Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-10-07
THE MOST DANGEROUS.

THE MOST DANGEROUS.
The most dangerous trusts are
not the great manufacturing ones
but those which dominate the
money markets and those tTaUs-
portation companies which own
and control immense bodies Of
coal.
New York City is the financial
center of the country. Recent
occurances reveal the facts that
the banks Of New York are con-
trolled by three OF four banking
syndicates. These determine the
borrowing rate for money and
control such immense sums that
they have no difficulty in either
Withholding them from circula-
ton or flooding the market, just
as they chose and their own in
terests may determine. 1t is
easy to see what power they have
for good or evil when we know
that apart from their own i'm
mense capital they control de-
posits aggregating not less than
$500, 600, 900. The U. S. Treas
ury is all that stands between
these trusts and the mass of bus
mess men of the country. There
is no question that were it no:
for this we should now be dan
gerously near disastrous panic.
So long as sound fiscal policies
are pursued there can be no real
danger of a wide spread panic,
but it is a situation pregnant
with possibilities of disaster to
the commercial and manufacture
ing interests of the country when
a few men control the money
market.
Nearly the whole of the Penn
sylvania anthricite coal field is
owned by three or four railway
companies. The Philadelphia &
Reading is the leading one.
These companies absolutely con-
troll the rate per ton coal must
pay, and what its market price
Shall be. The freight rate on
coal always has been excessively
high, and is now several times
more than on other commodities
carried greater distances. They
make and maintain such rates as
practically renders coal mining
by other owners Improbable,
and thus force them to sell their
coal lands to the railway compa-
mics. They are very careful to
control the production SO that
the demand for consumption
leaves no surplus.
1t is charged that these compa-
nies purposely provoke strikes.
There was a time when they
doubtless did SO, but for many
years they have had such COM
plete control of the whole busi-
ness they have not done so. In
fact, they have sought to fortify
themselves against strikes by
keeping near them large num-
Der of unemployed or but partial
ly employed men. These men
are ready and willing to assume
the place of strikers. It's with
these, protected by the military,
the operatives hope to start up
their mines in defiance of the
Miners Union.
For years Pennsylvania has
attempted to bring these eompa-
nies under such legal control as
would protect the public from
their rapacity. 1t has never
been done. The mining laws
have benefited the conditions
under which the miner formerly
worked, but so far no adequate
control of these corporations in
the interest of the general pub
lie has been effective.
The present strike would not
be an unmitigated evil if it
should develop a method by
which these harpies controlling a
prime necessity of life may be
compelled to righteous dealing.
These are the trusts which are
hurtful, dangerous, arrogant.
These are the trusts which the
president marks for restraint, and
it is the promoters and benehci-
aries of these who decry the
course of the president.
His party and the people as
we'll, stand by him and will hold
up his hands in such measures as |
are needed to place such combi-
nations under just restraint.
IMPORTANT WORK BEEUN