The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-06-18
Living Issues.
HOW TO SOLVE THE TRUST PROBLEM.

OUAEO WI
meetings and wearing out the dlo-
tionary either in order to find words
sufficiently sulphurous to conslgn
the trusts TO eternal perdition, or
words capable of forming sentences
that will mean to the trust managers
entire freedom in their operations
and that will mean to the buyers of
trust goods the everlasting wiping
out of trusts, root and branch, and
the consignment of their managers
to eternal oblivion. Has it yer &C.
Cured to these platform builders
that the trusts will never be harmed
in the least by accusing them and
that the people are a~nxiously wait
ing not for phrases of double mean
ing nor denunciatiOns, but for some
practical method of shutting off the
robberies of which they r the vic
tins? Has it ever occurred to them
that the trust problem after all is a
simple one, that the remedies r
Wlblln buC1I 1CdCAg dIA AhNO CdAy
been applied with complete success
for nearly forty years 80 one class of
corporations, and all that is needed
is to apply it to all corporations? We
have dealt with this fully in our ar
ticles on trusts during the past sum
mer, and if our readers will go back
other their files and read carefully
what we have said in full, they will
have u more complete statement of
our views than we can give them
now. All that is needed to abate
every trust evil is to apply TO all
corporations, whether for manUfaC-
turing, distributing, or transporting,
the principles that have already been
applied to the National banks. These
are First, Taxation OF the franchise,
the permission to form an artificial
person, separate and distinct from
and in addition to the property
owned by the corporation. Our cOr
poration laws bestow as a free gift
80 artificial persons or corporations
two things of immense value which
the Creator in His wisdom has de-
MED to mortals, namely, immortal
ity and the freedom of the individual
from corporate debts. Under pres
emit conditions u business must be
done largely by corporations in fact,
all the great undertakings must be
made by corporations endowed with
immortality and limited liability.
There is nc other way of tr~ansacting
the business of a great country like
this. But it is the very madness of
folly to bestow, as we have done,
these gifts to the corporations with
out compensation in the way of an
nual taxes such as those which the
government levies on National banks
We believe the rate is one-half of
one per cent. on their capitalization
every six months, or one per cent.
every year. It is a small tax but it
is equal in most cases to the value of
the charter, and if the tax were in
creased National banks would find it
profitable 60 go out of business. We
would apply this principle to other
corporations.
Second, Stock watering or the
issuing of stocks representing value
in excess of that value should be alb
solutely prohibited and the penalty
be the revOking of the franchise,
thus rendering every individual
liable for the debts of the entire cor
poration. For any set of men to in
corporate with SO, 900 worth of cap
ital and on the basis of this issue
stock with a face value of $50, 900 is
80 lie to the public to the extent of
the ces 1t is dishonesty of the
rankest kind and should be abso-
lutely prohibited. 1t is done in the
case of National banks. Tt is so in
Germany in the case Of trusts. 1t is
done in Great Britain in the case of
railroads. 1t should be a crime
against the business interests for
any corporation to issue stock, com
mon OF preferred, above the actual
value of the money or property put
in hat corporation. Had this been
done, we do not believe a single trust
would have been organized in the
last two years. The reason why
these trusts r multiplying is be
aus times r good and their man
ayers think they see how to unload
properties on the unsuspecting pub.
lie at three or four times their value
and in the meantime TO extort prices