The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1904-04-14


soulless trust has put its agents in di-
rect jeopardy of liberty, by compelling
them to fire that habitation. o, cruel
trust! to commit arson with impunity
in a commonwealth like Ohio! 0, false,
perfidious trust! to bribe spectators not
to tell who fired pap's home! 0, mon
strous trust! to commit espionage,
whatever that means. l don't know
what it means, but I'll bet it's fearful,
because 5599 seemed awfully angry
when he got that far in his senseless
argument.
Listen to this-5599 says: "Various
legislative Investigations and trials by
courts have established the fact that
the Standard Oil Company or its
agents committed arson, ETC." Does
5599 hope to induce sane people to be-
lieve that court that had found any
body guilty of arson would or could
allow that person to escape peniten
tiary sentence?
In turn, l defy $500 to name any
trust employee who was ever sentenced
by court for arson, bribery or that
mysterious "espionage" How foolish
anyway to commit those felonies to
induce people to trade with you, when
it's so much easier to beg them to ac-
cept your product free.
Now, little about sugar. Yes I've
heard of Claus SpreckIes. I've heard
him called Sandy Claus Spreckles, with
no allusion to the quality of his sugar.
I've heard of him, but few ever took
him seriously. He's like yellow journal
ism to most minds. Alltalk, little action.
He had all his plans made years ago to
put refinery in Southern city,-then
changed it to Philadelphia. At present
I believe he's out West-stll promot-
ing. Pm not sure, but it is my opinion
that he is the original Major Crofoot,
the Grand Promoter of "M Quad's"
stories. But what about him? You
asked me if I ever heard of him. "Y es," !"
I say. What's the answer2 Please be
more explicit. If he is one of the "hun-
dreds of sugar manufacturers who are
selling their products in the market
today, competing with the mighty sug-
ar trust, and if he is selling as cheap
or cheaper than the trust" buy from
him for goodness sake and don't mind
me!
But $500 knows well enough that the
little manufacturer with crude ma
chinery and cruder business methods,
cannot and does not sell as cheap, as
to quality, as combined capital. Be-
sides all that, the trust has the bulge
on the prices, because it can give sug-
ar away to crush the little manufac.
turer. (Shall I say "pulverize," or
won't you stand for the pump
About the sheep say that the effect
of civilization conveyed by the trust, in
the case of the Buttinski family, con.
sisted among other things, of soap and
literature. No one expects man who
shovels Stag all day to come home and
, read political economy or treatises on
the "Wherefore of the Why" but he
does use soap, we will assume, and his
children read books from the trusts
library. contend that Old Man Butt
, lnski became enlightened in cOmpari
son to his former state, but never init
: and anarchy, SO that when his part
r ners went after as high wages as they
. thought the trust could stand he joined
in, and followed the sheep who wer,
y anxious to secure what 'gabby" dele
: gate said was their right. The trus
employs physicians but no orators t
:. compel men to hold on to good thing
! therefore no spell-binder appeared a
the rot to present the trusts side O
! the case.
u About the library. Yes, the trus
magnates put it up. And it is fre
Z too. And Andy Carnegie can't Civ
v too many of them. Mt. Gilead, Ohio
v ought to get on his list. It would ge
r modern ideas of business from librar
T and cut sentiment out. 1t needn't b
le afraid of any espionage" lurking i
J. the volumes.
l. In regard to wages. The lowest pal
g in 1896 at the plant l speak of wa
ct $1.75. That was in summer. The wor
n was shovelling Stag the hottest, hare
g est work imaginable. Few American