The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-30

tention of every thouxhfful clfi5sn of our country. An economic revolution | is undoubtedly upon us. Our indus l tries have outgrown the home markets- Take. as an example. of our marvellous progress ,iron and steel. our imports
 in 1850 were 4,329. 800; exports. |. z.s59.- 300. In 1900 imports had fallen to s2os- i43.000 and exports had risen to $i29.- 6S3.00O. Deducting imports from ex- ports we are therefore now mnufactur- ing more iron and steel than we consume by hundred millions and
 more. What is true of iron and steel is true also of many other manufac- lures. How has all this come about? First by the increase of railroad fa- cilittes. We have more miles of raiI- road by thousands of miles than all the rest of the world. Our rails are heavier, our engines and cars are larger than elsewhere. and freiehts have gone down so that 1t now pays to ship heavy freights, like cotton and iron, even from Alabama to New York. Secondly, we have learned to produce more economically and in greater abundance. New machinery, too, and new processes are being invented day by day. American ingenuity and the enlarging influences of free institu- tions have enabled us to utilize our natural resources, our lands, forests. mines and water power, and thus we have accomplished the results which constitute, as the new century begins. | a marvel that Is startling to all Eu- rope. England, Germany and France are looking on with grave concern We are not only capturing their foreign trade, but even invading their home markets. If Europe is studying our industrial conditions, So 1t behooves us to do. carefully intelligently. and dis- passionately. If our people would con- trol wisely, they must know the truth and the truth they can only know by looking facts squarely in the face. This is the age of organized effort. of corporations. and recently. of great corporations. It is folly to deny that to corporations Is largely due the pros perity of our people and the greatness of our country. The cotton growers. of the South and the farmers of the great West owe 1t to corporations that by means of cheap railroad and river transportatioP they can send their pro- ducts to profitable market. Let us compare Alabama with Massachusetts,. Tn natural resources. iron, coal. tim- Der, rich farming lands, Alabama Is im- mensely superior to Massachusetts. with her bleak climate and rocky soil.
 Yet Massachusetts is today over and over the richer of the two, and her rate of wages is higher, All this comes from the fact that Massachu- setts. compelled by her conditions. early took to manufacturing. She encour- aged corporations. railroads and man. ufactures. and these brought to her the prosperity she enjoys.
 We cannot, therefore, afford to de- stroy corporations. They are the iIf- strumentalities, mainly, through which
 our country has become great and rich. A careful study of the question will show, too, that great corporations can produce more cheaply and distrfb- ute more economically than smaller.or- ganizations and that they can there fore, if they will do so. sell at lower rates But as corporations grow in size they grow in power so that if we would have them enrich us and not rob us, we must control them. Many remedies have been suggested for the evils which must necessarily arise from the monopolizing of our industries now So openly practiced, and so boldly de~ tended. Among these are laws requir- ing the utmost publicity. laws requir- ing fairness to potential competitors and various punishments of officials when convicted of monopollzing or att tempting to monopolize the market.
 I have no time now to discuss any of these suggestions. There is. how ever, one remedy that is undoubtedly legal and that would afford great and undoubted relisf-the repeal of the tar if on all articles the market for which corporations are seeking to monopolize. The advocates of high tariff have never defended 1t on any other ground than that a tariff was necessary to protect American capital and American labor against cheap foreign labor. But we are invading foreign markets today solely because we can produce more cheaply than the foreigner. The rea- son for the tarih on such articles as we are successfully exporting is gone. The only result to follow from retaining the tariff will be to enable the American manufacturer to sell at higher prices to his home people than he charges 60 the foreigner. Foreign competition coming from a repeal of the tariR would be of inestimable value to the American commerce. It would break up monopolies and give us the benefits of competition. An earnest effort by those who are interested would bring this relief in a single campaign.