The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-10-10
INDUSTRIAL
COMBINATIONS
concluded from Page II

concluded fror, Page II
careful financing, opens wider markets and
guarantees greater confidence and stability Is di.
rccly In the interest OF capital, although the
rate Of return on capital is thereby steadily re.
duced.
The dividends received by shareholders are
larger than the interest rates, because the rsl,
is greater aud moreover, being partners to a
larger share In the advantages OF combination.
Still, ~ is doubtful II the aggregate OF dividends
is anywhere near as large as the aggregate OF
interest. Moreover. dividend are never abso.
lutly certain, and they are never paid until la.
lor and superintcndcncc have first had their
share.
superior intelligence for superintendent stands
midway between capital and labor.
Necessity for Intelligence.
Highly developed organizations resulting In
enormous volume of business have increased the
necessity for intelligence, and az the supply OF
brains Is not equal 10 the demand, therefore the
price Of brains Is high. The turning over Of in.
tivdnal businesses to combinations has caused
the retirement Of old men to the advisory board
for judgment and has made way for young men
for action. You ask. .What chances have our
young men?" While you are asking the qhes.
tion, those Of ability and energy have already
started career OF successful industry. II
the student will leave his books and the orator
the stump and go to our factories, to our great
farms, to our mines, to our lines Of railway
and they will find ten times as many men re.
ceiving over 5000 per annum as there were
thirty years ago.
Mr.. Schwab, of Pittsburg, is q type. He
started as a stake driver OF the engineering
corps; today, though under 40 years Of age, he
is president Of the largest iron company in
the world, and can point out hundred s,'c.
cessiu men today where YOU could not have
named ten under old conditions.
But it is said, they are dependent Depend
upon each other is however the condition
OF civilization. The very word civilization implies
community life, and community life means niu.
tual dependence. Complete independence is
found only in the wigwam Of the Indian. There
the young man builds his own house, makes his
own Clothes gets his own meat, and keeps his
bank account, II lie has any In his pocket. The
hest opportunity he has for distinction is in
showing superior prowess in hunting, or supe-
rior strength in padding his own canoe. w
civilized life, intcrdcpendencn Is more profitable
than independence. Your young man. instead
OF padding his own canoe, can command one
OF those great combinations. which s doing 80
much to benefit the world--thc steamship The
fact Of the man on the bridge being dependent
on the engineer, who is running the powerful
machinery below, does not prejudice him any
more than the engineer is prejudiced by taking
his orders from the man on the bridge; each
gives the other his opportunity.
Was Captain Clark less the commander or
Chief Milligan less the engineer because they
were dependent on each other in making the
historic run and the splendid fight Of the
Oregon?
Utility Of Organizations.
tt,t
opportunity in political life because we have a
police system and no man can do as lie plcases.
I'm the contrary, just as good system OF ma
tiona police is guaranty Of liberty, SO these
great organizations are guavantors Of opportuni-
tics, which otherwise would never exist.
But let us not spend moro time In consider.
ing who will take care OF these young men Of
high aspirations and superior intelligence; they
will ttkc care OF themselves. The Almighty has
given the great power to superior intelligence,
ard as Samuel J. Tilden, one OF Natures great
monopolsts in the domain Of intellect, has said:
"You cannot substitute the wisdom Of the
senate and assembly for the plan Of moral
government ordained by Providence"
(3) Let us now consider the interests OF the
workingman in this economic evolution which
has produced the perfect machinery and giant
factories, supported BY great aggregates Of cap.
ital represented by shares which enable all to
boone investors. 1t is fundamental fact that
the man of superior ability cannot accumulate
for himself without giving to the wage-earners
an opportunity to earn the larger share, and it
is always an increasing share.
The tendency is today to a minimum o.
profits and to maximum of wages.
When profits become abnormal, they invite
competition, and are Immediately reduced; in
which case, the consuming world is benefited
solely. Ii they are not sufficiently abnormal to
invite competition, then labor demands larger
share of the profit in the form of increased
wages and it is either voluntarily or necessarily
agreed to; in which case, the body Of wage.
earners reap the advantage. And, inasinuch as
the body of wage.earners is the great body OF
the community, 1t necessarily reaps the advan.
tage in any case. Employees know almost as
promptly as do the employers whether mill
is earning an cxtrlvagant profit II it be, they
at once dcmad their share. and the employer
must and inevitably does, succumb. 1t Is THUG
that wages always tend to a maximum, and
profits to a minimum.
high Standard Of Wages.
The maintenance Of the nigh standard Of
wages now paid in the United States Is abso-
lutely dependent upon our realizing the advan'
tages which come through superior organization.
We are today shipping manufactured goods 10
countries where the rates OF wages average 40
per cent. less than our wage.earners are receiv-
ing. OF Our exports Of manufactured goods, 81
per cent. are produced by large industrial cor
porations. Articles OF manufacture which We
do not produce through consultations are being
almost entirely supplied to the neutral markets
by the cheap labor countries-Germany, Belgium
and England. Tha Capitalization OF manuac.
ture and consequent use OF special machinery
have cinancipated the slave--haye raised the
American workman TO the position Of overseer,
not Of pauper labor, but of its productive equiva.
lent, machinery. And he Is receiving, and s
entitled to. sbe wages OF superintendence. Note
the continuous substitution, through the use
OF larger capital, OF mental labor and manual
skill, for pure brute force. Nothing illustrates
this better than the evolution from the galley,
where the sole power is muscle at the end OF
the oar, to the modern steamer. Notice also
the moral difference. The man at the end Of
the oar was n slave. The modern engineer Is
freeman OF the highest type,
Now. the intelligent labor leaders understand
this perfectly. II was my pleasure to en-
tertain at my home some OF the hest known OF
these. Speaking of labor conditions, | asked
ono OF them to define the difference between his
organization and that Of the professional aglta.
tors. lie replied: ''We hope to bring about
by evolution what they claim should he ac'
complished by revolution" They said that
they welcomed new machinery, because it did
the work which had heretofore degraded labor
The waec-earncr, Of the United States arc 10.
day enjoying a higher standard OF living and a
larger measure OF we'll being than wage.earners
have ever before enjoyed in the history OF the
world. They are the real money power. Tile
railroad managers have rails and rolling stock; ;
the miner has mines; the manufacturer has
bricks, mortar and machinery, and most OF
them have debts, and many are mortgaged to
the BANKS for savings; but the wage'earners in