Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1908-05-20
FROM TIE
COMMONER
SECRETARY TAFT ON TRUSTS
MIR. BRYAN'S PAPER

Secretary Taft is rapidly disclosing
his ignorance on the trust question,
for TO believe him ignorant is more
charitable than to believe that he does
not intend to interfere with the trusts,
although his language would justify
even this belief. He takes Mr.. Bryan
to task for favoring the determination
of trusts, and says that to exterminate
trusts would be to exterminate indus
try. The secretary desires to regulate
and control trusts. But has his party
not been regulating" and control
ling" for some IL years now? And
have we not more trusts now than we
had when the regulating and control
ling began? The trust family is
family big enough to satisfy the presi-
dents ideas of the size of a family,
and the birth rate is greater than the
death rate. The administration has
commenced suit against few trusts,
but not against many, and the trusts
are still gentle enough to come up and
eat out of the hand of the administra-
ton. What has been done in regard
to the steel trust? Did it not swallow
up the Tennessee Coal and Iron Com
pany? And was it not given out that
the swallowing was done after the ad-
ministration had been consulted? Is
the steel trust fighting Secretary Taft?
And what about the International Har-
vester Company? Have the farmers
secured any relief yet? And what
oh
has something like $1,000,000000 Of
water in it's stock; 1t can afford to con-
tribute ten millions to the Republican
campaign fund, because it can get
back many times that out of Repub-
lican victory. and this is only one
trust out of the many. How can the
people hope to regulate or control
trusts when the trusts, by the election
of their favorite to office, are able to
control the government?
The determination of trusts is not
the determination of business. If, for
instance, single corporation has a
monopoly of the production of a neces-
sary of life, and has ten factories in
different states for the production of
this particular article, the eXtermina-
ton of this trust would mean the
selling off OF enough factories to re-
duce the production of this one corpo-
ration to a point where it would no
longer have a monopoly But this
would not mean closing up of the fac
tories. The people would still need
the article and the article would
still have to be produced. But the in
dependent factories coming into com
petition with the original corporation
now no longer a monopoly-would
reduce the price of the article, and the
people at large would get the benefit
of the reduction. With a reduction in
price, the people could buy more OF
the article produced, and this would
increase the demand for labor, and
new factories would spring up or ex
listing factories would be enlarged
With number of factories competing
for laborers, the laborer's chance Of
employment would be better, and his
wages would be higher. Then, too
with a number of factories competing
for raw material. the price of raw ma
terial would increase. In other words
the determination of the trusts, in
stead of destroying business, would re
store business to a healthy condition
while it reduced the price of the prod
uct, increased the price of raw ma
terial and improved the condition o
the laboring man. Competition is tn,
natural condition. and the eXtermina
tion Of the trust would restore compe
tition. Monopoly is an unnatural con
dition, and the Republican party ha
fostered monopoly and thus built in
dustry upon false basis to the deeri
ment of all OF the parties concernet
except the monopolist, and he ha
been demoralized by his unearned
wealth while the rest of the peopl
have been victimized by the practic
of monopoly.
Secretary Taft ought to study tn
trust question a little more, or discus
1t less. for each speech reveals hi
lack of familiarity with the subjec
or his lack of sympathy with the pee
pie at large.