The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-02-02

ever approach he'd. 1t would affect yO
u and your chiIdren, whatever your
walk in. life. it would control the pri
ccs Of household necessities, it WOuld
be master of the 1t is well,
them, for everyone to know OF the %
disability Of the formation OF such a
continuation, SO that it may not be a
together lost sight of in the constant
attacks against smaller trusts that n
ave already been formed. The sue
ccssful Harvesting OF Niagara Falls. S
everaL photographs of which are pub
lished in this article, is strong proof o
1 the value OF MISREPRESENTATION.
All over the country today the
foundations are being laid for a trust
Of SUCH vastly greater magnitude han
any industrial combination now in
Existence hat the greatest of these
Will seem of puny dimensions beside
it. The United States Steel Corpora
ton, through its leadership of one Of
the most important of modern indus
tries, ranks as the most notable man
ufacturfng in h country.
But it all the steel producers were
united in a single combination, it
would not be worth comparison with
this future trust of which the first
falnt beginnings now appear, for the
reason that the latter will dominate
all lines OF manufacture. If all the
railways We're brought together into a
single control, it would be q develop
meat of tremendous significance, but
less significant than this future COM
bination, which is even more surely
on the way, for the latter Will domi-
nate transportation.
The men whose votes are making
possible this overshadeWing monopoly
are in many instances the very men
whose eloquent denunciations rend the
air as they attack Standard Oil or
any other trust whose STRENGTH
happens to bulk large in the public
eye at the moment. OF course they
do not realize the precise effect of
the course to which they lend them
selves. Even the men who are laying
the ground work for the great
monopoly Of the future, in many
cases as, an incident to other business
activities, are to a degree unconscious
Of its possibilities. But somewhere
Withia the length and breadth Of the
land the John D. Rockefeller of this
future combination is counting his
toes or mastering the intricacies of
GAIT spells cat. The combination
itself is inevitable unless the Ameri-
can people change the policy which
they have followed in the past with
reference to their common posses
sions.
70 my mind the study of such a
putative trust is more interesting
than the ~anatomizing of those that
are fully developed and firmly estab-
lished. 1t certainly is more profit
dblS. Will II trust Lhdt lids bei =
entered the formative stage it is pos
sibfe to consider means and methods
OF regulation and control which may
be appAd for the protection OF the
people without wronging stockholders
or other investors. To many persons,
no doubt, the prediction of any such
widely powerful monopoly as that
which has been suggested will seem
Wild and baseless, but a very cursory
examination Of the ~ already
. ~ N a in rhiS 1irnctinn will cause them
10 change their minds.
The two primary factors in our in
dustrial existence arc land and powers
land to produce food, and materials
for clothing and shelter, and to yield
up useful metals and minerals; power
TO work up the raw products of the
land into various forms for the con-
venient use of mankind. Transporta-
ton is sometimes included as a third
clement of equal Importance, but
q transportation depends upon
power artificially produced and con-
sequently is subordinate to it.
There is no prospect Of a monopoly
of land in America. Both the laws
and the social organization
It. But how about the other main
factor in modern industry? How
about the control of the sources OF
power. it's production and distribu-
ton? Is there any likelihood of a
fuutre power monopoly which, by Vir-
tue OF It's OVcflldSLcIlHS pOSiIioL, wiz
be able to dwarf all other monop-
Olies? Eet us see.
At the present time, as nearly as
statistics of the subject can tell us.
about thirty million horsepower is in
use in the United States. OF this
amount seven-eighths, or about
twenty-six million horsepower, is the
product Of steam englnes-ln otnel
words, is derived from coal. or the
remainder three million horsepower
is developed by water motors and
somew nat less than One million by gas
and Gil engines.
There is nothing very startling III
this showing. Coal, supplying the
Energy to drive steam engines OF