The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-03-01
Inexorable Law of Supply and
Demand Wins.
Cut in Price Means Natural De-
velopment of Suspended In
dustry.
EFFECT on THE STOCK MARKET

Natural forces have at last asserted
themselves, and the greatest corpora
ton the world ever saw, the steel
trust, has been obliged to surrender
to the inexorable' law of supply and
demand. This powerful and skillfully
managed corporation was organized
largely for the express purpose of eA-
caping this law. Competition was TO
be abolished or reduced to a mini
mum as a regulating force, and in its
place artificial regulation was to be
Substituted The market was to he
uRder the control OF few able men
Ito whose judgment and absolute
power the whole Industry must sub
nit; and the free play Of differences
Iof opinion between buyer aud seller.
which has been the system of price
control ever since civilization began
was to be abolished at a stroke. Com.
petition between buyers and competi-l
tion between sellers was to be wiped
|out. aud the wants of trade were ts
be estimated and satisfied according
to the opinion or caprice of few
men. Such in brief we're the ulti-
mate aims of the policy of some OF
the great monopolistic combinations
which have been created within the
last few years. Nothing more revoiu-
tionary and nothing more. approach
ing to socialism has ever been put
into practical effect than these huge
combinations. which placed whole in
dustries under the arbitrary control
of a few strong but not infallible in
divlduals. The failure of artificial
regulation in case of the steel trust
is, therefore, OF the highest import
ance. IL shows that the trust system
has failed in one of its prime and
most Objectionable purposes, that OF
regulating prices; and this failure Is
source of real qualification to all
who wish to see the freedom OF Amer
lean institutions preserved. There is
no objection whatever to great cor
porations; they are in line with in
dustral efficiency and progress; but
they must be resolutely checked in
their monopolistic tendencies and
must also be taught to admit. as did
Mr.. Gary very frankly not long ago,
that public welfare shall be placed
before corporate interests and that all
corporations must implicitly obey the
law.
Cut I'm Steel
The effect of the cut in steel prices
was at first very unsettling. for in
several departments OF industry the
steel trust policy Of holding up prices
in spite OF business depression had
very generally followed. A few DAYS
after the cut Il became recognized
THAT these reductions were good
policy. that they meant a long de-
lferred recognition of changed condi-
| tons and a more natural adjustment
to the new order of things. II was
recognized that lower prices would
place Industry upon a safer basis. and
that there would eventually follow
la decided improvement. Perhaps Il
would be folly to say that bottom has
been reached. for confidence has been
seriously disturbed. and buyers will
of course push their newly gained adj
vantages to the limit. Tariff agitation
will also cause much business to be
deferred, ami this may temporarily
act in buyers favor. When, however.
that disturbing element is removed
there will be an accumulation of or
ders that will compensate for present
depression. In the long run II is safe
to say that a return to lower price
levels will be beneficial, and a gen.
uine stimulus to renewed business
activity later on.
Stock Market.
On the stock market the steel CT
was at first demoralizing. Prices fell
sharply. making a decline of 10 to is
points on the present movement. This
is an important shrinkage, consider
ling that recuperative tendencies are
steadily at work in various lines Of
business. For weeks 1t has been in
sisted in these advices that prices
were too high and that a substantial
decline was imminent. Now that this
has come. the market is on much
safer trading basis and greater ac-
-