The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-01-29
GO AiTE!; TIE OUTLAWS or
COMMERCE.

taxes together arc much less than tile
tribute laid upon the people BY he
importation. Insurance. and indus
tr a! trusts that destroy cnmpetitiaa
ana charge ex~tortienate prices for the
thing for the Legislature to consider
is how t. relieve the people Of thi
oycr-large tax by trusts n t~ransport2-
ton, in insurance. in the necessities
and comforts Of life.
50 far several important and wise
bills looking to the curtailing Of the
transportation tax. both in reducing
rates and requiring better service. have
been introduced. The best Of these
measures. after careful consideration.
viii doubtless be enacted. No insur-
ance Legislation has Yet been enacted.
The most i'm Yortant and most essen
tial is contained in the antitrust bill
introduced BIZ senator Aycock which
goes after thl in urance trust as well
as all other trusts. senator Holt has
also introduced an antitrust bill thar
has teeth and is believed by able men
to reach the fruits hat AZ" the greet
est outlaws of and biGges-
robbers Of the people. In former
Legislatures good anti-trust laws have
been introduced. IA under the M
n~ipulation Of trust legislators and lob
byists. assisted by members who are
50 easily frightened that they Woul2
run from a house the teeth have
been extracted before they were cnact-
ed. so that the law as passed was as
harmless rs q last year bird-n"st.
such sham laws are disgraceful. 1t is
giving the people a stone when they
ask for bread. This Legislature finds
itself peculiarly charged with the duty
of cnacting q real and effective anti
trust law and making provision for
its enforcement. If they Will do this
they Will see in a few years that eh@
farmers viii get better prices for
their tobacco, buy @uano for less, see
u reduction in insurance premiums,
and an end Of much trust eXtortlon. If
there is any concern doing business IN
North Carolina belonging to q trust
that threatens to leave the State D.
cause Of the enactment Of good anti
trust laws, then let us say to that con-
Gil ~ III ptdt' LII III SC'-
North Carolina will not
permit you 70 defy its laws N con-
niue to extort tribut from its pcop,c
through your MONOPOLY And the
loss of such trusts viii result in great
gains through the success of indepen-
den concerns. The legislator who
can be scared by such threats ousnt
to quit calling himself a Democrat
and openly take his place with the
plutocratic Republican party.
When Mr.. Justice was elected
Speaker of the House he departed
from the stereotypod speeches upon
such occasions and spoke out visor-
ously and clearly upon h trust ques-
ton and emphasized the duty of the
Legislature to enact q law that would
do the business for these outlaws Of
commerce. In View Of the fact th2t
the trust lobby is now putting in over
time to emascl late the Aycock bill u
cut the CUTS out of the Holt bill. IT
is important for legislators to be IN
their guard against the instdiouS
work of these miners and sappers VINO
say the want a good antitrust law
oIit Ut NiS 'iiilS LIN bSCN ~ = q
law that Will amount TO nothing. Be
low we reprint the declaration of
Speaker Justice and commend it to
the consideration of all men, in and
out of the Legislature who We're elect
ed upon the Democratic platform:
Mr.. Justice SAID:
The people are being exploited bl
trust and public service corporations.
The solution Of the problem arising
from TINS condition of affairs must De
found. and courageously adopted. 1t
should not be possible for conspirators
who have united themselves in q trust
to m~OnOpOliZe the business of buying
any Of the product of the arms or the
mines, or the business of selling the
products of the factory. In our Sta@e
the law OF supply and demand does
not apply to the purchase and sale
of many of the neCessaries and CON-
forts Of life. The price Of these aTtl-
cles is lowered when 4 trust is the
buyer and raised when the trust -
tho seller SO that those who sell ard
those Who buy are forced to pay not
what things are worth but what the
unlawful ~ombination say they are
worth. The tax the people are forced
to pay to these exploiters is measured
alone by their creed. The tobacco
which the farmer raises is sold for
but little above the cost Of production.
but when it is manufactured the con-
sumner must pay the price asked in Il
non-conpetitive market h puE-
chaser of window glass. mirrors.
sugar. oil, many articles of steel and
of other articles must stand and de-
liver when the trust iXes the price.
This result is accomplished by meth
DDS that are most immoral and repre-
hensible and which should be unlaw-
full. 1t i 50 we'll established that I'll,
independent manufactures cannot
share the profit ON the articles thu
trust controls. that none dare now en-
ter these lines of business. The fate
Of those who nave tried to compl"t"
with the trust has been such as to de-
ter others from entering the contest.
1t is accepted as inevitable that the
trust may buy for less than tho value
and sell for more than the valu Of ar
ticies Il deals III and that there is no
power that Will stop it. This should
not be so. but the man. who. through
the trust. robs others. should be an
sNerable to the criminal law. The
man who does this through agent i'll
this State while he remains oul-
side should be brought into this
State upon the TcuuiSition o.
the executive and punished az
would be the man Who should 9
into the state through the mails 4
deadly machine with n eNp"ctation