The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-12-21


efficiency in work would become the standard of value
Equal Price Law and Money Power
The Money Power is the paddock to the door
1hat bars equal opportunity from the world. Socialism
instead of being the key to the lock might be but
change OF regarding its ownership-special prvt
1ege of the rather than special privilege OF the
1ew--and inefficiency still might be able to at
efficiency ensavcd because deprived OF the equal OPP
Dortuny which build the structure OF natural
privilege. Those who believe in natural privilege. how
ever not concerned today with socialism. The
Money Power is in the saddle and 1t is the power that
snust be reckoned with
Government dissolves the Northern Securities
oany-who is that controls the various railroad COM
panies that formed that corporation? Tho Money
Power.
The tobacco trust and the Standard OIL monopoly
ordered the dissolve and return
60 competitive methods OF doing business-who is it
that controls the Of these
and prevents competition between tho units just dis
nembered? The Money Power.
Suit has just been brought to force the dissolution
q the United States Steel corporation-who is it that
will in any control the policy of the disgoged
units and prevent competition between them? The
Money Power.
President Taft is quoted saying. 1T is either
dissolution OF the and return free competition
it's socialism," And Mr.. Morgan. chief executive Of
the Money Power replies you can't unscramble eggs"
Mr.. Morgan is right. Under existing conditions the
Money Power effectively prevents return kind
Of competition The large portion OF scrambled
be divided into dozen smaller portions but
still they are the Money Powers scrambled eggs.
President Taft is right. It's either free competition
it's socialism. The few are becoming weaker they
become fewer in their control and ownership Of industry
and the socialists rapidly becoming they
OF converts who feel that socialism is
tho only way O economic oppression many.
President Taft is wrong however. in his assumption
Chat the competition to which he would have industry
turn is free 1t is not 1t is the competition of special
privilege The competition of the of the larger
chaser which logically and inevitably has ended in
nonopolization practically every line
ing industry by the largest purchaser in each particular
line And this largest purchaser 1t turns out in
is Mr. Morgan and the Money Power their chief
weapons being control OF credit and OF the largest
amount Of ready cash. Mr. Morgan, however is too
Of his position when he says cannot be
Dled and implies that present conditions be
changed. He and the Money Power be prevented
from scrambling industrial and those he
has already scrambled be made to scramble for
<her industrial lives through the workings efficiency
competition based on the equal price law.
The Money Power today is the fountain head OF
aopoy in the United States 1t represents the monopo-
ly OF money itself and rs such Yields monopozing
Influence all industry Logically. therefore,
bring about efficiency competition the first place to
apply the equal price law is to the Money Power De-
its OF the larger purchaser and it becomes
che servant and not the master of industry.
The first resource of the Money Power from which
special privilege should be eliminated is
the great primary natural resources Unless this
accomplished the Money Power would be able mako
Sxorbtaut profits under any fundamental economic
~ long as 1t could charge as high price it wanted
70 for the primary materials controlled by
control Is maintained in three ways These First,
outright ownership OF more than majority OF tho
total output Of natural resource case of the
from deposits: second absolute control of the pri
mary market for natural resource, in the
Of petroleum by the oil trust and farm animal pro-
ducts by the meat trust and third through of
money and credit and the influence unjust power
TO curb the freedom Of action Of independent
OF natural resources. This latter case however,
important that it will be dealt with separately The
first two methods OF control will be considered here
The method to use to prevent unusfable Of
the power Of ownership Of the majority part Of any
natural Is to give government the power to
establish maximum price at which any monopoized
or semi-monopolzed natural
principle such a law exists already in governments
control over railroad rates. This maximum price
should extend without variation throughout the
daries Of the nation. Monopoly profits would thus be
limited but the profits cbtainable by the Of efficient
nanagement would not Directed labor would be pro-
tected through its minimum and its bonus would
be determined through the workings of efficiency
petition in all the crafts.
In preventing control Of primary markets the root
q that control will have to be found and wiped
IN Of the oil trust 1t lies in control OF the oil
storage system its exclusive distributing system. tho
pipe lines ownership of railroad tank monopolzed
reneries having crush competition by bid
ding up price of tho crude and reducing the
selling price Of the finished product in the
district where competition is raising its head
Dissolve the trust by compelling the oil storage system
end the pipe lines to be turned to separate
corporations which must deal with all refneres the
equal price basis refuse allow other than the rail-