The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-07-05
MAIL ORDER HOUSES
ARE TRUSTS
Monopoly COUGHING Under the
Cloak of Economy.

6'S ASi SAaSlSuCSi NCuh anu SAhsAuoS
ed from the relentless pace to which
he is driven mankind lives in ignor-
ance and disregard Of the steadily
growing strength Of monopoly, cal
lous to all the warning of its danger,
until he is awakened by some SUI
preme imposition to find that he Is
held almost entirely in the bonds Of
slavery. But with all it's endeavors
and cunniI :, monopoly has never yet
been able to conquer, for mankind,
when aroused and united, fighting in
the cause of right as against wrong,
has proven to possess force uncon-
querable and irresistible.
We know monopoly continues to
agrees us, and we are told that its
ways are and that we are fighting
intelligently against its success,
though in spite of all our efforts it
seems ever to be increasing with
irresistible force.
Trust after trust has been attacked
and engaged in battle by govern
ments of the states and nation, and
the din of conflict may now be heard
on every side. BY timely effort we
believe we may be able to keep it
under some reasonable control but
how futile our efforts have been and
how ridiculous our security seems
when we are told that here Is one
trust or monopoly more powerful and
threatening than any other that has
ever existed, and about which few
of us have any knowledge, and re-
garding which still less considera-
tion has been given. This monopoly
crouching under the cloak of econo-
my and fugality strikes at the very
heart of our national life, and uses
as its means for the accomplishment
Of our destruction the very citizens
who will be the most to suffer.
Equitable Distribution.
Sound economical conditions which
produce prosperity and happiness de-
mand a Just distribution of the pro-
ducts of labor and of the earth. The
more equally and generally are these
products distributed, the more uni
versal is prosperity Nand happiness.
Those, therefore, to whom the bur-
den of this distribution is given are
the ones who should be held strictly
accountable just in proportion to the
amount with which he becomes In
trusted to distribute. Whoever ac-
quires worldly goods and is able to
spend or distribute them should have
some concern for the welfare of his
fellow men. He owes it as duty to
mankind to himself and to his pos
terity to spend 1t SO intelligently as
to do the most good.
Does a man who reaps from the
soil of the locality or receives the
benefits from the labor Of the COM
munity in which he lives act faithful
ly to his neighbors or to himself, or
to his children, when he sends the
products of that industry to some
monopolistic concern In far distant
place to trade for goods which he
could secure in his own town? Does
ne not, by diverting the profits Of
that trade to another source, rob
those of his own locality Of their
rightful share of worldly goods, and
help TO increase the plentiful hoard
already accumulated in the lap of
monopoly? Has he not, as custodi-
an of funds intrusted to his care,
proven disloyal and unworthy Of his
trust? 1t may never have occurred
to him that this is wrong; 1t may
not even be considered crime in the
eyes of the law, but this dropping of
Caesars Is moral crime in the eyes
of right and justice, as brazen and
diabolical as Is murder in the eyes
of the common law.
Home trade is the blessing of civ
ilization and the salvation of man
kind from the claws of monopoly.
You may be working man, who lab
ors all the day or as a superintendent
or subordinate in some factory, shop
or undertaking, and you return home
at night bodily exhausted; you may
be clerk or manager, who is con-
fined in your employment to the in
doors of your establishment and
leave 1t mentally fatigued at the end
of the day; or perhaps you are en-
gagged in your own business and find
you must keep busy every minute
and plan and worry to keep going; or
maybe you are farmer, toiling in
the fields directing or assisting 9th
ers from early dawn to sunset; who
ever you are, or wherever you may
be. II you are engaged in any occu-
patton, your nature must be affected
by your surroundings. You are eth
er better or worse man; you are
either happy or disconsolate. hope
ful or discouraged according TO the
environment in which you live. You
have your home. and that you en-
deavor to maintain and improve.
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