The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-09-11
with Indifference, at least without

|
parallel in history. BY means of vast
aggrcgations of money, corporate mo-
nopolles have boon established in al
most overy branch Of industry. What
effect these tremendous creations will
havo on our future destiny, morally,
socially, financially, legally, no one
ventures to predict with any dogroo of
confidence. If it is truo, as said by
Oliver Cromwell, that no ono goes 80
far as the man that docs not know
where he is going, VIC arc apparently
entering upon a long journey.
Monopolies arc as old as human his
tory, and we cannot doubt That by their
grinding oppression they kept men
and women lying awake of nights long
before the first page of history was
written. They were forbidden by tho
laws of ancient Greece and Rome; they
were forbidden by tho common law of
England, and the common law was re-
lnforced from timo to time by statutes.
For awhile during the reign of Eliza
beth they flourished. Al ono time shc
had licensed moro than fifty monopo-
lies to prey on the community. Hume,
tho historian, was amazed at their num-
Der and rapacity.
In order to build up an empire in
tho East, Parliament granted a mono
poly to the East India Company, which
became 80 oppressive that its over
throw was n matter Of necessity. 1t
soon learned to charge 400 per cent
profit on every article that ii sold, and
tho tea that it sold became 80 inferior
in quality that it had hardly trace of
the plant of that namo.
or course these results were not
reached at once; prices were raised
gradually and stealthlly under prctcnsc
of decreased production.
Instead of fifty monopolcs, VIC have
at present more than d 900, to say
nothing of prico and rate fixing and
prol)t-sharing pools, with buying and
selling agencies, exercising functions
similar to those of the trusts, all Or
ganizcd for the purpose Of fixing prices
arbitrarily. Each day brings its report
Of some new and gigantic alliance, the
future of which can not be predicted,
since most Of these corporations are
authorized to buy up tho stc3k of any
other corporation, 30 that they may at
any timo acquire supreme control over
industries extremely remote from those
ostenslbly in view when they were first
created.
Tho first success of one of these
combinations, If successful at all, is
alluring in high degree. If tho pro-
perLy is capitalized at twice its value,
tho lowest capitalization known, and
the securities arc lloatcd Mt par, the re-
| suit is that the former owners find
themselves twice as rich as they were
before, and at very trifling outlay Of
time, money or energy, TO say nothing
! of future of immense possibilities.
We shall not be surprised, therefore,
| when told that many SIMILAR organiza-
| tiCns arc started with the deliberate
intention of swindling unsuspccting
| stockholders.
Tho Supreme Court of the United
Statos and several of our Presidents
have more than Onco called attention
TO the gravity of the situation, and we
can not suppose that men occupying
such high positions Of responsibility
would Wantonly excite public appro-
hcnsion.
There is one form of tyranny that
governments, however instituted, can
not-at least dlrectly--cxcrciso Ef-
forts have often been made TO control
prices by law, but never successfully.
The natural laws of trado always
triumphed over the artificial laws of
men. But whoever can control the
supply can fix his own prices, as VIC
see in tho case Of Pharaoh in Egypt.
1t was not as King that he asserted
that power, for the command of the
supply would have given it to him if he
had been o private individual.
| President Roosevelt has said more
than once that tho power of corpora
tions over prices should be subjected
to public control. The principal dllli,
Guilty pertains to the remedy. If OK
listing laws could be enforced perhaps
no new one would be needed.
A remedy sometimes proposed with
seeming confidence is that of publicity
Publicity is a good thing. Monopolics
delight in secrecy. 1t is SAID that tho
absent always suffer, and the public
arc not invited to participate in cor
} porate meetings. Very lately corpora
tions arc organizing under conditions
that do not permit oven all Of tho
stockholders to examine the books
that privilege being reserved for hold
crs Of preferred stock alono. 1t may
be that persons who rely On this
remedy arc misled by the laws relating
to the examination of the books O
banks, which are very easily examined
Banks have only to do with siDgl
commodity, one that has fixed and un
varying values. Tho difficulty i
enormously increased when it come
to like examinations of the books O
other corporate bodies doing an OK
tensivc and varied business. In sucl
cases it is not infrequently found tha
the mysteries of modern bookkeeping
exceed those of alchemy, reminding
one of the response of a railway prcsi
dent TO his legal advisor to question
7 as to what the books of the compan
, would show regarding controvcrs
Q then undor consideration. " Well,
0 said the president, " as l foresaw lon
ago that this dispute would some tim
t probably arise, and, not knowing c>
y actly what form it would assume,