The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-02-19

bill Matched up here lately is stained
with persecution. not prosecution.
i, Col. Robinson told a joke. a hard
headed boy got kicked by a mule
When he recovered his consciousness,
he asked his daddy, Will j" leave {
SCARF" The old man replied, Yes
you will never look pretty again, blu
you will have a burned sight more
sense" He said the Legislature was
fixing to learn a hard lesson.
MIR. Wingo opposed the trusts ant
favored the bill. The Virginia. Caro-
lima Chemical company is buying W
plants in the State. How2 BY run.
ming down the price of products, by
forcing the little companies to the wall
and thus buying them in. The far
mers will see the price of guano 90 up
when the Virginia. Carolina Chemical
company gets control of the fertilizer
manufacturing world.
Mr.. Webb opposed the bill for the
reason that it prevents labor from being
organized. The bill is too sweeping.
1t would prevent carpenters or other
workmen from organizing to control
the price of their labor. He would
vote for the bill if it could be so
amended that the labor organizations
could not be intertered with.
MIR. Croft then spoke in favor of the
bill. In answer TO Mr.. Thomas he said
that competition is the life of trade.
The Boston tea party incident showed
what the people thought of arbitrary
methods of assessing commodities. He
then gave a running account of the
growth of corporate wealth in this
country. No nation on the earth can
now be compared to America in wealth.
She exceeded Britain in 1880. Now
she has more wealth than Austria,
Russia and Italy combined. The
question is to prevent riches from as
Stunning arrogance.
The evil of the trust is that so great
a crop of cotton seed cannot be con-
trolled by the farmers, but is directed
at The stroke of a pen of The chairman
of a board of directors. He had re-
Gently had a case against the trust
which brought the facts TO light. His
client had offered seed for sale in Aiken
and had been offered 10 cents; the
client later went to Augusta and sold
for 81 cents. He went back to Aiken
and told the Aiken man of his sale.
The Aiken mill claimed a forfeiture of
300 tons OF seed from the Augusta
mill. The latter asked MI. Croft's
client for a release from the trade. AS
an honorable man his client agreed
and then came to Mr.. Croft TO seek re-
dress in the law against trusts. Nh.
Croft declared that his investigations
had led him to see how the cotton seed
crop Of the State is controlled here in
Columbia. Each mill is allowed a GER
tain territory and a certain price.
There are heavy forfeitures If they X
coed the limits prescribed.
AS to Federal legislation, he wished
to God that something could be done,
but it seems improbable. AS to Mr..
Ashley's argument that the farmers
would not be able to organize a trust,
he said that they would never organize
anyway.
Mr.. Croft made a splendid reply to
the argument that the bill would keep
out capital. Texas is not hampered
by the Hogg law and in the oil wells
of Texas is the one hope for success
against the Standard OIL company.
There have been many such bills in the
General Assembly and the cry has al
ways been that 1T would keep out capi-
tai, but no incorporation acts have
ever kept out capital and the industries
of the State have grown. Mr.. Croft's
was a splendid speech, and a synopsis
does not do it full justice. He spoke
for an hour and kept the attention of
the usually restless and inattentive
House.
AT the night session, when the bill
against trusts was again under discus
sion, Mr.. G.. E. Robinson, of Plokcns,
stated that he was one of those who
had voted against striking out the en-
acting words. He had done 80 hoping
that the measure could be properly
modified. He feared, however, that
the matter could not be properly dis.
cussed at this session, 80 he moved to
reconsider the vote whereby the House
had already refused to adjourn the de-
bate.
This motion was not debatable, but
there were {" points of order raised.
The vote was taken finally and the
House by a vote of AZ to 46 decided to
reconsider the vote of the morning.
Mr.. Robinson then moved to adjourn
debate. This was carried by one vote
81 to so, which killed the bill for
hissession.