The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1906-12-28

wheat to thresb yet, 400 bushels of
potatoes and q lot Of. apples, plenty
of good wagons and farm machin.
cry under cover.
The host was called upon and
produced the following essay:
Competition VS.. the Trusts.
In bulletin from College Park, its first lines
ask the question "Do you fully realize the power
for your welfare which is resident in your stateP'
Agricultural Colleges have suggested the theory
that shall bind together few ideas in this little
talk. AS 1 understand it, education represented
by college course does not mean special
amount of actual knowledge. but certified ability
to find out what he does not know, or in other
words it teaches one how to study. Any training
that makes the mental perception more keen, the
insight more clear, the grasp more firm, is to be
encouraged as long as it does not dull the sensi-
bilities, which it is not likely to do.
The question now arises, along what line shall
the training be guided? No doubt there is diff
ference of opinion here and that difference will
depend upon what is considered to be the chief
function of farmer in life. If it be the greatest
good in farmer to make two blades of grass grow
where one grew before or seed yield one hundred
fold that struggled with the weeds and briars
for sunlight, then surely that is the best disci-
pline which teaches him acuteness in the mani
pulation of soils, the proper use of fertilizers the
ultimate value of plants and kindred subjects;
therefore the course that will give that ability in
theory, and in actual practical experience is the
one best adapted to the husbandman The farmer
OF tomorrow will be what the farmer Of today
makes him and therefore there is really no COM
parison in importance between actual tilling Of
the soil and the greater act OF citizenship wherein
the present and future prosperity of farming is
preserved. Attempt to enslave man who has
always appreciated what liberty is and to his dying
day he will fight the chains that bind him and
curse the one who put them on, but let few OF
his liberties be taken from each succeeding gener.
ation and his grandchildren viii kiss the hand he
would have cursed and be thankful for the few
privileges which he would have enjoyed as but a
part of what was his by right.
The president. the people. congress, legislatures
and governors OF states, an earnest, enlightened
press have all battled with the Standard Oil Co.
With what result? Standard Oil is more powerful
today than ever before 1t controls the poor
mans lamp and the rich mans automobile. No
AAS
markets of the world are al its mercy.
The Beef Trust still makes the price the Western
farmer can have for his cattle and the price the
Eastern farmer must pay for his food. The gov
ernng powers of the nation aud of the states have
shown themselves unable to cope with the COM
bination.
As DR.. France stated at our meeting with him II
the farmers would organize they would be body
vf;oI1
untold good to the members and country at large.
Being interested in the local telephone organiza-
ton will give an example of what the Independent
phone is doing.
The American Bell Co.'s own records show that.
in 1884, when the last Bell patent expired and the
present competition began. it had in operation
total of only 2sl 253 telephones. That is. under
complete monopoly OF the business, the com
pany has put out. in eighteen years less than
100000 instruments. As against this, there were
in use on June so. 1905. 25a7 1921 complete instru
ments under Bell control. and something over
5000 COO instruments under Independent control.
That is, during eleven years of free competition,
over 5.0o00 900 telephones were manufactured and
put into use, as against less than 300 GOO during
the eighteen years of the monopoly. If the stu.
alton can be summed up in stronger terms than
this, should like to see it done.
The Independents, though they have been
really active for only ten years, have brought
about such spread OF the telephone service that
tn annual output today. is more than twice as
great as the total number of instruments in use
when the monopoly lost control.
single Independent factory at Rochester, New
York. is turning out over zoo, 600 complete tele-
phones year. and is not able to keep up with its
orders even at that. Compare this with the
record of the trust, when, from 1885 to 1890, it
installed. during the entire five years only 6O,l66
new instruments, an average of 10000 year.
In Indiana alone the Independents are now
operating 165, 600 telephones or within 10000 OF
the number the trusts had in operation through.
out the entire country in 1894, when competition
began. The annual rental paid by the Indiana
public for these telephones amount to S3.04SSS
The same number of telephones, at the rates
charged by the Bell people before competition
began would have cost S7,275,SO0.
The fact is, then, that in this one state, COM
petition is saving the people 81 ,226 4l5 year in
direct charges, the income. at average interest,
on fund OF 100000. 600. Indirectly. the saving
is multiplied enormously, for it is conceded that
the telephone today, owing to its extended use,
is tremendous economic factor. adding, in
many cases, from five to fifteen per cent to the
producing power of the industries of the country.
When competition began, in 1894 there was
literally not a farmhouse in the country that was
connected with a telephone exchange, and per-
haps it is no exaggeration to say that there was
not a farmhouse that had telephone. The Bell
Company declined absolutely to construct or
establish farmers exchanges or to build farmers
lines The best that farmer who desired con
nection with the nearest town could do was to
rent two instruments at 500 year and build
and maintain his own line When a farmer
wanted the telephone people to build line out
to his place, he was compelled to guarantee tolls
amounting to at least $500 year. Naturally,
under such conditions, the farmer was cut off
from telephone communication, and that meant
from the world, as he understands it today. Now
a farmer can buy telephone outright for from
five dollars to sixteen dollars, according to
quality, and he and his neighbor can build their
own line as low as seyenty-fve dollars mile.
Several members expressed their
approval and surprise and graft