The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1901-05-10
THE ADVANTAGES OF TRUSTS.
All on the Side of the Stockholders
and BOndI1Olders of the Trust.

Communicated.
Trusts are formed to increase profits.
THIS may be done by 1essening expenses,
or lowering the prices paid by the trust,
or raising the price paid to it, or by all
three. Cutting down expenses is usually
accomplished at the expense of the EN-
ployees. A trust can do the same bus
mess with less employees than a number
of independent concerns. This is very
obvious in any business where sales are
made by drummers. For example, if
there are twenty five clothing houses in
Baltimore each employing drummer to
sell in certain territory let them consol-
idate into one house or trust and they will
only need one drummer for that territory,
and if all the clothing houses of the
| country were to consolidate into one trust
| they would need no drummer, for the
retail merchant would be obliged to 60 to
the trust to buy, and the trust would save
the salaries or commissions and expenses
of all the drummers engaged i'll that
business, and the drummer rs could find
some other means of making living, if
| they could.
Generally, also, trust closes some of
| the mills or plants formerly operated and
saves that much of wages, and again it
closes certain plants or mills parts of the
year. All that it saves by these means it
saves at the expense of loss of employ
ment and oftentimes want and misery to
employees.
Combination will save much by making
one factory or plant or equipment serve
where under the competitive system two
or three would be built or operated,
though of course this saving means less
employment for carpenters and builders
and other mechanics.
Again the trust will save in freights
paid, for it will fill orders from the near
est house or factory, whereas under the
competitive system it often happens that
house in Baltimore sells to customers in
Illinois, and house i'll Chicago in the
| same business sells to customers in Mary
land, thus paying freight twice from
Maryland to Illinois where the trust would
not pay it once.
There are many other ways in which
trust will save expenses and thus increase
profits, but they expect their greatest in
crease of profits from being able to con-
troll the prices which they will charge the
public What trusts can do in the way
of raising prices is not yet demonstrated
because the trust system is not yet at its
height and few of them have as yet
perfect monopoly. But we have seen the
Standard Oil Company in the last few
years raise the price of oil fifty per cent,
and We have seen the steel trust charge
the United States $425 per ton for armor
plate when it sold the same plate to the
Russian government for $23o per ton.
1t can readily be seen that the only
thing which will restrain trust upon the
question of how high it shall raise prices
will be consideration of its profit. 1t
will raise prices just as high as will not les
sen its gross receipts. Things can he put
so high in price that people cannot use
them :; the trust will seek not 10 do this,
but Just as much as the people can pos
sibly pay the trusts, when perfected, will
make them pay.
These and other advantages to the
owners of trusts are sufficient to show the
powerful incentive to the formation of
trusts and to indicate that the people need
expect no consideration from the trusts
except such as their pecuniary interest
may suggest.
The trusts are in business 10 make
money; that is what they are formed for;
and every question in regard to the treat
ment of the public will be solved by the
single consideration, what will make us
the most profit