The independent., 1904-01-21

Hndlng market, is just as udHSeIOuo
to the stability of that business as
break in the levee is to plantation
on the banks of the Mississippi. II
competition is not stopped at once, 1T
grows worse and worse, until finally
the business is swamped For in
stance here is Mr.. Rockefeller with
a monopoly of the oil business.
small refiner, say, like Mr.. George
Rice of Marietta, competes with him.
Mr.. Rice, in order to sell his oil, sells
it at a little lower price than Mr..
Rockefeller sells his. Mr.. Rockefeller
holds up the price, so that MIR. Rice
can make money, even If he must take
cent per gallon less than Mr.. Rookie
feller gets Then Mr. Rice uses the
profits that he SO makes in enlarging
his refinery and next month he sells
still more oil and again uses the
profits for still further enlargcments.
Meanwhile, it must be understood that
Mr.. Rockefeller has more refinerieS
than enough to supply the market. He
sees his own refineries standing idle
because he has closed them to pre-
vent the lowering Of price by the pro-
uuCtlOu Vi lOO lluCu Oll. Ml. 1k1IC
takes advantage of this situation to
produce more and more oil. Rookie
feller holds up the umbrella to pro-
tect Rice. His profit is the result of
| Mr.. Rockefeller's restricting produc-
ton. What would happen If Mr..
| Rockefeller allowed the thing to go
on? Mr.. Rice would finally have just
as large plant as Mr.. Rockefeller
and the market would soon be flooded,
and both would go down in a common
sea of bankruptcy through the ruinous
prices made as the result of this ever
1 production.
We justify man going to any ex-
treme to preserve his own life and
that of his family Self-preservation
is the first law Of nature. A mans
business is his support in lie, and II
you take that away you take away his
life. 1t may seem absurd to talk
about such a small competitor as Mfr.
Rice taking away the life Of the Stand
! ard Oil trust; but little mole may
start a hole in the levee which will
develop into a crevasse allowing the
Mississippi to sweep away whole
county. Hence, when we hear tales
Of the Standard Oil trust having gone
to the utmost extreme in order to
exterminate competitors, even to
blowing up their oil refineries with
dynamite. we need not be astOnished
at the heroic measures employed. 1t
is simply a question of self-preserva-
ton. When the trades unions resort
to every possible means, legal or IL
legal, to prevent even one "scab' DO
ing work in competition with the
union, they are pursuing exactly the
same policy. They know that IL one
scab is allowed to work, more scabs
will come in, and finally there will be
enough at work to break up the un-
ion. The number of non-union men
employed in shop may be insignif-
icant as compared with the number OF
,, union men, but it presents just the
same kind OF danger that Mr.. Rlce's
small capital against the enormous
capital of the Standard Oil company
does if allowed to exist in competi
tion with it.
This necessity for the extermIna
tion of competitors in the capitalism
/ WOTlQ IS SOluS W NC DlouShl f0A
clearly before us during tie mex
year, when profits and interest ap
proach the vanishing point, coinciden
with the disappearance of prosperity
II The necessity for monopoly is goini
to be infinitely more apparent i'll tn
near future than it has ever been II
the past. This will apply to tn
. trades unionists as well as to th
: capitalists. and all possible means T.
, secure 1t will probably be used b.
J both sides.-Wilshire' Magazine.
v. o. Smith, Viola, Va: II sem
y the names of six popullsts who ar
u solid. There are Others who woul
! Join II there was an organization. w
9 vote with the democratic party, no
: because we like 1t, but because w
J think it's the better Of two eorrup
: parties. am sixty-nye years old
: have voted for every reform In polite
{ since | have been a voter, and | In
y d0rse your views on popullsm fully
will join the Old Guard later whei
y am In financial condition 10 hel
M .ts.,sss ra T. AaIl I4Nal