The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1907-02-01
The Lumber Trust.

nto the operations of the Lumber
trust, which Senator Kittredge, of
south Dakota declares is the liking of
all trusts in restraint of trade re-
norseless in its grasp on the people
md the only change which it contem-
plates is to increase the price of its
products at stated and frequent inter-
lals, without regard to cost" He also
said that within the last five years
he price of lumber and timber products
nave arbitrarily advanced from 100 to
500 per cent.
Senator Kittredge proposed to pro-
sect the people from this monopoly by
having the federal government investi-
gate the trust and suggested that there
IS a simple way to help break the
power Of this rapacious trust if Repub-
lican members of Congress were will
ing to do it, by cutting off the tariff
protection. The tariff tax on lumber
inges from 10 to GA per cent. of its
value, and if lumber products were
placed Oh the free list there would be
considerable competition from Canada
md other countries that have surplus
lumber to sell. The ensuing competi-
ion under free lumber, joined with
he criminal prosecution of the lumber
oarons, for no fine would probably have
any effect on them, would break up the
combination or trust and bring down
the price of lumber to what it is
worth.
1t must be remembered, however,
that the price of lumber will never
again be anything like as low as in for
n r years, for the stock of standing
timber in the United States has been
so depleted that what remains will
naturally be sold for much higher
price than formerly.
1t is singular that every Congress
sional district but one adjacent to the
Canadian line where the voters would
especially benefit by competing lumber
is represented by Republican, who
all refuse to revise the tariff, or even
allow the subject to be considered.
And in the next Congress the same
political alignment prevails with two
exceptions. How can the settlers of
South Dakota and other prairie states
expect to be relieved from the exactions
of the Lumber Trust if they continue
to elect Republicans to represent them,
who are pledged to continue the Repub-
ilcan tariff policy that protect the
trusts ?
1t will take two years, if not more,
for the Department of Commerce and
Labor to investigate and report on the
Lumber Trust and then, if the Depart
ment of Justice thinks it can make a
case against the Lumber Barons, there
will be a long drawn out legal fight
and during all that time the people will
still be suffering from the prohibitive
prices the Lumber Trust is charging.
In week Congress could pass bill
placing lumber on the free list and
thus give, at least, partial relief.
Every thousand feet of lumber import
ed from Canada, or elsewhere, would
relieve the lumber market of part of
the strain s2e Lumber Trust now i'm
poses on it. The trust rather than see
it's competitors underselling it would
naturally reduce its prices to meet the
competition.
But Senator Kittridge, like some
other Republican Congressman that
want certain products relieved from the
tariff tax, are unwilling to help the
Democrats force general revision of
the tariff which would give relief from
the present tariff high prices. They
believe in the Republican policy of pro-
tecting the trusts, but cry out about
some particular trusts, so as to appear
to their constituents to favor tariff re-
vision.
But the tariff cannot be revised in
this way, for the trusts hang together
for protection and the only way to rout
them is to unhorse all the trust barons
that are unduly protected at the same
time and that will not be possible until
the voters defeat more of the stand
patters that represent trust interests,
rather than the interest of their con-
stituents. AS it is now one trust has
more power with Republican Congress-
men than 1000 people have.