The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-02-28
Bust the Magazine Trust.

Bust the Magazine Trust.
Sioux City Journal: 1t was shock
ing to hear that our most virtuous
periodicals-the uplift magazines. of
course were fattening off subsidy
from the governments subsidy from
which they obstinately refuse 10 be
separated. 1t was disillusioning to fnl
them maintaining lobby in Washing
lis positively paralyzing to hear that
these same subsidized magazines are
maintaining a tight little trust for
the suppression of competition. This
amazing news comes in connection.
with an announcement that the de
partment of justice has been investi-
eating the magazine trust. with the
view of proceeding for its dissolution
under the Sherman law.
OF course. the magazine trust isn't
called trust. None of them are ey-
cept by their critics. The biggest of
all trusts is technically described as
a holding company" term which
sounds innocent enough The maya
zine trust is described as clearing
house 1t is made up of a number of
our most enlightened publishers.
whose columns are largely given
over to showing UP the other iniquit-
GUS trusts that prey upon the poor
ultimate consumer. The clearing
house deals with the circulation of
the periodicals represented in it.
One of the provisions of the trust
agreement signed by the publishers is
that no member shall cut the price of
his product to the trade without the
consent of his fellow members. This
isn't merely gentlemen's agreement,
mind YOU 1t is a signed contract The
effect of this contract is to destroy
competition among purveyors OF ele-
vating literature. and to make the
poor ultimate consumer pay higher
prices than could be exacted if COM
petition we're given free play.
Is conspiracy in restraint OF
tradeg Apparently it is. much more
boldly so than if the business of the
various magazines we're consolidated
under a single holding company. The
publishers continue to maintain indie
pendent organizations, but agree ne
ifariously among themselves that the in
dependent organizations shall not conf
pete with one another. This is reac-
tionary. 1t is going back to the old
days OF pools and combines, all Of
which were supposedly put out of
business by the Sherman law.
1t would seem that the department
of justice should have little difficulty
in dissolying the magazine combine.
Whether the public would be satisfied
with an injunction breaking up the
trust is a question that is entitled to
consideration. Most of the publishers
have been insisting that the country
needs an object lesson such as would
be afforded by the spectacle of a
bunch of trust magnates behind pris.
on bars. The public might consider it
peculiarly fitting that the magazine
trust magnates should themselves
supply this object lesson, as the Sc
quel to g criminal prosecution.
An unfortunate feature of the situa-
ton is that while the prosecution OF
the magazine trust is pending there
will be no busy publicity agencies
stirring up public sentiment against
the offenders and egging on the au-
thorities to new rigors of prosecution
1t would be unreasonable to expect
the magazines 10 muckrake them
selves. Therefore this important ad
junct 10 every trust prosecution may
have to be omitted However. Attor
Iney General Wickersham is deter
mined official, and President Taft Is
not without certain grim attributes In
the line of sticktoitiveness. Maybe
4 the magazine trust magnates viii get
what is coming TO them, simply be
cause 1t is coming to them, and not
because public sentiment has been
kindled to white heat OF indigna
1 ton.