The Irish standard., 1902-10-11

| price VI lihe COIlIlOullleS WIN our tarlft
| added. 1t dictates prices and terms and
conditions under which those manufac-
turers depending upon it for raw mate
| rial shall do business. They must buy
only of it. They must ship only over its
| railroads and finance their accounts only
in it's banks. Often they are required to
sell their finished products at maximum
prices fixed by the trust.
A Few Other Trusts.
Then there is the tin plate trust. formed
in December. 1898. The price of tin plate
| advanced from $3.50 per box, in Novem-
| Der, 1898, to $4.S4 per box in December,
1899. The present price to American con-
sumers is s4.19 per box. The price to
| foreigners is $3.19 the duty, s1.5O per
| box.
The steel and wire trust was formed
in January, 1899. Price of wire nails adj
vanced from s1.37 per key in December.
| 1898, to $3.50 in December 1899. The
present price to American consumers is
$2.O5 per key; to foreigners $3.50. The
duty is one-half cent and upwards per
pound. Price of barbed wide advanced
| from $1.S2 per hundred pounds in Decem-
ber 1898. to Sab in December, 1899. The
present price to the American wholesaler
| is $3.50 per hundred. The export price
s2.25. The duty is nearly one and one
half cents per pound.
| The salt trust formed in 1899 advanced
! the price of coarse salt at Buffalo from
$3.50 per ton in 1897 to 81 in 1899, $3.50
in 1900, and $50 in 1901.
The sugar trust formed in 1887 and re-
| organized in 1891 has kept the margin be-
| tween raw and refined sugar up to the
tariff limit and much greater than when
| the trust was formed, this although the
cost of refining has declined 1t has
| dictated or directed tariff legislation with
plenty of differential or protection on re-
| fined sugar. Its profits are about $685.
| 900, 900 year. The duty Of two and one
| half cents per pound Gncluding the coun-
tervailing duty of 31-100 Of a cent against
German sugar. increases the cost of living
! to the average family at least $3.50 per
! annum. With no duty sugar would sell
| from three to three and a half cents per
pound. The effort Of the president to Sc
| cure part relief to the people from this
| burden and at the same time discharge
| our obligations to Cuba, and the servile
submission of our member of congress
| to the dictation Of the sugar trust have
| been sufficiently discussed in this COM
| munity to make further comment on part
| unnecessary.
Coal Trust Expresses Labor.
| Not content with robbing the consumer
| the trusts are determined to crush labor.
| Witness the terrible condition of affairs
| In the coal region of Pennsylvania Hun
| dreds of thousands of laborers on a strike
| The whole anthracite industry paralyzed
| threatening the nation, and particularly
| the northwest. with disaster and suffer-
| ing. This strike is evidently not without
| reason, for the men are willing to submit
| their grievances to arbitration The coal
| trust, on the other hand. absolutely re-
| fuses to do so. This, of itself. is some in
dication that the right of the contention
| is on the side of labor. The attitude of
| the operators was stated in an article
which appeared in the Minneapolis Jour-
nal on the Gath of September. The relief
committee in Chicago procured the serv-
| ices of Bishop Fallows to make a trip to
representative of the committee to OBJ
| serve and report the condition of affairs.
| In his report he stated:
| All is we'll Just star::Ag FOR Panther Creek
| Valley. Shenandoah, where the soldiers are. Am
getting plenty of infornai"n, There is one
| thing that Must be done without fail ami that
| is the getting of funds for the miners. | am
| seeing the lending operators. Their plan is to
sthrTr ont the miners, get men into the mines
| and call IN til" United States army to protect
| them. II this gees there will he trouble
| the Hike OF which "" have not dreamed of. If
| IN" men can he supported. they will win.
| believe that report to be II true state
ment of the situation and that it ex-
| presses the real nninlus of the trust. But
| these are not the only directions in which
| the trusts menace our peace and our pros
| pcrity. One of the leading manufa cturers
| of Ohio, who is at the head of a corpora
| tion engaged in the manufacture of steel
cars of various descriptions, trucks, etc,
| employing over 600 men. and one of the
| largest industries in the country. who was
| here in attendance on the employers and
employees convention. and who delivered
an address on that occasion, stated in my
presence that while his company in the
last few years had built up a lucrative
| business abroad. the cXorbitant price Of
steel last year compelled them to refuse
export orders. Ills company worked up
over 10000 tons of steal last year. He also
stated that the steel trust. through its
subsidiary companies. which it owned all
but in name. could and did underbid In
dependent manufacturers and drive them
out of the market as they obtained the
raw material from the trust at a much
lower price than the outside manufacturers
The same condition of affairs prevails all
over the land in the steel and iron trade
Only n few days ago I was talking with
manufacturer in this city, whose name
1t would be an injustice to him to make
public. He has a large stock of sheet iron
and sheet iron manufactures on hand
which he has been compelled to purchase
and lay In Mt trust prices. He is in NOR
tai dread that on the eve of election the
| trust may deem 1t policy to put down the
price. as 1t did two years ago on nails, to
his ruin. l have done some building this
summer. ! had occasion to order some
structural iron. l had to settle for it with
the trust in Chicago.
This is our industrial situation. 1t GER
tainly does not present a cheerful pros
pect policy that If continued, must, of
necessity, reduce labor. to serfdom, and
business men who. in the past, have been
independent. to the position of agents and
satellites, cannot be regarded except with
fear and solicitude
The president of the United States, with
his large humanity. views it in that light
He has devoted some two weeks of his
time almost exclusively to the discussion
of this question. He counsels the people
to patience and forbcarance. This Is al
ways good counsel. But patience and for
bearance on this subject have ceased to
be virtues. The people want and must
have action. Not rash action, but they
are considering the question in a spirit
of determination. This Is evidenced by
the utterances of such men as Governor
Cummins of Iowa. The people demand re-
lief. They will not long be content with
the promises and apologies of politicians.
They want their public men to approach
this question In n spirit of moderation, but
earnestly and with the determination that
inspired Theodore Roosevelt to deeds Of
courage on San Juan hill and as governor
| of New York. and believe that they will
give him n membership in the house of
| representatives that will revive and sus-
| tain that courage and stand by him on
| every efficient measure that he may pro-
| pose for their relief.
Senate Rejects Publicity Bill.
| Publicity is we'll and good so far as It
goes. But to look for any substantial re-
| lief from that source at this time Is fu-
tile. The United States Steel corporation
already makes and publishes Its financial