Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-05
CAPTURE JOHN BULL
American Trusts Now About to
Invade England.
AGlTATING THE COUNTRY
To Be Backed Up by Tons of British
Gold.
TALL0W, SOAP AND MEAT
Bad Thing for the Country, but the
Empire Is Governed by the
Rich and Titled.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
LONDON, November 1. 1905.
American commercial methods are be-
ing adopted more and more in England.
Take. for instance. the soap trust. which
at the moment is agitating the whole coun-
try
The speaker an American whose interests
and business in England are of the largest.
knows more. Of the soap business probably
that any man outside of the new trust mag
nate, w. H. Lever, NJ. P. But he refused
to be interviewed II his name was men,
toned. He has reasons.
I'm a nutshell" he said, this soap trust
Is the opening gun Of the American trust
system In England. If it succeeds-and
there is little doubt that it will-this coun-
try will he as honeycombed with trusts as
Is the United States. John Bull is as wise
to the dollar as the American business man.
But he is .old-fashinned, conservative. and
travels in rut hoary with the age of CEN
turtles. He hates to acknowledge the adop-
ton of American methods. Yet in less than
decade this country will be thoroughly
Americanized after the most approved trust
methods. and the trusts will be backed up
by the tons upon tons Of British gold. which
now, comparatively. are lying idle at and
per cent.
ut will make no difference whether Eng
land continues free trade or adopts protec-
ton. In this present soap trust it is the
raw material which counts. This Is tallow.
The basic element Of all soaps is tallow.
Cocoanut oil and palm kernel oil are only
subsidiary to tallOw in the manufacture of
graded soaps. More chemicals are neces-
sary for the vegetable Oil soaps. and. there
fore, the tallow soap is the cheapest as W..
as the purest.
Controlled by Meat Trust.
"a In ha NIT fota 20
trolled by the meat trust Very little tai
low is imported from the United States into
England. 1t comes to US rather from New
Zealand and Australia. where England also
gets the vast majority Of her mutton This
year there was a disastrous drought in
these colonies. In consequence tallow was
scarcer than 1t has ever been. The price
went up. The soap manufacturers began
to import from the United States. And with
these importations came an idea into the
heads of the meat trust in the United
States. The soap trust in England Is the
result.
Go back few months and remember the
agitation against the meat trust, the rev.
Citations of The Jungle and other reports.
The canned meat trade in England Of
United States firms was almost ruined.
English Gamers gained. There was a prof.
ect then Of forming meat trust in Eng
land. But it fell through The influence
here was not sufficiently strong
But when the English soap makers had
their pockets touched by the sudden rise In
tallow they began to listen to the sugges-
lions from America. l personally know
mour Of Chicago and Mr.. Lever together
at Claridges Hotel during the Americans
visit here at the end of the past summer.
ut was soon after this that Mr.. Lever
began buying up soap companies. Buying,
mind you. not merely amalgamating them
under one management for business pur-
poses. Lever bought outright more than
half the companies now in the trust. Those
he couldn't buy outright he has amalga-
mated.
After 1.-The papers had all been signed
and the trust became fact Sir Thomas
Upton was sent across the ocean empow-
cred to make the deal with the meat trust
for the formation of an English holding
company for the meat trust. Upton has
long been the only anxious to have
such trust here. Now he has the soap
men and other capitalists behind him.
1.-THE English soap trust is merely an
outcome and a dependable ally of the
American meat trust. The latter now holds
the output and price of tallow in the hol-
low of its hand. Australian and New Zea-
land tallow will, to an enormous degree
have to seek another market than Eng
land. accept whatever price the soap
trust chooses to pay. Otherwise. through
the deal of the United States meat trust.
the soap trust will use all American tallow.
A Matter Of Weeks.
There is the whole situation Despite
the cabled denials from the United States
the meat trusts appearance in propria per-
soma in --ngland Is only a matter of weeks.
1t has been a remarkably good deal all
around this formation of the soap trust.
The English soap men in it are pleased, for
they now control the tallow supply. The
Americans are pleased, for they now gain
entrance to England for their meat trust
under distinguished auspices and with infu-
entail backing.
The people who are not pleased are the
English newspapers who lose between
them annual income of $3,50OOO in
soap advertising. and the Independent soap
makers, who either refused to join the trust
or else were not invited.
"The consumer, of course, is angry for
the moment The newspapers, through their
agitation, are egging on the consumer. But
time works miracles, and as Is always the
case. the public in few weeks will get
used to things. and not care hang about
the extra cent or two in the price Of it's
soap.
.'The English soap trust will work out to
one of two things. 1t will either in few
months swallow the independents and be-
come a solid up-to-date American trust or
1t will be a one-man affair-with Lever as
the man-who, in the soap market, will con-
troll and have the balance Of power.
Initial British Trust.
american interests are not affected by
this initial British trust. There are only
two American soaps on tho British mar
ket One Is a patent concern, which will
only be helped by the state Of affairs. 1t
Is all manufactured in the United States
and imported here. The other is sold at
present only in Lancashire ard Yorkshire.
and it's market will scarcely be curtailed.
although it may possibly be ordered out of
England by the meat trust.
'"This Introduction Of the American trust
system into England Is. OF course. q bad
thing for the country. AS have said, 1t is
merely the first step in the formation Of
American trusts throughout the country.
1t means that the prices Of every COM
modify will go up. There is no remedy but
legislation, and as England has no trust
buster like Roosevelt. 1t Is doubtful If
there will be any such legislation. The
moneyed classes, the lords and ladies Of
the empire, are interested in these great
commercial movements, for 1t is their
money which is invested.
And as the empire is governed by the
rich and the titled there Is no hope for the
poor man but to patiently bend his neck
,,pdar the coming weight of the trust yCke