The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-05

You are singularly ferocious to-
night, Colonel said Judge Sawyer with
a calm smile. TRY one of my cigars;
1t may Soothe you. You seem to regard
the fate of Rawson and the success of
the Meat Trust as a personal triumph
Il feel sorry for Rawson,' the Col
onel said. II have known him for
twenty years-ever since he was a boy.
AS you know 1 helped him start in bus
hTSs, and would save him to-day
were it in my power. When 1 heard
Of Rawson's failure 1 thought of the
talk, Judge, that you and 1 had years
ago, when we were more hot headed
than we are now. Does this remind
you of a subject we used to discuss
back in the eighties?"
Il recall our debates on competition"
ground"
1T has been swept from beneath
your feet" replied Col. Monroe. I'm
those years-and it seems only yester-
day-the word trust had not yet been
applied to corporations or monopolies.
Competition was king. No statesman,
editor or author of repute sounded
warning that competition would be de-
throned. There were innumerable fac
tories in every industry, each contend
ing for its share of business. There
were hundreds of railroad lines COM
peting for patronage. And then was
witnessed the birth of the first Amer
lean monopoly. Every public man in
the land predicted its inevitable fail
ure. You spoke the general sentiment
when you declared that in this coun-
try a monopoly would fall of it's own
weight. / was so bold as to take the
opposite view. AS a true Jeffersonian
Democrat competition was your politi-
cal religion. And as year succeeded
year, trust succeeded trust, while you
and millions of others patiently await
ed the day when attempted monopoly
should be crushed by competition.
Panics came, but the trusts emerged
triumphant. They sprang up in free
trade England, in despotic Russia and
in republican France. They def1ed
change in parties or policies and
thrived alike in years of prosperity,
war or crop disaster. 1t is laughable,
now, to turn back to the files of Re-
publican and Democratic papers and,
read the confident and oracular predic-
tons of the speedy collapse of trusts
and syndicates. Henry George added
the weight of his opinion to the same
effect. None but the despised socialists
and a few unbiased crapks like
myself, who happened to guess the
truth, believed that monopoly would
strange competition. To-day, the
man who seriously advocates COMPETE
ton IS looked upon with suspicion. The
new generation can no more realize
what competition was, than we can
imagine the social status of Mars. Com
petition is dead beyond resurrection,
and the economic dogmas of your early
manhood are in the grave with it.
ask you, Judge, in all candor, can you
suggest any possible competition with
the meat trust"
IT cam" answered Judge Sawyer
promptly. Remove every cent of
tariff duty, and let in Canadian meats.
Then pass a law which will compel
the railroads to cease discriminating in
favor of the meat combine
DO you seriously believe these
measures would destroy the monopoly
in beef and pork?"
II do" was the positive reply.
you believe in miracles more Won
derful than those performed by the
Genii at the command of Aladdin" de-
clared Col. Monroe, good naturally.
Meat from Canada? You might as
well employ a chipmunk to forage for
lion. When 100000 Canadians sup
ply $4,000, 900 of Americans from their
-scant surplus of meat, the Mississippi
river will cause the Atlantic ocean to
overflow. The meat trust has attained
supremacy by mastering the supply
of the greatest beef and pork raising
country the world has ever known. 1t
holds IL one hand the exhaustless re-
sources of the plains from Texas to
Montana, and in the other the innuIn-
cradle herds of the Central and Eastern
States. From it's manufacturing
str0ngholds in Chicago, Cincinnati,
Kansas City and Omaha radiate
thousand branches. One member of
the so-called Big Six could alb sorb
the entire meat industry of Cana la
without Gripping it's bank reserve. Tie
only effect of attempting to let in Ca
madam meat will be to force the trust
conquest of that country and raise
their prices to our high level"
II dislike to admit it, but 1 fear you
speak the truth" said Judge Sawyer.
But a law to check railroad discrim-
ination iii favor of the meat combine.
through the payment of rebates in
freight, would prove effective"
Two have such d law now, and have
had for years. returned Col. Mon
roe. What does it amount to-?
1t is almost an inpossioiIitY
to detect or punish these practices. But
it would make little difference if rigid
law to this effect were honestly enforc-
ed. These rebates are only a small
item in the total increment of trust
management. Their legitimate advant-