Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-07-08
FACT AND GOSSIP
N MONEY MARTS
Country Is Less Under the Heel
Of Capital Than at Any
Previous Time.
Nv g. c. FORBES.

NEW YORK, July 6.ZLast lhufsods
u-ae nearer a real Independence Day
va, me United States has known for
no decades. And July 4 1913 should be
.,nl nesrer-if it isn't the fault will be
oun Is not the country throwing off
MS shackles? Are not the people-the
.I.in everyday workers and voters
n,sttng successful effort to come into
.heir own II is less true today than it
,,ss formerly that 1.-THE county is under
+,s heel Of capital" None knows this so
,en as capital And happily. the better
dement's are willing that it should be so,
IA greater extent than vet experienced.
the leaven Of democracy has spread TO
the more enlightened of our capitalists
ctrife- mongers will vehemently deny
this They will point TO glazing viola
ions Of the Golden Rule by certain pluto
rats They will direct attention to the
revelations made by recent Investigations.
Thev will triumphantly show that more
.tan one capitalistic group has sehemed
IN divide the country into zones, each zone
10 he exploited by one group. The daily
discoveries concerning the shipping pool $
sharn practices. the uncoverlng of IN
.crIpuous tactics by the old sugar trust,
me niouities Of the oil trust, the meTci-
less tactics of the tobacco trust-all these
and score Of other ccndemnatory de-
velopments will be enumerated to prove
that Big Business is as black as 1t can
possibly be painted.
That was in the past. Has there been
no reform since? The incurable pessi-
mist the hypochondriac. may reply.
"Oh yes Look how beatifc the oil
the Industry Look how il gracefully re-
hnquished its hold on the Waters Pierce
Comnany Look how prices Of oil have
declined And the poor. bounded tobacco
trust Look how it has suffered through
the savage attacks OF the government Its
securities have only gone up in value
score or more millions, just as the sub
salaries of The oil trust recently sold at
The highest quotation on record Then,
look how the coal trust has been sancti
fed When its employees were granted
a small increase in pay. did the coal
bsrons accept this as their share of the
general increased cost of existence Or
rid they seize upon the incident as an
excuse 10 give the screw fresh turn upon
the thumb Of the defenseless household
er-not the large corporate consumers
who might have transferred their custom
TO soft coal producers"
There would be as much truth as cyn-
cism In these charges. And yet-weH
We are marching toward Independence
toward independence not only of CAPT
tai hat seeks to be unjust. but Of in
triguing political bosses.
The action of the coal trust is to be
regretted by all who would strive for
more amicable relations between capital
and the people. There can be little cues
ZION that it was an abuse of monopoistic
power for no attempt was made to raise
me nrice Of that part of the output in
which no monopoly exists Is it not plain
therefore, that it was the monopolistic
power which made the indiscriminate pos
s'bls Every champion of fair dealing all
round every advocate of moderation on
me part Of entrenched power, every-wel
Of both capital and labor can but grieve
me establishment of harmonious feel
ing has been retarded by the short sighted
POLICY pursued. The sooner the govern
ment removes this source of rancor the
better alike for producers and consumers.
fer # The present statutes are impotent
- prohibit such highhanded conduct. the
ssiSation will he brought forward. And
IRE last state OF the Trust may be worse
than its first
No unpreiuuiced observer of the evolu-
non row going on politically. financially
ana ndustrially will claim that there has
osen nation wide regenera ton. But
something has been accomplished Regu-
alon 81 railroads is complete Regu-
suon OF Industrial combinations has not
= oeen made effective but will be be-
ioFe many sessions OF congress pass. The
po"er of Big Business over elections
as received body blow. The political
ss mas been torn from his pedestal in
i,3s. states The voice of the people is
ss'ehed to as never before And the will
We people IS destined to be made the
%% Of the land more often hereafter
'"ah u mas been heretofore
es We are steadily attaining gen
ne Independence Let it not be forgot
sh, however that eternal vigilance is the
g gCe 81 liberty. In throwing off the tyr
GUY OF capital care must be exercised
suata against creating a tyranny of la
ey., must strive to hold the balance