Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-08-27
OUTSIDE POINT OF VIEW
The Trust Corrective Influences al
Most,

he Trust Corrective Influences at
Work.
| Those of us who most fear the dan
ger TO society of the trust the combine
ana the immense aggreedtions of mon
ley under any style or name can take
| heart again. For with TIE rapid growth
OF these institutions is coming to the
front the factors that will eliminate the
evils in them and preserve the good
that all must admit lies n a greater or
less degree in the modern co-called
combine" First and foremost of the
working forces in this line is that of
publicity. Th= law establishing the bu
reau of commerce was the first practi-
cal step Now duly authorized United
conferred on them of inouil.ing into the
heretofore secret workings of all in
corported interests. Now an official can
| demand access to the hooks and find
out exactly the earnings of the Stand
ard OIL Company. They can not only
ascertain what salaries and dividends
they pay, but also the wages paid for
llabor. Power exists To-Day TO oblige q
railroad corporation not only TO give its
earnings, but to show how much its
stock has been watered. The coal bar
ons in the year 1903 may be called upon
| TO state under oath not only what it
costs to mine coal. but also to whom
the profits go. Then 20 this possible
! legal publicity is to be added the many
magazine articles giving the history of
the formation of these trusts, the
profits of these corporations, the sala-
| ries paid and the Ubiquitous proceed
lings OF such combinations from their
inception To the present day. Such m
formation the public IS also getting
from the daily press and of a nature so
reliable that few denials come from the
lmillionaires. SO that il an abused
public fails to act, fails to correct giaT-
ing evils, they can blame only them
selves. For it is preposterous to sup
lpose that a Rockefeller carries on his
tremendous operations only by the aid
and consent of the American people.
y =
And that the people are already at
work to check this accumulation OF
millions in the hands of the few is APP
parent. Taxation. direc. and indirect,
seems at the present time the best
procedure. For instance. the state o.
New York has legally enacted that cor
porations may be in possession OF an m
tangible, unseen and heretofore untaN-
able interest which for a better name
can be called the good will, and that
such possession has II cash value Whlch
can be and is now taxable. An illus
tration In point is Il street car COM
many which has an exclusive right to
opera,e or. a certain street in a crowded
city. That exclusive privilege, worth
millions to stockholders, certainly Is an
asset far in value in advance of cars,
rails or operating plant. To tax this
privilege would not have been dreamed
of in the early history OF this country.
Again, we find the legls AZURE of Ne
braska passing a law compelling all
corporations doing business IN that
state to file their articles of incorpora-
ton in Nebraska, and TO pay lee lor
the same. which is estimated to pay Off
the floating debt of the state in very
short time. We now notice cities all
over the country guarding new IRAN
chises with much more care, ana seiiel-
ally inserting clauses competing a GER
tain percentage of receipts to De paid
into the city tltttSulN. -NAF' Ni''i -
goes a clause preventin" such corpora
tions from charging the pubic more
than named prices for product orisefV-
ice. In many states an inheritance tax
lessons the wealth of the heirs OIL 'he
moreyed class, and while for some UNI
known reason the American punllc
still frowns upon the collection OF an
income tax, it is only question OF
very short time when our biiilonaires
Will be compelled to return each year
10 the public some of their vast accu-
INFLATED gains. And the American pun
lie can be depended upon TO devise new
methods to distribute this accunula-
ton of individuals to the people from
whence it comes. 1t can be SAID at the
present there is little or no desire on
the part of the people to prevent these
gatherings of dollars into a rev pahk
accounts. but there is most decldeo
tendency TO compel the owners thereoi
ia return some of these dollars. so
that we may look for more wise iegls-
lation along this line.