The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-04-17
COMBINATIONS {, OF - C III


ests of the country are to be combined
and made into one company with 4
capital Of 1920, 10000 Of which $4o,-
10000 will be preferred and $50, OoO,-
900 common stock. The Combination
will include such concerns as the Sim.
mons Hardware company at St. Louis,
Bindley Hardware company of Pitts
burg, William Bingham, company Of
Cleveland, Supple, Hardware company
of Philadelphia, Pacific Hardware and
Steel company of San Francisco, Mar
shall-Wells Hardware company of Du-
|luth, Bigelow and Dowse company of
Boston, Vancamp Hardware and Iron
company of Indianapolis, George Tritch
Hardware company of Denver, Janney,
Semple, Hill & Co., Minneapolis, and
about fifty other houses, representing
nearly every important trade center of
the country. -.
It will incorporate under the laws of
New Jersey and have general head
quarters at St. Louis, with eastern
headquarters in New York. The Com
mercial West in commenting on this
immense consolidation says: "The
real business of the sixty houses will be
directed by a handful of men instead of
by hundreds. For example, three or
four buyers will do the work for the
whole combination. At present there
are hundreds of buyers employed by
hardware concerns. The same elimin-
alton will apply to travelling men. I'm
der the operation of the consolidation
the twelve houses maintaining repre-
sentatives in the northwestern terri
tory can call them in, as their occupa-
tion will be gone the moment the con-
solidation is ready for business. A
direct effect of the scheme will be the
closing of houses in some of the large
cities. This action will be taken in a
number of places where the business is
now overdone. Mr.. Bindley, of the
Bindley Hardware company, Pittsburg
is the man who conceived the idea of
merging the hardware interests of the
country.'
The growth and development of the
vast industries and aggregations of
capital seems to be the result of the
memorable laws of trade and commerce,
and despite legislation and the cry of
theorists and a class of politicians the
contamination of these vast projects
will go on. The spirit of the age is
condensation and consolidation. The
elimination of all methods that are
money losers, the wedding out of poor
properties and the building up and
strengthening of those that are not on
a paying basis. These systems of con-
solicitations mean a system Of great
economy, and that labor is thrown out
of employment is a mere incident. . If
the concentration of capital and bust
ness energy results in lower prices and
better articles the people as we'll as the
organizers will share in the beneficial
results. If on the other hand prices
are to remain stationary and the arti-
cles of manufacture are to be no better,
then the benefits will inure wholly to
the organizers. If these combinations
and consultations have the power to
arbitrarily and artifcially control
prices and the people have no redress
whatever, then they are menace to
society and clearly in restraint of trade.
It is claimed that the so-called beef
trust Or big packers and beef men have
been and are to-day arbitrarily con-
trolling prices in violation of law and
the federal authorities have taken the
matter up to determine whether such
is a fact or not.
One phase of this question is very
APPLY put by Rev. Sam Smith who says:
Fifty thousand men in the United
States, perhaps not more, control the
great trusts of the country. These
fifty thousand men know that there are
100000 of other people in America,
and their wisdom teaches them where
boundary lines are, over which they
cannot go without peril to themselves
and disaster to the public. No COM
bination now says damn the public
but they have their weathercocks out
on every prominent cupola watching
how the wind blows.'
Mr.. Smith wisely says Il am thou
sand times more afraid of demagogues
and politicians than I am afraid of