The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-04-06

With comprehensiveness as an aim, the
work is necessarily technical, yet not to
such an extent as to make It uninterest-
ing to the general reader. Combinations,
great and small, successful and unsuccess-
full, are discussed, from the Standard OH
na.bly intrenched, to the Standard Milling
company, never intrenched at all, a fiasco
still fresh in the minds Of Minneapolitans.
Absolute tmpartiality is the keynote Of
the work. The trusts have done good work
as well as bad. In only few instances
does the author 90 beyond the presenta-
ton of absolute truth, and such individual
comment rings true as In the tribute paid
to the abilities of the men who make up
the STANDARD Oh crowd" certainly the
ablest, most powerful and daring group
Of f1nanciers the world has ever known.
The same absorption process, traced by
Ida Tarbell in the series Of articles on
| the Standard Oil company is found to
cover the rise Of every great combination.
In the Moody work the best illustration
| lies perhaps in the chapter on the tobacco
trust. A1tho not the Oldest or mtghtiest
| Of the trusts. the tobacco combination
| presents phenomenon Of most absorbing
| interest. The growth of modest con-
| solidation of eastern toba eco manufacture
1 ers to a power in the commerce Of the
world is traced step by STEP; The gather
ing in Of minor companies, the forcing
| into line or into ruin of the recalcitrants,
| the steady continued clicking up pro-
cess, the invasion of England and the war
with the English tobacco trust, are all
brought out in detail. To-day the tobacco
| combine makes it's influence felt In every
! cline. It grows the raw tobacco trans
ports 1t, transforms it into every known
| form for commercial use, and distributes
it to the four quarters Of the globe"
OF trusts, consultations or combina-
lions of every kind, great and small
there are in the United States 446, which
are made up Of 1864 smaller companies,
and of which the combined capitalization
reaches the stupendous total Of $20379,-
1851. Four great combinations dom1-
nate in "copper" sugar, OIL and steel; siS
great railroad groups dominate the trans
portation field. The greater and lesser in
dustrials, the franchise trusts, the great
steam railroad groups and the allied indie
lpendent railroad systems, are the five
groupings, into cne or the other of which
every trust fits. Greatest Of the industrial.
in point Of capitalization is the steel trust
but greater and more powerful than any
other is Standard OIL
The magnitude Of the trusts and thei
overlapping and intermingling Interests
are shown by a series of charts. Rookie
Teller and Morgan domination are the tw,
grand divisions in this classification. TIL
, overwhelming influence Of the giant com
binations Is clearly brought out and tn
Appropriateness Of the term octopus" 8
, commonly applied, Is brought to the read
, er's mind by the chapter on Standard Oh
which shows the radiation from com
: mon center of lines of influence control
ling numerous minor companies. mines
great railroad and steamship properties
, and banks, the largest in the country.
Not all trusts are successful and man
are now in process Of reorganization, O
adjustment! but some that shave, sue
ceeded make q. wonderful showing. Sine
: 1881 the Standard Oil company has PAL
dividends ranging as high as 4S per cen
. in some years. Last year it. paid A pc
> cent, and it's s97,500,0oO Of stock has
selling value Of about $3.50, 100000. N
: public statement OF Standard Oil earning
I or expenses has ever been made. Prob
ably not more than a dozen meE kno'
ell the real inner workings Of the company
~ Where will it end, is the natural quer!
. and the chapter entitled "A Review Of Sc
called Remedies touches upon this. AT
tempts at greater control of the trust
9 were the interstate commerce law Of 1888
? the Sherman antitrust law Of 1890, and til
: Northern Securities case of recent dat
, the latter still in allegiance when the boo
: was written. Perhaps this latter cas-
. may be the base upon which will arts
more potent. legislation looking towar
trust regulation. Such law must com
finally. There must be some way foun
to check the evils resulting from tru.
o aggression, to curb the evil tendencies S
e often found in them, yet conserving Il
: the people the advantages Of trust OF
O ganizat1on, OF which there are many. TT
I, author says:
!. The modern trust is the natural outcome Of 8
a dietary conditions and ethical standards whit
n are recognized and established among men to-ds
: as being necessary elements in the developmel
of civilization.