The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-09-10
OF THE TRUST.
Not a New Development in the
Commercial WOr1d-The DifIi-
Guilty of Control.

culty OF Control.
AT the convention of the American
Bar Association, which was recently
in session at Saratoga, President U.
M. Rose, of Little Rock, Ark, in his
annual address, discussed the problem
of controlling the trusts by legislation.
He SAID
We are by this time familiar with
what are called +" trusts ;" 80 called,
perhaps, because they contain in their
composition not single fduciary ele-
ment.
South Caroliua has passed two acts
en- this subject. The first act forbids
all persons to form pools, trusts or
combinations for the purpose of regu-
lating or fixing the price of any article
of trade or merchandise or TO limit the
quantity of any article of manufacture
or commodity, or of any repair, or the
premium of any insurance. Heavy
fines are prescribed for any violation
of the act and in addition any domestic
corporation infringing its provisions
shall forfeit It's charter, and any foreign
corporation 80 offending shall forfeit its
right to do business within the State.
There has BEEN legislation along the
The same lines in other States, develop
ing, however, no new features.
A German wiiter, who has lately
written book about American trusts,
counts the American bar among these
parasitic institutions, saying that we
hold meetings for the purpose Of regu.
lating fees, avery surprising statement
that could hardly have been made by
anyone save foreigner unacquainted
with professional life in this country.
IL is due to the Truth of history to say
that no such meetings are held and
that we can look upon the pending
contest for supremacy between the
United States and the beef trust, if not
with indifference, at | east without
apprehension.
Our country during the last thirty
years has witnessed a change of such
magnitude as to be without single
parallel in history. BY means of vast
aggregations of money, corporate mo-
nopolies have been established in al
most every branch of industry. What
effect these tremendous creations will
have on our future destiny, morally,
socially, financially, legally, no one
ventures to predict with any degree of
confidence. If it is true, as said by
Oliver Cromwell, that no one goes SO
far as the man that does not know
where he is going, we are apparently
entering upon long journey.
Monopolies are as old as human bis.
tory, and we canp OF doubt that by their
grinding oppression they kept men
and women lying awake of nights long
before the first page of history was
wlivten. They were forbidden by the
laws of ancient Greece and Rome; they
were forbidden by the common law OF
England, and the common law was re.
lnforced from time to time by statutes
For awhile during the reign of Eliza
beth they fourished. At one time she
had licensed more than fifty monopo
lies 10 prey on the community. Hume
the historian, was amazed at their num.
ber and rapacity.
In order to build up an empire il
the East, Parliament granted q M mono
poly to the East India Company, which
became 80 oppressive that its over
, throw was matter of necessity.
soon learned to charge 400 per cen
profit on every article that 1t sold, ant
/, the tea that it sold became so inferio
in quality that it had hardly trace O
the plant of that name.
OF course these results were no
D reached at once; prices were raise
!. gradually and stealthlly under pretens
!. Of decreased production.
II Instead of fifty monopolles, we hay
!, lat present more than 1000, to sa
nothing of price and rate-axing an
!, : lprofit-sharing pools, with buying an
selling agencies, exercising function
Y similar to those of the trusts, all O
!, ganized for the purpose of fixing pric,
arbitrarily. Each day brings its repo
@ of some new and gigantic alliance, Il
j. future Of which can not be Predicts
since most of these corporations q
h authorized to buy up the stock of al
n other corporation, so that they may
a. any time acquire supreme control ov
" industries extremely remote from tho
I'd ostensibly in view when they were fiji
40 created.
,e The first success of one of the
e. combinations, Iif successful at all,