The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-10-12

ipany controls Could you give the Com
omission about the per cent of the whole
steel industry of the United States that
the United States Steel Company con-
ltrols?'
/ A. "Well, yes; think it is between
ID and 70 per cent. 1t will vary with
times. think in very prosperous times
the percentage will be smaller: in dull
ltimes it viii be very much larger"
4 On page 43S Mr.. Hugh j. Chisholm,
of the Paper Trust, testified that the
/ Independent Print Paper Mills produce
only 30 per cent of the total output.
lwhile the other 40 per cent is the
lproduct of the Paper Trust.
4 On page 34S of this volume, Mr.. L. r.
Hopkins, president of the American
Thread Company. testifes that they
4 produce nearly twoSthirds of the sewing
thread of the country.
/ On page 239 of the same volume Mr..
,LJohn Pitcairn, president of the Glass
17rlllst, says: 1--WE control only that
(which we produce, which is about 721a
-fper cent of the production of the coun-
TRY
On page 249 of the same volume. Mr..
A. S. White, president of the National
Salt Company says: Il should say that
1.-THE National Company controls between
81 and 90 per cent Of the evapOrated
salt made east of the Rocky Mountains y
On page 300 of the same volume. Mr..
Henry Burns, president of the Wall
Paper Trust, testified that there was
mo question but that they controlled over
half of the business in their line in
tho country.
REPUBLICAN ATTITUDE AS TO
TARIFF AND TRUSTS.
Some Republicans argue that the
tariff has nothing to do with the trusts.
Others admit that it does Senator
/ Pritchard is among the number that
deny any connection between the tariff
and the trusts. Mr. Babcock. the chair
man Of the National Republican Con-
gressona Executive Committee. is a
prominent example of those Republicans
who frankly admit the trusts are foster
ed by the tariff. In the last session of
Congress he introduced bill to take
the protection of the Dingley act from
steel rails. because he said they did not
need it and because he said it shelter
ed them in the monopoly which they
enjoy in the sale of that product in the
American market.
| AT least two Republican State CON
| ventions have declared their opinion
that the tariff shelters the trusts, and
one of the greatest trust magnates in
this country. the president of the Sugar
\ t..
mission that the tariff was 1.-The mother
! of trusts
STOCK STANDARD OIL TRUST ARGU-
MENT TAKEN UP AND RIDDLED.
The only reason which Senator Pritch-
ard has thus far assigned why he does
not think the tariff protects the trusts IS
the fact that the Standard Oil Company.
IN acknowledged trust. is not protected
n, hnf
are also trusts in free trade England
as well as here. Now the Democrats
have never said that all trusts were pro-
| tactqd by the tariff. What we do say
! is this. that practically every trust In
| this country is protected in one OF three
ways: either by Il patent. by the tarl1.
or by transportation rates. Under the
! law, the owner of Il patent has mo-
nopoly during the life Of that patent.
If the producers of any article in this
country form Il combination, by which
they become practically the only seller
of that article in the American market,
they have Il monopoly in the home max
ct, If protected against foreign compe-
tition. There are two ways in which
they may get rid Of foreign competition.
One is by getting the government to
impose tax unon like foreign articles
, before that article Is permitted to be
! sold in the markets of this country. The
other is where the article is so bulky
that the freight from the foreign port
! from which it is shipped is SO great
as to make competition here impractical
J be Now the Standard Oil Company,
Iby forming itself into Il trust in this
| country and sitting local competition, Is
| protected against foreign competition by
| the cost of transporting competing OIL
| from the oil fields of Russia. 1t has 20
connection anywhere upon this conti-
l ne
nearest competing oil is between four
and five thousand miles away. | do
not know the freight upon this product
| from the Russian oil fields; but | mag
| inc it must be 100 per cent of its
value. and that is all the protection the
! Standard Oil Company needs. If it
needed more it could have gotten it from
the Republican party.
TRUSTS IN FREE TRADE COUNTRIES
CANNOT PRACTISE EXTORTION. .
4 }y-srherp NAV he trusts in free trade
England. organized for the purpose Of
sitting local competition. but. because
| there is no protective tariff IN England
| these trusts cannot eXtOrtiOn upon the
people at all They are not monop0ies
| because Of foreign competition. The
| American trusts are protected by the
, tariff from foreign competition and are
mononolies.
TRUSTS SELL CHEAPER IN EURO
PEAH MARKETS.
Because it does not have to pay any
/ thing for the privilege of entering the
| English market the American Steel
| Trust sells steel rail in London and
| Liverpool for S23 go per ton and have
after paying the freight. a net of $500
per ton. But the English manufacturer
of steel has to pay $50 per ton for the
privilege OF entering the American mar
| ket. and he cannot sell his steel rails
in this country for less than 5000 a
ton and have the same net rs the Ameri-
can gets in the English market. There
may be a trust without tariff. but there
can be no MONOPOLY in any country in
the absence OF a tariff or something
which takes the place of a tariff. such
as a patent or transportation rates. The
Englishmen have trusts, but they also
have competition Our trusts. within
the limits of the tariff, are monopolieS
pure and simple.
DEMOCRATS AT WAR WITH THE
TRUSTS.
The Democratic party is at war with
he trusts. 1t denounccs them as mo-
nopolies and it declares that the con