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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1902)
DECEMBER 4, 1902. -THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT. -3 TKE TRUST PROBLEM Ob Rmedy Discussed by thm OatUok We hold it to be a self-evident truth that a private monopoly, not subject to governmental regulation, which controls any article of public necessity, comfort, or convenience, is inconsistent with free institutions. It is so because a private organization, free from gov ernment regulation, which controls what is necessary to the public wel fare, in so far controls the public. If private monopoly is allowed to assume control of the food, the fuel, the lights, the coin, and thetransportation of the community, it controls the life of the members of that community, because it controls what is necessary to their life. When such a condition arises, there are three courses open to the public: it may destroy the monopoly and re establish competition; it may bring the private enterprise under govern mental administration and for the ben efit of the public. These are not in consistent remedies; they are concur rent The first remedy may be adopt ed in one case, the second in another -3e, the third in still another. But these three, or combinations of these thre3, exhaust all possible remedies. To point out objections to either one or all of these remedies is not conclu sive. It is necessary to consider whether the remedy is worse than the disease. There are two ways of applying the first of these remedies: legislation may prohibit combinations in restraint of trade; or legislation may leave the combinations untouched and promote a competition which will prevent the combination from becoming or re maining a monopoly. It is evident that the last is the most conservative of all the methods by which monopoly may be prevented. It interferes with individual liberty less than prohib itory legislation; it assumes less pow er on the part of the government than legislation regulating the monopoly;" and it involves no such enlargement of the powers of government as is as sumed i.i governmental administration of monopoly. This method of promot ing competition is the one - recom mended by President Roosevelt in-urg ing legislation forbidding stock-water ing and requiring publicity. Legisla tion prohibiting stock-watering would remove one of the chief temptations to the imposition of unjust and in equitable prices upon the public publicity" would incite competition with the existing enterprises by new organ izatlons formed in order to share the profits whenever they became exces sive. . Pays Attorney General Knox in his notable addrpss at Pittsburg on Octo ber 14: "When a property worth a million dollars upon all the sober tests of value, is capitalized at five millions and sold to the public, it if? natural to assume that its purchasers will ex ert every effort to keep its earnings up to the basis of their capitalization. When the inevitable depression comes, wages must be reduced, prices en hanced, or dividends foregone." The recent coal strike has at once illus trated and emphasized this statement The Reading Railroad company has issued stocks and bonds to an amount very considerably in excess of the real value of its properties. It is capital ,ized at the rate of $240,000 a mile; about $100,000 a mile would appear to be a fair estimate of the cost of its construction. These stocks and bonds are in many cases in the hands of in nocent purchasers, who bought them supposing that they represented a real value. They naturally expect divi dends on their investment, and natur ally desire as large dividends as they can get Mr. Baer is elected president of the road for the purpose of earn ing and paying these dividends. But if he is to pay dividends on property which has no existence, it is evident that he must get the money out of some one. He can get it out of the public by charging more for the coal than would be enough to give fair compensation to all the workers and a fair rate of interest on the capital act ually invested in and represented by the property; or he can get it out of the wage-earners by paying in salaries and wages less than the work would be worth if the public paid a fair price for the coal and the company had to pav dividends only on the capital act ually invested in and represented by the propertv. We here find no fault with Mr. Baer.' We assume that he had no share in the operations by which an overvaluation was put upon the railroad and coal properties which he Is managing. The fault is with the public which allowed such an over valuation and is now suffering for its folly. But it is perfectly evident that some one must pay for that overval uationthe present owner In dimin ished dividends, the mine workers in lessened wages, or the general public in enhanced, prices, u the properties ot the coal companies and the coal- carrying companies were represented at their actual value by the stocks and bonds which supposedly represent that property, the price of coal could be sensibly reduced, the wages or tne miners sensibly increased, and ade quate dividends could be paid to the owners of mines and the railroads. The first proposition of the president Is to nrohibit all future overvaluation of the properties of corporations. In or der that this temptation to tne owners of such properties to reduce wages and enhance prices may be taken away. This counsel is an application oi air. Gladstone's maxim that the object of law should be to make vice difficult and virtue easy. Laws which permit overvaluation of corporate properties make vice almost necessary ana vir tue almost impossible. A lair prohibiting overvaluation would remove one chief temptation to overcharges and underpayments; a law requiring publicity would create an incentive to fair paymems aim hlA charces because publicity would enable, the public to know what profits in any field any corporation or combination was making; and. If It inns ay Missive Drofits. other capital would be by that fact invited in to occupy the neia ana snare tue profits. The working of this principle is admirably stated by Professor John Bates Clark in his interesting and valuable little monograph entitled "The Control of Trusts," from wnicn we quote a paragraph: "When nrices are unduly high, ow- tn the- ernsnine policy of some trust, what happens? New competi tion usually appears in the neia. cap ital is seeking outlets, but it has be tn find them. Readily, and sometimes almost recklessly, does it build new mills and begins to com noto with trusts, when these consoli dated companies do not know enough to proceed on a conservative plan. Let any combination or proaucers iioc the prices beyond a certain limit, and it will encounter this difficulty. The new mills that will spring into ex istence will break down prices; and the fear of these new mills, without their actual coming, is often enough to keep prices from rising to an extor tionate height The mill that has never been built is already a power in the market; for if it surely will be built under certain conditions, the ef fect of this certainty is to keep prices down." The fact that there are men and lrmrnals which object to the embodi ment of these simple principles in leg islation and their application ana en forcement over .corporate enterprises annears to us to furnish a strong rea son why the public should press for their recognition. It is difficult for us 1 see how any man can object to a law prohibiting overvaluations of property which has no existence; if he does, he wants to get them either out of the wages of the workers or out of the pockets of the consumers without giving any recompense there for. We can see more reason for the objection to publicity reason why a cornoration should be unwilling tha all the secrets of its organization should be made known to its rivals in business. Nevertheless, the exam ination bv public examiners of our na tional banks has not interfered with their business. On the contrary, by increasing public confidence in the banks it has promoted their business. The evils, if there were any, of a sim ilar examination and publication of the pertinent facts concerning any great corporation would be very slight, the advantages very great. The cor ruption of public officials without ex posure would be made more difficult; dishonest rebates and other forms of favoritism by carrying companies would be checked if not absolutely prevented; excessive charges to the public and unjustly inadequate wages to workers in order to pay excessive profits to property owners would be discouraged. The few might not get rich so fast, but the many would be better served. Nor is it possible whol ly to avoid the suspicion that the ob jection to publicity may have Its rea son partly in the fact that there are corporate acts now not uncommon, but known only to the few, except as occasional accident brings them out, which those who are engaged in them are unwilling, should be known to the public. It is certainly true that "any one that doeth evil hateth the light," and it is not strange, therefore, that he that hateth the light should find himself subjected to the suspicion of doing evil. How the law can prevent overvalua tion and compel publicity, whether such law can be passed by congress or only by the states, or as regards some corporations by congress and as re gards others by the states, are ques tions that we shall -consider hereafter. That In some way these , two. ends should be secured appears to us almost self-evident, and our statesmen and lrwmakera, without regard to party, Suould regard it as almost their first duty to study how to accomplish this result The Outlook, New York. New England Populism. Holyoke is about to enter upon one of the most important enterprises that ha3 ever come to any Massachus etts city. It will soon assume the complete ownership, control and op eration of the gas and electric lighting plants in the city, and the progress of the experiment will be watched with keen interest all over the coun try. With the principle upon which this experiment is to be entered upon the Gazette has long been in full ac cord, based largely upon the remark able success which has attended the ownership and control of the water works in Northampton. Here the pub lic control of this great public utility has been kept free from partisan in fluence, and it has been run on strict ly business principles, with the same economy and efficiency as would at tend any private enterprise of equal magnitude. If the Holyoke experi ment shall be managed on the same lines, and kept out of politics, it will be likely to prove successful as a business undertaking, but if it be made a political football, to be kicked about, squeezed and bled by the ward heelers, then woe to the city, for it will curse the day that it ever thought of city ownership and control. The city paid $706,543 for the two plants, the amount being fixed by a commission. The ccmpany wanted $850,000, and the city at first expected to pay not more than $300,000. There are 43 men employed at the two plants. It is most fortun ate that the city enters upon this great undertaking under the manage ment of so able and conservative an administration as that of Mayor Cha pin. Northampton Gazette. THE VALUE OP CHARCOAL. .A- . - The Independent has often said that the judges would soon be issuing in junctions to the other .two depart ments of government, the legislative and executive. Out in Colorado a suit has been brought to enjoin the gov ernor from issuing a proclamation re quired by law concerning the adoption of a certain amendment to the con stitution. As the Judges seem bent upon usurping all the functions of government, no doubt this judge will issue his mandatory orders to the gov ernor of Colorado, and then we shall see what will happen. The people of the United States have millions for tribute to the trusts, which they hand over every time they buy anything, but not a cent for de fense against these extortions. That spells d-e-g-e-n-e-r-a-c-y. Paw People Knew Mow Useful It Is In Preeerv- ' Ing Health and Beauty Nearly everybody knows that char coal is the safest and most efficient disinfectant and purUer in nature, but few realize, the value when taken Into the human system for the same cleansing purpose. . Charcoal is a remedy that the mora you take of it the better; it is not a drug at all, but simply absorbs the gases and impurities always present in the stomach and intestines and car ries them out of the system. Charcoal sweetens the breath after smoking, drinking or after eating on ions and after odorous vegetables. Charcoal effectually clears and Im proves the complexion, it whitens the teeth and further acts as a natural and eminently safe cathartic It absorbs the injurious gases which collect in the stomach and bowels; it disinfects the mou-th and throat from the poison of catarrh. All druggists sell charcoal in. one form or another, but probably the best charcoal and the most for the money is in Stuart's Absorbent Loz enges; they are composed of the finest powdered willow charcoal, and other harmless antiseptics in tablet form or rather in the form of large, pleasant tasting lozenges, the charcoal being mixed with honey. The daily use of these lozenges will soon tell in a much improved condi tion of the general health, better com plexion, sweeter breath and purer blood, and the beauty of It is, that no possible harm can result from their continued use, but on the contrary, great benefit A Buffalo physician in speaking of the benefits of charcoal, says: "I ad visi Stuart's , Absorbent Lozenges to all patients suffering from gas in the stomach and bowels, and to clear the complexion and purify the breath, mouth and throat; I also believe the liver is greatly benefitted by the daily use of them; they cost but twenty five cents a box at drug stores, and al though in some sense a patent prepar ation, yet I believe I get more and better charcoal in Stuart's Absorbent Lozenges than in any of the ordinary charcoal tablets." NOTICE. -There will bn a meeting' of the member of the FARMER; MUTUAL INSURANCE COM PANY of Nebraska in Lancaster County for the purpose of electing delegates to represent them at the annual meeting of the members of the FARMERS . MUTUAL INSURANCE COM. PAN Y, annual meeting to be held In Lincoln, Nebraska, Wednesday, Jnnnarr 2Nt 1903. Our county meeting will be held in Lincoln, (Lancaster County) Nebraska at the company's oiiice 1 N l:lth St. December Uth at 10 o'clock a. m All members ot the company are urgently requested to be present to rote for delegates to the anuual meeting. . JOHN T. DORGAN, W.E.STRAUB. I bUHS r T 1JI La 3 A Piano by Mail. We have developed an enor mous, business in piano selling through correspondence alone, and orders received in this way receive our most particular care and attention. If you need a piano or are WVV to us. We shall gladly fur- nish catalogues and all information desired. Our pianos are the best in the world if they were not we would not handle them. But you need not take our word for it. We send our pianos subject to your approval. We quote you the lowest prices and easiest terms; select carefully and honestly for you, and when the piano arrives you give it a thorough test. If not satisfactory, return it to us and we pay freight both ways. Write for further information. i Cisrfj.cs 207 South nth St., Lincoln, Neb. Co.