The Washington herald., 1908-04-26
GREATEST TRUST IN THE WORLD

Tokyo. March 1S.-The greatest trust in
the world has its headquarters in the
palaces Of Tokyo. The japanese imperial
household Is the center around which an
amazing business organization revolves
The effects Of the application Of the
trust methods" TO a partnership between
a sovereign state. a family OF princes
ruling by divine right, and a certain
CLIQUE Of rich men are being felt all over
the East. To define that partnership and
explain the details OF its working would
be as difficult as II would have been ten
years ago 10 get a line on the operations
Of a great American life Insurance com
pany. But just as financial peace in
America required the. exposure of the in
surance company methods, so interna-
tional peace in the Orient may require a
frank exposition Of this mysterious trust
Of Japan,
The age-long prejudice against mer-
chants In Japan has not prevented the
princes of the imperial household from
selzing an opportunity to make a little
on the side in a purely commercial way.
The imperial household. operating under
the established code of family laws. owns
stock in nearly every large business con
Germ under the japanese flag, and in
many OF them it controls a majority of
the shares. The advantage of this pri-
vate ownership is apparent when it is
considered that the owners can also oper-
ate through the government, which they
control by their association with the rul-
ing oligarchy
For instance. the imperial household
owns a large cotton spinning mill. The
raw cotton must be brought from the
United States, manufactured in Japan,
and then taken to China 10 be sold. The
imperial household. wishing to make a
great profit on this cotton yarn, but be-
ing compelled to sell II very cheaply 10
compete with other yarns in the Chinese
market, has an advantage which no other
trust on earth could dream Of It also
owns the big steamship lines, but in or
der to make the cotton business go. 3"
II will permit its steamers to carry the
raw cotton from America and the fin
ished product TO China for less than cost.
This effectually shuts out all foreign
shipping and makes business fer the Jap
anese merchant marine. Other business
may be carried by these ships at a profit
If so. the profit goes to the imperial
household pockets. The losses are al
ways made up by the government not
by the imperial household, but by the
people of Japan. who are taxed to pay
the ship subsidies
Losses in other businesses in which the
imperial household may have a direct
or indirect interest are made up in the
same way. The essentially paternal gov
ernment of Japan, exercised by a half
dozen men, will subsidize anything on
earth. If the imperial household and 9TH
er partners In the trust think there is
chance TO make money. a business
will be carried on as private concern,
but with the government treasury held
in reserve TO help out any weak point
with a subsidy. If, however, the imperial
household cannot make any headway
at all against foreign competition, then
the power Of the government will be
utilized. a state monopoly is created and
the particular industry is under the con-
troll of the empire Of japan, which is a
subsidiary company In the trust.
Suppose that John d. Rockefeller. j.
P. Morgan Z. H Hartman, and Thomas
F. Ryan had absolute control of the
government OF the United States. Sup
pose that they could levy on the national
treasury for a subsidy to make up any
loss they might happen to sustain in any
branch OF business. Suppose that they
could so make the laws and WELD the
government that no other person would
have even the legal right TO stay IN busi-
ness IL they desired to push him out.
Suppose that they could absolutely con-
troll Congress and thereby change the
tariff, increase the internal taxes. or d.
anything they desired, all for their ulti-
mate personal pecuniary benefit. Sup
pose. moreover, that these four American
financiers could treat with the nations
of the world in their capacity az the rul-
ers Of the American nation. wage war
II they saw fit, and guard every line of
attack upon foreign market with their
own army and navy The Imagination
that can conceive OF such state of af-