Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

' A GREAT PROBLEM. MOST STUPENDOUS REVOLUTION IN INDUSTRIAL GROWTH. A Culm View of tlio Trout—Prlnelplea ami Moral* Ignored Soring* tlic People lo Not Cet—Thliin* to He Determined. The following dispassionate yet force fa! treatment of the subject of trusts appeared as the leading editorial in a recent issue of the New York Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, the oldest journal of its class in the country and the recognized organ of the business interests, particularly whole sale and jobbing, of New York From advance sheets of The Com mercial Year Book, shortly to be issued from this oiiice. we are able to present a summary of approximately complete statistics of the trust organizations in the United States. We here use the term “trust” in its broadest popular sense, as covering not only consolidated corporations, framed for directly mo nopolistic purposes, but also alliances of independent organizations acting under a common understanding for the pur pose of less directly regulating or de feating natural competition, the latter being but a small proportion of the v/hole At the end of last month these combinations numbered Br>3, with the following aggregations of capital stock and bonded debt, compared with a year previous 1899 1898 ! ■Number of organiza lions 853 an Common stock $4,247,918,981 $2,889,757,119 Preferred 5t0ck....... 870,575,200 303,704,053 Total stock $5,118,494,181 $3,283,521,452 Pointed debt 714,388,001 378,750,091 Stock and bonds. $5,832,882,842 $3,002,241,548 The details included in these totals have in some cases been difficult of procurement, and in some instances es timates have had to be adopted We therefore cannot in aH cases claim pre cise accuracy, but from the care that has been exercised in the compilation we feel justified in claiming a close ap proximation to exactness in the totals above set forth It will bo seen that at the end of February these 853 combinations had issued a total of $5,118,500,000 of cap ital stock and $714,389,000 of bond ob ligations These figures show an in crease over those we published a year ago of 76 per cent in the number of institutions and CO per cent in the com bined stock and bonded debt, which in dicates the extraordinary rapidity with which the movement has spread within the last 12 months. What proportion of the entire manufactures of the United States has passed under this new form of organization may be inferred from the fact that the census of 1890 values the entire capital then employed in the manufacturing and mechanical indus tries at $6,525,000,000. which includes all the minor or retail work done by small, individual proprietors. This means that tlio total capitalization of these combinations is equal to about 90 per cent of the entire manufacturing investments of 1890 About the only important branch of industry that has escaped the trust invasion is that of textiles, and if wo eliminate that de partment from the total for 1890 the present capitalization of the monopo listic industries will bo found to about equal the valuation of the last census. Tbeso facts will indicate with approxi mate clearness how closely our indus trial system has approached to complete absorption under monopolist control. The process of transition has passed far beyond the stage of possible arrest; it is virtually a completed accomplishment, except in a few industries which have hitherto seemed unsusceptible of con solidated management, but which may be drawn later into the maelstrom The change is the most stupendous revolution ever accomplished in the history of the world’s industrial growth, its suddenness is as remarkable as its magnitude It has come with none of the careful deliberation that usually at tends the investment of great aggrega tions of capital. It has been guided by no precedent experience It is no grad ual resnlt of a natural evolution It is an abrupt outburst of resistance to an unusually severe pressure of the natural regulatory force of competition It is a reversal of all that economists have ac cepted as fundamental axioms of trade, it is an uudeliberated revolt against the most essential force in the regula tion of production, distribution and values, the natnial law of competition. It amounts to a complete disruption of the relations between the industrial forces and classes of society It is an extinguishment of the voluntary ex changes between the producing and inert banting interests, and the creation of one exclusive producing organization for each industry, to which all other material interests must yield subjection, industry at large is organized into a system of feudalized corporations, each one of which enjoys absolute power within its special branch of production, while, taken in the mass, the system constitutes itself tho supremest trade power in the nation These innovations upon the fixed methods of industry, though fundamentally affecting the citizen's free access to the opportunities of industrialism, take little account of legalities, equally ignoring the law as “Pitts’ —- Carminative Mavmd Afjr B shy's Ufa.” ¥¥ LAMAR i. RANKIN DRUG CO.. I can not recommend Pitta’ Car minative too strongly. I must aay, I owe my baby’s life to It. I earnestly ask all mothers who have sickly or delicate children just to try one bottle and see what the result will be. Respectfully, ,Ins. LIZZIE MURRAY, Johnson 's Station, Ga. ¥¥ Pitts' Carminative /a a old by a// Ofa<jp/ass. FRIGE, U’B CEfiTS. it stand and as it may possibly be changed to meet the case This head long precipitancy has pursued its pur pose almost without forethought; cer tainly with slight consideration for trade moralities or fur the weightiest of human liberties and with little re gard fur the perils to public order which the outworkings of the system are too liable to evoke. In advance of the event it would not have been deemed possible that the most important class among our trained and responsible capitalists could at one bound take such a daring leap into the dark The change is at best a stupen dous experiment The pressure of ex cessive competition which has made our industrialists willing to embark on this venture was undoubtedly trying and threatening, so much so that it need uot be considered surprising if those who were suffering most should be found willing to risk the alternative of an unpromising venture, and still more an experiment that presented at first sight some alluring attractions. But that the whole body of industrialists should simultanously forsake known and well proved methods for a revolu tionizing reconstruction can only be re garded as an unparalleled craze of ven ture among men who have always proved signally sane. Tho change, however, is now a fixed fact It places nearly our entire indus tiial system upon the monopolistic basis. That is a venture unparalleled in the history of material civilization, and not merely the manufacturing interest, but the still vaster interests thereon de pendent, can but await the outcome with an expectancy that must grow more intense as the trial progresses. Some things are claimed for the new conditions which many are disposed to concede Undoubtedly the great expan sion of machine production, for in stance, calls for the employment of much enlarged capitals. Bat it surely does uot follow that this principle may be logically or safely carried to the length of giving to each industry one sole organization ansl a single mam moth capital in preference to having several large competing capitals Equal ly it must he granted that the consoli dation of a number of competing capi tals into one concern should be attended with important economies in manage ment But it is not to be denied that such concentrations of management will be subject to countervailing offsets from the absence of the stimulus of competition; from the uncertainty about tho management falling iuto the best possible hands: from the discour agement to invention which always at tends monopoly, and from the possibil ity that the administration may be in timated to “friends” rather than ex perts And, above all, it cannot be as sumed that any savings from these economies will go to consumers rather than proprietors, when a very large proportion of the common stock repre sents not actual capital invested, but assumed earnings which will, naturally SOMETIMES when you have lame back and feel poorly, you stop working for the day. But all you do is take the rest and go right to work again when the symptoms quiet down. That is no way to head off a terrible disease that is fastening its grip upon you. Stop the first leak or you lose the ship. DcMMcbairs Liver&Kidnwßdm quickly cures those first irregu larities and thus repels Bright’s Disease, Diabetes, Rheumatism, Jaundice and Female Troubles. Druggists have it, SI.OO a bottle. THE DR.J.H.MCLEAN MEDICINE CO. ST. LOUIS, MO. For she by Co. HELLO! HELLO! What is it? sin GUANO m What kind? Cat as follows: SEA-BIRD 9 2-2 second to none gives universal satisfaction wherever used, COLUMBIA SOLUBLE 8 2-2 most costly and only first class goods sold in this state. FURMAN’S EXTRA HI OH GRADE 10-2-2 not only in name but reality, it needs no introduction, it speaks for itself. PLANTER’S SOLUBLE 8-2 2 a high grade that is used ex tensively, this brand we are making a3 a leader, money or cotteu prices lowest in town. SOLID SOUTH 8-2-2 runs high in Amonia and Potash, ju9t th guano for old lands, builds them up. BEEF BLOOD and BONE 9 2-1 has always given satisfaction, best Blood and Bone goods on the market. EDISTO SOLUBLE 9-2-1 always runs above Analysis, insures a good crop and we make the price to suit you. FURMAN’S SOLUBLE BONE with AMONIA and POTASH 10 I*l just .he Guano for fresh lands, a big bargain at the price. DURHAMS AMONIATED 9 2-1 this is the Durham Bull that runs our competitors in their holes. A good seller try it. Potash and Acid. Acids Cotton 4 per cent Potash ana’y- _ . _ .in ™ i Durham Double Bone Phosphate sis 8-4 goods just what you want, 13 to i5 per oen t. well pioportioned. V\ e Edisto Dissolved Bone 12 to 15 it-fast, see it and you Will buy it. pe r cent. We have all the above goods on hand and will make it to your interest to see us be= fore buying. Call at our office between Graham & Cos. and McElhannon. DUNN & LYLE. be demanded by the stockholders. Among the things to be determined by this experiment are the following: First. —Whether, with the vast con stant increase in the national capital, it will be found possible for the monop olies to long protect themselves against outside competition. Second.—What will be the recourse sought by the great and wealthy dis tributing class who will find themselves at the mercy of the trusts and whose services the latter will probably ulti mately seek to dispense with? Third.—Will this superseded class of middlemen employ their large means in resort to manufacturing in competi tion with the trusts? Fourth. —So with the producers of raw materials, who, so far as respects the home market, will have but one custom er, for whose single wants they will all be competitors, will they be disposed to join cause with the displaced oi dominated distributors in establishing competition against the monopolies? Fifth. —Can the trusts fulfill their promises of cheapness to consumers ana yet earn dividends upon their inflated stock issues? And, if not, what will be come of those promises? Sixth. —If the liberal working cap itals with which the trusts are now i prudently protecting themselves should | disappear in catering to speculative operations in their stocks and in satia ! tying the clamor of stockholders, what would he the disposition of the banks to extend loans to institutions consti tuted and exposed to new dangers as these are? Would the banks, in such case, become the backers of monopolies ? Seventh.—With the trusts pledged to low prices on the one hand and to divi dends ou watered stock on the other, what will be the position of labor under the new system ? If the trusts’ restraints upon production create a redundancy of labor, what will be the effect upon wages? Will the onus of monopoly in the long run fall upon the back of the workingman ? Eighth.—How will the monopolies protect themselves against competition from foreign factories where prices are not artificially regulated ? Do they ex pect to have the tariff raised to suit their convenience? If not, how can they escape the effects of external com I petition? Moreover, if a resentment in | public opinion should so shape politics as to bring about a reduction in the tariff, would not purpose of the monopolies be neutralized and their * imagined advantages be dissipated? Isiuth. —ls there any protabilitv that ultimate resentments among the dis tributing and raw material producing classes may induce them to encourage such a change in our tariff policy? Tenth. —As it is the professed pur pose of the monopolies to maintain prices on a full profit paying basis, what will become of the large increase in our export of manufactures which has arisen during recent years from selling our ever growing surplus to for eigners at the lowest possible prices? Eleventh. —Is a hard and fast combi nation to protect prices compatible with securing an expansion of our for eign markets commensurate with our capacity for production, with the in crease in our supply of labor and with the unprecedented gain iu the amount of capital seeking employment? Twelfth. —Are the American forces of capital and labor capable of being held in restraint for the convenience of these combinations? These are problems which the new system of industrialism has courageous ly propounded, and for a considerable period they must occupy the anxious att*ntion of the American people. We can only hope the popular temper will maiutain its equanimity through this prospective trying ordeal Do Yon Like Itf If you send a package by express to a friend, you pay 1 cent over and above the company’s charge for the war stamp —that is, the corporation acts as col lector of the war tax for the govern ment and the government furnishes the stamps and the corporation gets credit for paying the tax, and the pros pect is that with a deficit of $2(f0,000,- 000 a year you will continue paying the tax while the capitalists scramble for franchises and the government at Washington is debauched and forced to create a great army to put you down if you whimper. And that’s the kind of government some of you like. So does every enemy of the best interests of hu manity.—Social Democratic Herald. The Game Ir. the South. A big game is being played in the south. The cotton trust is gaining con trol of the ginning business by intro ducing the round bale system. The trust owns the patents, and when the square bale system is abolished it will have the planter by the throat as effec tually as northern and western farmers are being held up by the farmers’ im plement trust The round ginning ma chinery is in every way superior to the old square ginners and is not sold but leased bv the trust.—Cleveland Citizen bJiMb, The Greatest Remedy In the World For I Burns, Scalds, Spasmodic Croup, Eryspelas, Chilblains, ■ 111 l 11 ■!■ I M—l 111 ■■ ■! I■II l IIKI —miilli— Poison Oak ==and== Old Sores. If your Druggist or local Dealer d099 not keep it, send U 5 cents in P. 0. Stamps or silver for a bottle to MRS. W. H. BUSH, Winder, Ga. The World £ Almanac and Encyclopedia <£ for J 899 hi ■ AND Illustrated History of the Spanish- American War READY FOR SALE EVERYWHERE JANUARY Ist, 1899. Together with The Battle Calendar of the Republic. Compiled by EDGAR STANTON MACLAY Historian of the U. S. Navy, THE STANDARD AMERICAN ANNUAL. PRICE 25 CENTS. _ Postpaid to any address. . : THE WORLD, Pulitzer Building, 4 NEW YORK. The Safety=Valve Of Tem per. Mrs Dumpsey—‘‘For sham?, Willie ! You’ve been fighting again. Your clothes are torn aud vour face is scratched. Dear me, what a trial you are ! I wish you were a little girl—girls don’t fight.” Willie Dumpsey—‘Yes; but, ma. don’t you think it’s better to have a good, square fight and get all the^ mad out of you, than to carry it^ around, the way the girls do, for^ months?” ‘ l Nearly forty thousand men desert, from the German army everyj twelve months. Plattforc C U BAN OIL cures ■ IWWIVI vCuts, Burns, Bruises, Rheu matism and Sores. Price, 25 cents. G. W. DeLaPerriere, Winder, G a '