The Savannah morning news., 1903-01-28
THE sEARCHLIGHT OF PUBLICITY.

In the report which Representative
Littlefeld has prepared to accompany
the antitrust bill which the House
judiciary Committee will report, great
stress is laid on publicity as a cure
for trust evils. 1t is true, probably,
that if a trust were forced to make
public everything connected with its
business it would not be possible for
it to continue to rob the people by
charging exorbitant prices for its
products. The difficulty would be,
however, to get a statement for pub
LEGATION that would reveal the whole
truth respecting it's business and reveal
it in such a way that the people would
understand the facts.
The theory respecting a trust is that
one great combination can be managed
at much less cost than number OF
small plants, and that while the com
bination makes only fair profit on
Its capital the public is benefited by
getting trusts articles at a less cost
than it would get them if these ar
ticles were made by a number OF small
concerns. The theory is all right, but
ii doesn't work out that way in prac-
tice The actual fact is that the great
combinations are capitalized at about
two or three times their actual cost.
The aim then is to make as big a profit
as possible on the stock of the over
capitalized concerns. When attention
is called to their exorbitant prices the
answer is that only fair dividend Is
being made on the capital.
If we are not mistaken the state
ment was made before a Congression-
al Committee only a few weeks ago,
that the price of steel billets in this
country was much higher than in Eng
land and Germany. and that this ar
ticle of steel could be imported,
Notwithstanding the high duty,
for less than 1t could be bought
in the home market. And does not
the Billion Dollar Steel Trust fix the
prices of steel products in the United
States? 1t certainly does. That trust
not only makes a fair profit on a cap
italization that is believed to be several
times greater than the cost of the
plants of which it is composed, but
it has besides an immense annual sur
plus. 1t is a striking example of the
way trusts put up and keep up prices
OF course the public does not know
what the cost of the properties of the
Billion Dollar Trust was. but it be-
lieves that it pays from twenty to thir-
ty per cent. on the cost, whatever it
was.
But if there were a sworn statement,
showing that the plants of the Bill
lion Dollar Steel Trust could be dupli-
Gated for one-fourth of its capitali-
cation, would public sentiment be
strong enough to compel it to make
corresponding reduction in it's prices?
If it would not then something more
than publicity is needed to remedy
trust evils. After all. if the public is
to be protected against trusts. must
there not be authority lodged some
where to supervise the prices of trust
articles, or a law fixing the maximum
percentage of profit upon a capitaliza-
ton that shall not greatly exceed the
amount of the assessed valuation of a
trusts property?
No doubt there will be many sug-
gestions thrown out during the discus
sion of the Littleheld bin but it is
doubtful If any one of them will be
adopted. That bill is as radical as the
Republican leaders intend 1t shall be-
Indeed. there is doubt if anything so
radical as the Littlefield bill will get
through the Senate.