Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1901-07-05
Trusts are not New.

Neither the trust nor the dread Of
trusts is essentially a new thing, saws
A. p. Winston in the July Atlantic
That vast industrial expansion which
marks the transition to what we call
modern times brought with ii instant
ly, five centuries ago, corners and com
binatlons of capital much like those Of
today, proceeding by like methods to
the same purpose, evoking expressions
of complaint and denunciation which
Mr.. Lloyd or Mr.. Bryan might mistake
for their own. and restrictive legisia-
ton framed like that of our own time,
and exhibiting much the same degree
of sincerity and effectiveness.
But the early combinations. in con-
trast with those which we know, have
this fact OF added interest. They ran
their course. The phenomenon may
there be observed with tolerable COM
pleteness from its rise to it's culmina-
ton, and then to its end, when it died
by sort of half-suicide, as a huge
accident hastened in their action the
elements of death contained within
the thing itself.
Attempts at monopoly were some
times local, sometimes they extended
to wider areas, especially to foreign
trade. In some instances, wealthy
merchants or companies bought up
commodities of all sorts by outbidding
in the market place, or even intercept
ing goods before they had passed into
the town. These were the fore
stallers" or "engrossers" of English
industrial history, cheats, who fiayed
the people, taking not only unneces-
sary foreign rubbish, but also what H.
indispensable to life, as corn, flesh.
and wine, screwing up prices accord
ing to their greed and eovetousness.
and fattening themselves on the cruel
labor of the poor" Sometimes the
producers of one kind of goods in
town entered into an agreement to
fix prices, most frequently, of course.
in trades where considerable capital
was needed for implements or mate
rials. There were many such in
stances among the fishermen, bakers,
and butchers, and at Nuremberg the
city established municipal breweries
to check the eXtortion of the brewers
trust.
The combinations which in their
magnitude and methods most nearly
resembled the trusts of the present
day were corners in foreign trade. or
in domestic commodities like the met
ais, which had a limited area of pro-
duction. They were made possible by
two facts then new in business life:
capital had accumulated so that a few
persons were enabled to undertake
large enterprises, and the habit of
faithful cooperation had reached a GER
tain rough perfection without which Il
would have been impossible for even a
few men to act concertedly. In the
foreign trade particularly, great
wealth was necessary, not only for
making large purchases, but also to
defray travelling expenses and provide
depots en- route. AS early as the first
half of the fifteenth century merchants
sometimes chased-particularly at
Venice-quantities of oriental wares.
spices, silks, gold brocade. ginger, Gin
namon, pepper, etc, and, after consult
ing the chief merchants of the empire,
fixed a price for each commodity.
This method was later applied also u
domestic commodities, such as hard
ware, leather, tallow, and other agri-
cultural products. Tradesmen who re.
fused to enter into this arrangement
were crushed out by a sudden lowe"-
ing of prices. When competition had
been stifled, prices rose again.