The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-12-28
WORDS Of WARNING
a
BY A J.. s.. SENATOR
Delivered in Senate of the
United States Wednesday,
December IL, 1907,
BY Davis of Arkansas on Sup
preston of Trusts and
Other Combinations.


The following excerpts from the
speech of Senator Davis may prove
Interesting to our readers:
Definition of Trust.
Any pool, conspiracy or cOmbina-
ton of capital having for it's OBJ
'ject or purpose the restraint of
trade.
Origin of Trusts.
Who created the trusts? What
were the causes which led to theft
formation? Before the Industrial
Commission appointed by congress
for that purpose, Mr.. Havemeyer,
the great sugar king, now gone to
that place or cline where st. Peter
don't take sugar in his'n, testified,
that the tariff is the mother. of
trusts, and that the trusts are but
reaping and gathering the benefits
they have been enabled to gather
by reason of the tariff: Mr.. Gates,
the great wire king of the country,
testified practically to the same ef~
feet.
Number and Wealth.
There are in this country today
over 400 industrial trusts alone with
Ia capital amounting to something
like 1921, 000,Ov0. The trusts. to-
day are telling the government how
to do business instead of the gov
eminent telling the trusts how to do
business. Hartman, the great rail-
road magnate, contributed 100000
to the campaign fund in the last
presidential campaign.
In the Stock Exchange of New
York eleven hundred men pay as
high as $4,000 for their seats, for
what? To pilfer and rob the people
OF the country of their products.
Trust Magnates' Wealth.
Government statistics show the
true and total wealth of the $4,000
900 people of this country is, in
round numbers, $107,000,0OO,00O.
T. Fffty-one men today own $780,
100000 of this amount, or one
thirty-ftfth Of the entire wealth Of
the country. This does not include
men who own simply a million dol
lars worth of property. Men who
today own not more than a million
dollars worth Of property. Men
who today own not more than a
million dollars are poor men indeed.
IN 1870 man: was rich man it
he was a millionaire. In 1890 the
standard had moved up and it re-
quired 100000 to be counted in
the swim; but today a man is not
considered rich man unless he
owns at least $40, 100000.
Take the fifty-one men-trust
magnates, If you please, men who
have grown rich by these processes
owning $3,295,000,000 of. : the
wealth. of the country, add to
Ithat the: wealth of the other 1000
mili1onaires who own as much as
a million dollars each, but not so
much as $20;000,00O, and you have
an appalling state of affairs.
These men own. about 871h per
cent of the wealth of the country.
The common, ordinary, everyday
man of the 89,000,000 people liv-
ing under this great government
owns, on an average, less than
$500 in property: You ask, Is that
true? All, your own statistics show
it. Can you answer to the country
why and how this occurred?
ply a means to an end ftobe
> Sir, what is money that it has
grown so priceless? Money is sim
ply a means to an end. This is a
day. of commercialism. The coun-
TRY has gone wild about money.
This is day, Mr.. President, when
gold is placed above God and money
is placed above men, when we would
sell our souls, our government, our
all for dollars. There is a mad
desire to get money, and everybody
has the fever.
National Calamity Threatened.
Sir, there is some trouble some
where. What is that trouble?
Happy, indeed, and beneficial to
mankind will be the man who can
solve the problem, diagnose the
case, and apply the remedy.
Our fathers, when they framed
this government intended to form a
government that should be a sim
pie government, that should be a
government, indeed, of the people,
for the people, and by the people.
But, sir, is that the condition pre-
vailing today? Mr. Lincoln, the
great patron saint of the Republi-
can party-God bless his memory
In his latter days spoke a great
truth when, looking down upon this
government from his lofty height in
the travail of his soul, he said, Il
see an era approaching which gives
me more concern than did the civil
war. | Sc a period approaching when
all the wealth of the country will
be concentrated in the hands of a
few, and when that day shall arrive
tremble, sir, for the Republic
ITSELF"
>. Mr.. President, am not an alarm
LIST. l am not a socialist. Neither
am an. anarchist. But I stand
here today to tell you that there is
something wrong-radically wrong.
This Is not the government handed
down to us by our fathers. The old
| ship of state has drifted far from
her mornings, and unless we tow