The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1903-03-13
PROSPERITY FOR TRUSTS.
Purchasing Power of the People Al
most Exhausted-Com bfnes
Waxing Fat.

newspapers. Where there is so much
smoke there must be some fire-and
there's. The earnings and profits of the
railroads, trusts and monopolies are
simply marvellous. The net profits of
the steel trust in 1902 were $132, 0O0,-
DOC; of the Standard Oil trust, $4S,00O,-
300 600; of the beef trust, probably
sIeO, 100000; of the anthracite coal
trust, perhaps S10O,OOO,0OO, in spite of
the six months strike. The profits of
the thousands of other trusts, includ-
ing the natural monopoly trusts, were
enormous.
thrive except by obtaining high prices
for their products. Unfortunately
somebody must pay these high prices.
They are, in fact, paid by the whole of
our 100000 people. Upon all of
them, except a comparatively few,
rests the heavy burden of trust pros
perity. The farmers of the west have
been able to carry their share of this
heavy burden because they have been
blessed with excellent crops for five
or six years, and, because of poor crops
in the rest of the world, have sold their
products for high prices. But for these
facts the trusts would have been COM
PEELED to be more moderate in their
charges, and the cost of living would
per cent. in five years.
Wage earners have been trying to
get advances in wages which would en-
able them to live through these trying
prosperity times, but as usual, wages
10 not rise as quickly or as much as
prices, and at least half of our popula-
ton are struggling along and waiting
and hoping for ''hard times" and low
er prices. Do you doubt this state
ment? Consider a few facts.
Organized charity never had great
er difficulty than during the past win
ter in meeting the demands upon it.
Rev. Father Tewes, of New York, is
quoted as saying that There never
was such general suffering and ex-
treme poverty as this winter
The Wool and Cotton Reporter has
for weeks been complaining of the
poor demand for wooden goods and of
the comparatively low price of wool
when other prices are very high and
when the scarcity of wool the world
over is greater than the present gen.
Grafton ever saw, and the statistical
position" of wool would warrant much
higher prices. This great trade jour
nal accounts for this lack of demand for
woolens by saying (January 2S), that
the "diminished purchasing power of
the masses will not admit of their pay
ing more" 1t says the people cannot
afford to pay for good woolens, and
adds, significantly:
I'm this connection, it is worth noting
that the shoddy dealers are talking
very bullishly, and are looking forward
to an unusually profitable season.
Rags are also very firm, and a large
business in them is looked forward to.
Facts of this nature cannot be over
looked in estimating the future of the
wool market. The wool manu-
facturer must necessarily be tempted
under such conditions as exist at pres
ent to make liberal use of
substitutes"
Again, in its issue of February 10,
this journal explains the lower prices
for wool by saying:
1T should be borne in mind, despite
the alleged general prosperity of the
country, the average person is feeling
rather poor, by reason of his having
to pay great deal more for rything
he buys than he has paid for a great
many years. The average person to-
day is under the sternest necessity to
economic. The purchasing power of
the average income is low rather than
high"
These are the explanations, not of
theorists, but of experts familiar with
the facts. In plain language, we have
to pony up so much to the trusts that
we cannot afford to wear wooden
clothes and are, instead, wearing more
and more clothes made from cotton
and old rags ground up. From this
we see that trust prosperity means
tshoddy prosperity, and that trust
prosperity is, in fact, shoddy prosper
ity for the masses.--It means untold
wealth and luxury for the few mo-
nopolists and hard work for the masses
.at wages that leave them under the
ssternest necessity to economic" that
they may continue to exist and to paw
trust prices. Great splendor and
great s9ualor. But those in the soualor
class can at least enjoy the privilege
of reading about the great prosperity
of those in the splendor class. To en-
joy this privilege, a majority of the
people are willing to vote to tax them
selves and to pay trust prices to in
crease the profits and luxury of the
monopolists. Great country this.
BYRON W. HOLT.
President Roosevelt's opposition