The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1920-01-30
NOTABLE SPEECH BY
WAL TER THOS. MILLS
Delivered at Princess Theatre
in Everett, January II

lis possible for one man to rob an
other, get caught doing it and Keep
right on doing it after he is caught
THAT is through the operation or an
unfair price. If I were to take $40
out of your pocket tonight ana get
caught. that would send me to the
penitentiary. If ! should get control
Of something you have to sell ana
lpush down the price when you sell
then get control of something you
have to buy and push up the price
when you buy, and get SO that way,
| it would have exactly the same Ell
feet on your poCketbOOk II would
have exactly the same effect on you
and on me, but I wouldn't be
thief. / would be a successful bust
ness man. That would be all.
Only Five Private MOnopoiies
The only way that one man can
rob another and get caught and go
on is through an unfair price. the
only way a man can establish an un-
| fair price, have everyone know 1t
is unfair, have part Of the people
complaining about it, and part of
Them swearing about it, and every
lone paying it, is through the opera
Ition of n private monopoly OF some
sort. Where there is no monopoly,
Iif anyone attempts to fix his price
much above the price Of production,
someone else will sell for less and
bring the price down. If he fixes
| his price below the cost of produc
ton, he will go broke and not have
Ianything so sell, and he won't af-
! feet the market When monopoly
arises, all go out but one, so one
man or group of men control the
| thing you must have in order to live.
| Then they can fix the price without
any regard to the cost of production,
and they can fix you every time
they fix the price. They can push it
| up without any regard to the cost OF
production, and as they control the
market, and there is no one else to
get it from except them and you
must have it. then they have you
Cornered and you must pay the price
| they have or go without. That is
the power of private monopoly.
! The only power on earth that can
| push up the cost of living without
| bringing up the price of labor is
| private monopoly applied to the
prices when YOU buy and when you
sell. There are only a few private
monopolies. | read in magazine
a little while ago that there were
| 740 great American monOpolies,
There are only five possible Every
monopoly that exists is either one
| or the other or all of these five
Every monopoly that exists is either
a monopoly in the natural resources,
or in transportation, or in manufaC-
ture and storage, or in the final
markets or in finance. One or the
.other of those five. Can anyone
think of another? Name it if you
can. 7 would like to have you do it,
It will help.
(Eror1 10 onI{ancaN. Com t,1l,1,i
lCation.
Mr.. Mills: Communication, that
lis transportation.
| Every monopoly that exists, that
robs and wrongs, every monopoly
: that is responsible for pushing up
the high cost of living and making
the price higher and higher without
regard to the cost Of production, ev-
cry step in that infamous game, is
made possible by one or more or all
of this single handful of monopolies.
There isn't a question in municipal
misrule that doesn't involve that
handful of monopOlies. There isn't
a misgoverned city on the face Of
this earth where the basis Of it's
misgovernment is not found in the
presence and the corrupting power
of one or more of this handful of
monopolies.
We are talking of political action
in this State of ours, some discussion
lof what the platform will he You
can't write such a platform without
dealing with this handful of monop-
Iolies. You can't avoid any of them
without failing TO cover part of the
ground, and If you cover more You
are covering unnecessary ground.
The Democratic party is trying
to find out what IT will do in the
next campaign. There are about as
many candidates for the presidency
as there are different states. They
have been meeting and discussing
what the fight shall be about, and
most of the suggestions avoid this
handful Of monopolies. Some Of
them say they are going to stand
for outright Americanism. Which
kind of Americanism, the kind that
are the beneficiaries of this handful
of mOnopolies or the Americanism
that is the victim of this handful Of
lmonopolies? You can't write a plat
form upon which self-respecting
citizen can stand-that can't be
done unless you deal with this hand
full of monopolies. Every national
issue that can be possibly raised in
wolves that handful Of monopolies.
Whatever political party avoids
those five matters is attempting to
secure public office under false pre-
lenses. There are no international
problems that are not tied up with
one or more or all of that handful
of monopOlies. President Wilson,
speaking in the great address given
at Clumbus the last address given
by the President. which has been
printed in fun and distributed in
pamphlet form-after discussing the
League of Nations and the world
war-said that there were some
things that he learned after he went
to Paris that he never knew before
and that he found 1t necessary to re-
adjust himself to this new informa-
ton that came to him in Paris. In
another part of his address he said
this last war was not a political war,
IL was an industrial war, II was
commercial war, il was war for
markets, II was not a political war.
l have been quoting President VIII
son all the time in that statement
This last war and every war that
has happened for a hundred years
and the wars concerning which
preparations are being made in ev-
cry country on earth today, are all
of them wars that are linked up
with. grow out of, and are made
unavoidable by the presence and
the crime and the wrong of that
single handful of monopolies.
The group of men that will solve
/ a. Fnl - Ill