The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1904-06-02
Capitalization of Cap
ital and Labor.


A LTHO it has been but a
~ century and quarter since our
N country first saw the light, it
now Undoubtedly holds first
place among the nations in commerce
and industries. Our industries are su-
perior in all respects to those of any
other country in the world, the pro-
ducts of our factories are carried
broadcast to all corners of, the globe,
and foreign countries, despite any re-
lnctance on their part to yield to
American superiority, are compelled
to buy our goods. AS result of this
commercial and industrial supremacy,
the United States is perhaps in more
prosperous condition than that of any
other nation, and furthermore, our pres
ent prosperity is greater than it has
ever been at any period of our history.
But this good fortune, however, has
not been unalloyed. With COM
mercial greatness have come serious
problems, for 1t is in the very nature
of our present conditions that such
problems should arise. There enter
into the making OF this commercial SUI
premacy two fundamental elements
which had inevitably to clash, namely,
Capital and Labor. Our present pros
perity is unquestionably due to the
careful and shrewd use of capital aided
by careful and skillful labor.
In the early history of our Industrial
development, these two elements
worked in comparative harmony, but
when our industries began to assume
their. present gigantic proportions there
arose spirit Of antagonism between
them. Labor, on the one hand, saw
the increasing profits of its efforts ac-
crue to the capitalist and naturally
enough began to ask for greater share
in its profits than it had heretofore en-
joyed. Capital, on the other hand,
saw this unrest Of labor with suspicion
and dread lest it grow unreasonable in
its demands.
In the course of the growth of this
antagonism two important institutions
were developed. Each side began to
! organize in order to protect itself
against the encroachments of the 9TH
er; we get then on the one hand, capi-
tai organized into Trusts and Monopo-
lies, and on the other, labor organized
into Unions.
That all of these institutions are
good in themselves no one will deny.
Monopolies do away with the great
waste of money and labor that comes
from unrestricted competition and con-
sequently makes the product cheap
er to the consumer.
Unions, again, have so raised the
standard of living for the laborer that
at the present time the conditions of
our workingmen are better than those
OF the laborers of any other country on
the globe.
But in their phenomenal growth OF
the last decade or two, there have come
in their shadows grievous dangers to
the public at large. The monopolies
have crushed out the life of the smaller
and more conservative dealer and by
SO doing removed all competition
practically controlling the prices OF
their articles to such extent that if il
suited their interests they could de.
priye the public of the necessities Of
life.
To prove that this is lamentably true
we need but mention several of ouI
modern trusts which control our com
mon commodities. The Oil Trust il
now making us pay for oil many times
its actual value. But a year or TIVE
ago group of Pennsylvania min,
owners raised the price of coal to sucl
q figure that thousands Of families
throughout our country, in spite of ou
much vaunted prosperity, actually suf
fered for lack of fuel And in oul
great cities the death Of many poo
woman and child may be held to th'
account Of these so-called Coal Barons
and this in our country of freedom ant
liberty of which we so proudly boast
But the monopolies are not alone il
their attempts to obtain controlling
powers. The labor unions, too, do thei