The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-05

lIldI the trust or nlOuOpOty WIIn dII It's
! vices and evils is, like most other hu-
| man troubles. a plain product Of hu-
man weakness. The public needs no
more to suffer the impositions Of mo-
nOpoly without redress than man need
endure the headache following a de-
bauch unless he pleases. The trust is
vulnerable at every point; not by leg
islatfon, but simply by community of
action and the keeping OF good faith
| among a sufficient number of individ-
uals. In one word, whenever the pub
lic-meaning by that word a governing
portion of the purchasing community
| chooses to learn the lesson Of the COM
| binations and stand together as one
man, the trust viii be as an infant In
its hands.
The moral Is pointed by the difficulty
| which dealers in a certain commodity
| in this city find in fighting what they
| consider to be exorbitant prices
| charged for trust products. They feel
around as soon as they find them
| selves In the grip Of the trust for
| competing product. Immediately an
| independent manufacturer offers his
| wares. He is glad to make moderate
| terms to secure a market, and the
| dealers agree to boost his product in
| order to bring the trust to terms. Just
/ DC .Fe R-s5
has secured his market and made his
| product known. 1t becomes to the in<
| terest of the trust to buy him out; and
| he is always ready to sell. This process
is repeated over and over again; until
the local dealer, finding himself worse
off than he was at the beginning, Is in
trusts. rather than be the victim of an
| interminable confidence game.
Now it is clear that If there were
any coherent opposition to the trust
that Is to say. If there were any har-
mony Of action opposed to it at all
comparable to the united and deter
4
| actions-it would have to give way.
| Suppose the independent manufacture
ers in this field refuse to sell out: sup
! pose they choose the modest profit
! from continuing In their business 10
| the lump cash profit that they can
| make by a sale; where then would the
| trust be? The same argument holds
good all along the line. There is no
form of combination Of capital,s of la
Dor, or Of enterprise, no matter how
Well fortified by control Of supplies, no
matter how immune from legislative
| attack. that could Withstand success
fully an opposition whose cardinal
principle was absolute unity and fidel-
| ity to one anothers interests on the
| part Of its opponents.
Let us take the strongest possible
| illustration. The Standard OH COM
pany Is a type Of an irresistible mo-
| nopoly. The people have almost given
| up lighting It. 1t SO nearly controls
/ the supply Of its raw material that in
| dependent concerns have q poor
| chance. The public has thoroughly
made up its mind to pay for petroleum
| products whatever the Standard Oil
company asks, because there is no way
of escape. Yet there is. It would mean
| much temporary inconvenience, abso-
| lutte military obedience to orders, but
it would be thoroughly effective. This
| form Of warfare would involve what
| We might call a strike on the part of
| the consumer. Kerosene is not the
only illuminant in the world. Before
| its discovery and commercial use, the
houses of the people everywhere were
| lighted, poorly lighted 1t Is true but
yet sufficiently Illuminated for Bracti-
cal purposes. The same substances
that were employed then are available
| today.
How would it be If every consumer
OF kerosene oil were to decide upon re-
| turning to the old tallow dip for a few
weeks or months or for a year? There
| is an abundance Of that material to
supply the whole public; and, although
it would be lily served as compared
with It's customary lights, it would
| break the trust. Neither the Standard
4 Oil company nor any other combine
tfon heavily capitalized, employing
armies Of workmen, owning hundreds
| Of millions worth Of costly machinery,
with wages and dividends to pay and
raw material accommodating unused on
its hands, could Withstand such pres
sure. Every monopoly in the world is
simply at the mercy of the people
should they choose to resort to this
form of attack
The parallel Is perfect and the les
son the old one. No tyrant ever lived
except5by the sufferance Of those over
whom he tyrannized. The multitude
| are always an overmatch for the one.
1t is because they cringe and fawn ami
/ value their little lives more than liber-
| ty and peace that they fear the lash
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