The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-06

the wages of the men who manufac-
ture it to the lowest point. It sells its
watered stock to the people, takes ev-
eryth1ng out. Of the tobacco business
from start to finish except just
enough to keep the farmer growing
it and to get the laborer 20 make it
and to pay such salaries as Is neccs-
sary to secure proper care of the bus
iness.
There Is no parallel whatever to
the railroads or telephone or other
public service corporations to an in
dustrial corporation like the tobac-
CO business. The country must regu.
late railroads, telegraph and tele-
phone, water and gas com panies be-
cause they are in their very essence
non-competitive, free from the rule
that governs manufacturing plants.
but the tobacco business and the oil
business and the general industrial
business of the country can be said
in no sense to be akin to public cor
porations and the Suns analogy is
therefore entirely beside the question.
What is the remedy for the trust
evil? h people through the Anti
Sherman law say that the trusts are
guilty Of violating the law and tn e
men guilty of it must be imprisoned,
the corporation fined and the trust
dissolved. The Supreme Court up
holds this law, af11rms the decision
that the tobacco trust is an illegal
combination in restraint Of trade, is
guilty of intimidation but writes into
the law something never contemplate
ed by giving the trust six to eight
months to bring it's business into con-
fCcmity with the law. But it not only
pany to bring its business into
conformity to the law and stop intim-
idation and other illegal practices but
it requires several durnmy corpora
tons, subsidiary corporations of the
American Obacc Company, like the
United Cigar Stands Company, also tC
| stop their violation of the law and to
come into harmony with the law and
stop the m~onopolies they have beer
maintaining.
The Sun says that the remedy fOl
the "so-called trust eviI'-(observe
that the Sun calls it a ''so-calle6
evil even after the Supreme Court
has called it a crime) is "in proper
government regulation" The people
would be very glad if the Sun woulo
be a little more particular and tell Us
what it mea by proper govern
ment regulation" The Socialists say
that the only thing to do is for the
government to appraise the trus
property and take it owe and for thu
government itself to manufacture ant
sell tobacco. This is done in France
and in other countries and the sale
and manufacture of a gives {
large income to the government. Doe:
the Sun wish to d. this? We take !
that this is not it's purpose, but that
favors 'governmen regulation VIVA
is proper government regulation!
Would it have a Bureau Of Manufac.
lures to fix the scale OF wages to tn
employees Of the trust? Would it a
the government say how much tn
trust should pay for each pound O
tobacco purchased from the farmer
Would it have the government fix tn
selling price?
In the first part Of the article tn
Sun seems to think the tobacco trus
is on the same plane as the railroads
We all know that the government cal
regulate the freight and passenge1
rates. Does the Sun want the govern
ment to regulate the price Of the four
ounce packages Of obacco and tn
price OF cigarettes? How would tn
Government do this? The government
saws that the Legislatures can reduce