
derived the advantage, and the trusts
have reaped the benefits Of the econo-
mics. Since the Inauguration Of the
trust era, prices have not been reduced
to the consumer, but actually increased
out Of all proportion IN most instances,
and this fact of itself would be sufficient
to invalidate the whole argument. The
trusts baVe been proved" the article
goes on to say, "bY large consensus
Of evidence placed before the Industrial
Commission, to have acted tyrannically
toward the consumer, and have en-
deavored often successfully, to en-
courage the ruin OF independent man
ufacturers The conditions have been
we'll IN their favor. They have been
protected from undue foreign Interfer.
ence by the high import duties; and
they are sufficiently strong enough to
impress their will upon the helpless
consumer and as a rule to straugle the
outsider who refuses to enter their fold"
Mr.. Gates, president of the American
Steel Wire Company, testified that he
would have brought sbout a worldwide
steel wire trust, but for the desire of the
Germans 20 raise values sac per ton,
whereas the Americans were modest
and refused to raise prices more than
$40 per ton The fact Of the matter is
Mr.. Gates got no encouragement from
abroad. In this connection 1t might be
asked him: If the great object Of COM
bination is to effect economies and
reduce prices so that the purchaser may
derive some advantage thereby, and the
trust the remainder, why try to bring
about a worldwide consolidation and
raise prices $40 per ton2
The Tin Plate Company, which was
President mCKinley's pet project when
IN Congress and the obje;t lesson OF the
benefits Of high tariff, was found by the
Republican partisan commission to have
been conducting business lin restraint
OF trader" The lin Plate Importers
Association was Disseminated against,
individuals have been coerced into the
trust, and machinists and makers OF tin
plate machinery inundated. One wit
ness testified that "the business COM
prised in the trust could have been
purchased ter E2,4Oo,o 700, whereas the
capital OF the company IS 6Io,ooo 900
The promoters took ( 7,ooo, ,ooo for their
labors in bringing about the consolida-
ton" The article concludes: THE
same vices OF overcapitalization, arbi.
trary fxatIou Of prices and tyTannous
dsCriminst ton have been manifest in
the operations OF practically all Of the
big combinations, aud as many OF the
smaller combinations as have dared to
adopt them. We repeat that taking all
Of the circumstances into account, we
cannot agree with the findings OF the
commIss ION that trusts are beneficial to
mankind They may become so later
on, but the chances are that they will
not do anything OF the sort except under
compusiou, and we are doubtful II the
present Republican pro trust Admins
tration will pilot drastic anti trust Law
through Congress"
WILLIAM w, BRIDE.