Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1910-06-11
"TOILER" HAS A REMEDY
FOR THE LOCAL SITUATION
Editor The Press.

Editor he Press.
Dear Sir:-In the last issue of The
Press ! saw the following expression
Competition is the life of trade and
the saving grace of the people"
Let us examine this statement in prac-
tice.
As tile people of Pleasantville have
been hard hit by the raise of 100 per
cent. in car fare to and from Atlantic
City, they should be interested enough
to carefully consider whether the above
statement is true, as it affects them in
dvidually and collectively.
Let us first consider it as a stockhold-
er in the surviving company. If it is
true that the Suburban Company was
not making any money hauling passen-
gers at five cents, why didn't they charge
more before the advent of the Shore
Fast Line?
If the Suburban did pay dividends
charging five cents, was it not to the
interest of the surviving company to
buy the other company out in order to
double their dividends?
There seems to be more life money
in trade for the owners to eliminate com
petition.
No doubt the owners Of the company
are still in favor of competition be-
tween the users for chance to stand in
the cars, even if they do pay ten cents
for the privilege.
Users of public utilities should be the
owners thereof.
Whenever people discover they can
make more money by combining than
competing they choose the former course
if they have the power to do so.
DO you think the men who were driven
ont of business through the competition
of the Standard Oil Company still think
it's the life of trade?
Do you think the small business men
who have been driven out Of business
through the competition of the Trusts.
still think competition is the life of
trade?
Do You think the owners of the old
turnpike" still believe competition is
the life of trade, since the publicly OWL
ed boulevard" has been built?
Close by there are two churches who
seem to be in competition for members.
with the stronger church winning from
the weaker one. Do you see much life
ntrade for the weaker one in such com
petition?
Competition is waste Witness the
two trolley lines to Atlantic City, on
which the people must pay profit and
interest on capital invested: where one.
rightly run, would be enough
Private ownership of public utilities
always results in private monopoly. The
people must now choose between private
monopoly, run for the profits of a few,
and public monopoly, run for the use of
all
No wonder President Taft says: so
cialism, (the public ownership and
democratic management of the means Of
production and Distribution is the ma
tion's greatest problem" And ''The iu-
stitution of private property is at stake" +"
lin public utilities)
If the people own collectively the
things they use collectively, and reduce
the cost to each individual, each one then
has more to use for private property
privately used. In this way the major
ity could begin to stake some private
property for themselves.
DO you think you could buy postage
stamps (service included) at two cents
each if the wastes of competition We're
added in the cost of their production
and distribution?
Why not have the people widen the
Boulevard and run cars thereon owned
by the pcopley AS owners of trolley
system they could have comethng to say
about the fare they should pay. How
do you expect to cure it, brother?
TOILER.