West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1903-07-23
ShODDY PROSPERITY.
Purchasing Power of the Peo-
pie Almost Exhausted.
TRUSTS sAPPIEe THE PEOPLE.

Demands Upon u Last winter.
People puabie 10 Wear WOODEN
Clothes aud Compelled 90 Wear
Cotton and shoddy.
Prosperity. prosperity, prosperity.
We hear and read OF it nll the time.
whether we listen TO after dinner
speeches or read the metropolitan
newspapers Where there IL so much
smoke there must be some fire. And
there is. The earnings and profits of
the railroads. trusts and monopolics
are simply marvellous. Tho net profits
OF the steel trust I'm 1902 were Sl82,-
100000. OF the standard oil trust $i5,-
oOo,0OO, OF the beef trust probably
$loo.oO0.O00 and OF the anthracite coal
trust perhaps Si00, 100000, In aplte Of
the six months strike. The profits OF
the thousands OF other trusts. inelud-
INK the natural monopoly trusts. werc
enormous.
But trusts and monopolles cannot
thrive except 10y obtaining high prices
Tor their products Unfortunately
somebody must pay these high prices.
They are IN fnct paid by the whole OF
our 77,0O0,0O0 people. Upon nll OF
them, except n comparatively few.
rests the heavy burden of trust pros
pcrlty. The farmers OF the west have
been able 10 carry their shnro OF this
heavy burden because they have been
blessed with excellent crops for nve
or six years md, 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 bc more moderate In their
charges, and the cost OF living would
not have increased 50 greatly-ovor 10
per cent I'm five years.
Wage earners have been trying to
get advances In wages which would
enable them 20 live through these try
Ing prosperity times; but, as usunl.
wages do not rise as quickly or as
much as prices, aud at least half OF our
population are struggling along and
waiting and hoping for "hard tines
and lower prices. DO you doubt this
statement? Consider few facts
Organized charity never had greater
difficulty than during the past winter
In meeting the demands upon it The
Rev. Father Tewcs of New York Is
quoted as saying that there never
were such general suffering and ex-
trcme poverty as this winter"
The Wool and Cotton Reporter has
for weeks been complaining OF the
poor demand for woolen 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 gem
Grafton ever saw and the statistical
position" of wool would warrant much
higher prices This great trade Jour
nal accounts for this lnck of demand
for woolcns by saying (Jap. 20) that
the diminished purchasing power OF
the masses Will not admit OF their
paying more" II says the people can
not afford TO pay for good woolens
and adds significantly:
I'm this connection Il ls worth noting
that the sho1dy dealers are talking
very bullishly ana are looking forward
TO an unusually profitable season. Rags
are also very firm, and n large busl-
ness ia them is looked forward TO.
Facts OF this nature cannot be over
looked In estimating the future OF the
wool market. The wool man
ufaeturer must necessarily bc tempted
under such conditions as exist at pres.
ent TO make n liberal use OF substl-
tutes."
Again I'm its issue OF Feb. 10 this
journal explains the lower prices for
wool by saying:
ut should be borne In mind, despite
the alleged general prosperity Of tile
country. the average person is feeling
rather poor by reason OF his having
20 pay q great deal more for every
thing lie buys than he has paid for n
great many years. Tho average per.
son today is under the sternest neces-
sity TO economize. 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 hnve
60 pony up so much to the trusts that
we cannot afford 10 wear wooden
clothes and are Instead wearing more
and more clothes made from cotton
md old rags ground Up. From this
We see that trust prosperity means
shoddy prosperity and that trust pros
perity Is. In fact, shoddy prosperity for
the masses. IL means untold wealth
and luxury for the few monopollsts
and bard work for the masses at wages
that leave them under the stcrnest
necessity 70 economic" that they may
continue 70 exist and TO pay trust
prices. Great splendor and great
squalOr. But those in the squalor
class can at least enjoy the privilege
OF reading about the great prosperity
OF those I'm the splendor class. TO en-
JOY this privilege a majority Of the
people are willing TO vote TO tax them
selves and 60 pay trust prices to In
crease the profits and luxury OF the
inOnOpolists Great country, thisi
BYRON w HOLT.