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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1899)
T THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT. Sept. 28, 1899. PINGREE ON TRUSTS. - ' " t HE CONDEMNS THEM A3 AN UNMITI y GATED EVIL Review of the Chtoaaro Trnsf Con ference and the Defenee Made by ? the Eloquent Attorney of the , TrustsFavors a Federal Law The Chicago trust conference was ;f great value because It separated the chaff from the wheat It did muciijta clarify the subject It was ot educa- ronal value. -' ' .. But Its principal benefit to my mind, .was the revelation it gave us of the position which the advocates of the trust or, rather, the trusts themselves, (would take. ( Even an ordinary observer could not fail to' notice that the managers of trusts and their agents, the ; newspa pers, had carefully planned their line of defense at the conference. ' f It was equally apparent that they recognized that the trust was on trial and that' all the arts of the pleader jwere necessary to save It from, convic tion and a verdict of capital punish ment , So It was that at the conference the trust was defended, and skillfully, too, (by corporation lawyers, professors, economists and theorists generally. On the other hand, the antitrust side was just as ably presented by "practical business men, farmers and leaders of labor interests. While there were many and thought ful papers presented, the public un doubtedly looked upon the addresses Df W. Bourke Cockran and William J. Bryan as the keynotes respectively of the Indictment and the defense of the .trust. ... v This is so not only 'because of the (fame of both men as public men and brators, but because they were given sufficient time to develop a complete Indictment' and defense. -These two orations were on entirely .'. different lines, although the two speakers agreed on many things. Their views were fundamentally opposed. I Mr. Cockran considered the trust a result of natural evolution of Indus (trial conditions and forces that could not be checked. Mr. Bryan regarded It as a result of conditions which man made and which man can change. Mr. Cockran placed the dollar above the man. That is. such Is the logical outcome of his reasoning and his po sition. Mr. Bryan placed the man above the dollar. The former Is the commercial view and therefore selfish and narrow. The latter is the bumani Itarian view. Mr. Cockran Is undoubtedly an ora tor. The trusts could hardly have chosen a more effective champion. He had his audience spellbound and charmed by the beauty of his diction. -None could have condemned bad cor porate management In more scathing terms than he did. He threw bou quets at the laboring men. This was . 'done with a purpose. It is evidently the plan of the trusts, first to make laboring men believe. that their own salvation Is the fostering of the trust and, second, to Intimidate them or modify their zeal, by claiming that la bor unions are. In fact trusts and that warfare on trusts is warfare on labor unions. I predict that labor will not be deceived. Mr. Cockran in his argument built a splendid structure. He divided trusts Into good and bad ones. He stated that abundant production fairly distributed made prosperity. He held that with good trusts there would be abundant production and fair distribution. There fore trusts brought about prosperity, He claimed that trusts could not con trol prices. He failed, however, to cite any Instance in which a trust had low ered prices any more than enough to preserve the monopoly. He Insisted that all the trouble came from restricted competition; that mo nopolies, If they produced the best article were beneficial and that mo nopoly was the very product of free competition. It should therefore be encouraged as long as It continued to give us the best products. Again the commercial view. Mr. Cockran's pollt!! economy may perhaps be unanswerable. The struc ture of his argument was unquestion ably well built, but It will all fall into shapeless ruins because its foundations are built on sand. He falls to take into account the frailties of man. Philosophy Is all right In itself, but it should be kept In the schoolroom. Man's weaknesses, his .pnssloo and his greed always upset its beautiful reasoning. ' Mau Is not al ways a reasoDing animal. I would transcribe to everything Mr. Cockran and the professors and other theorists said if man were an angel. But the trust is a. monstrous commercial de formity. It overthrows all the laws of political economy by the crushing force of Immense resources. It has no con- ' V science. There are no good trusts. i Human nature makes such a thing Impossible. The trust will not reduce prices until it is forced. It cannot be forced if It Is a monopoly. It will not raise wages until it Is compelled. It cannot be compelled If It Is the only employer. These statements may violate the laws of political economy to which Mr. Cockran aud the professors appeal, but human selfishnes and greed have a disagreeable habit of setting at naught all the beautiful rules and axioms of political economy. The complaint Is that the trust con centrates weulth. Not being a philan thropic Institution, it declines to dis tribute that wealth among the people. It destroys equality of opportunity. Mr. Bryan's answer to Mr. Cockran that It enthrones money and debases - nanklDd Is complete and sufficient. In " g with the trust therefore, let Us face real conditions. Let us not j gasarailM about some Industrial or- ganizatkjn that Is ideal namely, the good trust upon which all of Mr. Cock ran's argument was based. The evils of the trust are many. It raises prices arbitrarily. The quality of the product is poorer. It shuts up factories and throws employees out of work under the guise of economy. It drive the small manufacturer and merchant out of business. It compels the grower or producer of raw material the farmer to sell at its own arbi trary prices. It puts "watered" securi ties' on the market and prices 'go up aaid 'wages go down in order to pay in terest and dividends on excessive cap italization. It treats man as an Industrial slave and thus saps the strength of our de mocracy and citizenship. It corrupts politics, legislatures, municipal coun cils, public officers, the press and even the courts. The remedy Is what we are now seeking. The Chicago trust conference did much to bring us nearer to a rem edy. The newspapers, the monopolists of all knowledge and wisdom, have treat ed the conference and Its members with contempt and ridicule. They have referred with sarcasm to the gathering because the deliberations did not result in a remedy so perfect and complete that the whole country would rise up and receive it with gratitude and thanksgiving. Yet I hardly think they would expect a physician to diagnose and prescribe a remedy for a new and complicated disease upon his first visit to the patient I believe that the op ponents of the trust will be wise to bo prepared from the beginning to con tend with a hostile press. This 1b so for reasons which are obvious. You may recall the statements of the attor ney general of Ohio that he had In his desk copies of a large number of con tracts between the Standard Oil trust and Ohio newspapers for the control of their columns. The man of courage is the man who proposes the best remedy he can conceive. From all the contrlbu- tlons perhaps an effective remedy will be evolved. Many have already been suggested. I lean more strongly to the method of a federal law supplemented by state laws. I have absolutely no sympathy with those who say that the trust Is an in dustrial evolution and cannot there fore be suppressed or destroyed by law. It Is only the creature of man. The professors and corporation attorneys may manifest a holy horror as to any remedy which proposes to check by law what they choose to call a natural and Irresistible industrial growth. refuse to be cowed by rules of political economy. The trust can be abolished by law. Public sentiment will compel It What form, therefore, shall that law take? It Is complained that if a state en acts a prohibitive law the trust will immediately flee to another state. Self ishness, therefore, compels a state to be good to the trust In order to secure for its people the benefit of employ ment by the trust Therefore, In the absence of a uni form state law, a federal law Is necessary.-- It should be a drastic law. 1 have no sympathy with the sentiment for regulation. That Is the remedy of the trusts. It would result In their regulating themselves as they saw fit Their attorneys and newspapers urge It Therefore it Is open to suspicion The people want no more farces like the Interstate commerce commission. No benefit will come from taming wild snakes. Of course, If the people had In their employ snake charmers like Mr. Cockran, with his powerful oratory, it might be different But the trusts are the only ones able to retain the services of such talent. The only way to cure the evil Is to stamp It out effectively. A federal law will do It It is a disease, and tne sur geon's knife is the only remedy. Prevent the monopoly, and the trust will die a natural death. Federal law. if honestly framed, will do this, To my mind the only question really before us Is the machinery of such a law. Its construction is largely a matter for lawyers. It should make monopoly and excessive centraliza tion of capital Impossible. Whether It should do that by confining a corpora tlon to one kind of business or limit ing the size of Its Investments or oth erwlse is one of the problems to be solved. There should be public ex amination to prevent fraud. The ex pense account should be open to in spection to discover the bribery fund. Inhuman methods of Cestroying com petition like those used by the Oil trust by lowering prices and raising them when the competitor Is forced out of business, should be made Impossi ble. The further discussion, thought and study of the question. I am satis fied, will enable congressmen, If they are honest and loyal to the people, to frame a law to destroy the trust Our first duty, I think. Is to direct all our energies toward making such a law possible and to accomplish Its enactment H. 8. Plngreo In New York Journal. The Invariable Role. A thick and thin administration or ran rises to remark: "Some of the gentlemen with ships to offer for transporting troops to the Philippines are not allowing their pa triotism to get the better of their repu tations as men of business." Why, certainly. For this are they In tmslness. The public Is like a fat, well feathered goose, and bis "patriotism" Joes not prevent the average business man from plucking one or more of the tail feathers whenever a favorable op portunity occurs. But let us see. The late lamented Al ger bought a hundred or more ship, during the war with Spain. What has become of them? Have they all been sold, given away or condemned as worthless? Knights of Labor Journal. THE BALANCE OF TRADE. Vnn Vorhla Continue to Expose the False Arsrnmeute of the GoZdbuaa. Five or six months ago every morn ing paper contained dispatches from press agents calling attention to the extraordinary (?) gold import. As the end of the fiscal year came nearer less and less has been said about It Now It is rarely If ever mentioned. It Is very certain those who were so Indus trious In circulating, ignorantly, It may be, a falsehood now do not appear to have the slightest interest In giving the public correct Information. Such Bllence on the part of those who pre tend to be public instructors Is calcu lated to raise a doubt about their hon esty of purpose. If they were mis taken last spring, they know the truth now after June 30, the end of the fiscal year. They know that the gold Im port during the last fiscal year Is less than three-fourths what It was the year before and that the gold export has been two and one-half times great er. . The excess of gold imports over exports Is less than one-half what it was during the year ending June 30, 1898. See monthly summary of finance for June, page 3,081. Between June 30, 1873, and June 30, 1899, we have exported more than we have Imported: Mn-chtndiae tS,720,84t,lM Sllwt l,57i,s7 Total uo(4U,aa During- tha auna time our excess of import! over axporti of cold baa been only tlO.S8l.848 Met excess of exports 4,180,138,284 I would like to have these gentlemen who have been throwing up their hats over our great gold import to tell the country how they figure out of this situation anything calculated to make an American citizen exult In the last 28 years we have received In gold in excesa of onr exports of It less than one-fourth of 1 per cent of our excess of exports of merchandise and silver. What kind of head has a man who can figure out of such a condition of foreign trade an Increase of national wealth and an era of prosperity? If we have received anything of commer cial value, anything that has added to our material wealth, for this great aggregate of over 54,140,000,000 of mer chandise and sliver, except the little over $10,283,000 of gold, I am hunting for the man who can point It out It Is not shown In the treasury re ports, and the chief of the bureau of statistics says there Is no legal way for anything of commercial value to get in or out of the country without being shown In such reports. No man, ex cept a "gold standard" advocate or the Inmate of an Insane asylum, will at tempt to show that $1 In gold Is worth more to us than $400 In merchandise and silver. ,t To say nothing of the excess of mer chandise exported, the gold we have received amounts to less than 2 per cent of the silver we have exported. I would like to have somebody point out the advantage the American people have derived from foreign trade dur ing the last 26 years. Flavius J. Van Yorhis In Omaha Nonconformist Trnata and Toons: Men. Ex-TJnited States Senator William D. Washburn of Minnesota talked on the subject of trusts recently to a New York Tribune reporter. In the course of his remarks be said: "When I was a young man I am now 68 I had the world before me, and there was an absolute fair field for me. Take all of our most successful business men of today, and their ex periences were like mine. They enter ed the race without a handicap, and their grit and capacity won. Now this building up of trusts puts a stop to fair and equal opportunities for the young men of today. The young man just out of college has no opening, as a rule. He cannot begin business on his own account against organized cap itaL He must join the procession. He must content himself with being a mere clerk, -and the chances are that he will never get any further, because there are so many In his class. This makes the situation a serious one, and I am sorry for the young man of to day. He comes out of school bright eager and enterprising and runs against economic conditions that are too much for him. I can't help feelln that if he bad the same chance 1 had when I was a young man It would be a great thing for him. He hasn' got it I've studied the situation, aud I'm sure of what I am saying." Sham Amerlcanlam. Mr. Smalley, London correspondent of the New York World, tries to ex plain away Astor's recent act In re nouncing American citizenship and talks very much as though be would like to join the Astorites. He says: "We are sorry to lose Mr. Astor. We pretend not to care. It is another step in the Inevitable downward course of the American nation." No, brother Smalley, we are not sorry to lose Willie. We are very thankful Indeed. It Is not a step In our downward course, not at all, un less you mean that Astor Is an ex pression of our degradation. We ac knowledge that we have been pamper ing a few Anglomaniacs, and Willie Is an expression of our sin; that's all. He Is only the excrescence of our national carbuncle. Mr, Smalley says the American people ft-ver showed their appreciation of Astor's worth and gen ius. Hoy could we? The American nation is not disposed to slobber over a heap of muck. ' If Astor ever showed evidence of genius, will Mr. Smalley kindly Inform a waiting nation In what respect? We have never discovered It, therefore could show no appreciation of it. Mr. 8malley would better be careful or the American people might judge him by the specimen he seeks to defendsOmaha Free Lance. MUNICIPAL HOUSES. CITY OWNERSHIP OF WORKINGMEN'S DWELLINGS IN BIRMINGHAM. What Municipal Ownerabln to Doing In That Great Bng-Uah City In proved Living For the Workere at Leeeeaed Expense, Attorney General Monnett of Ohio, who has been investigating municipal questions In several of Oie cities of Great Britain, has written from Bir mingham to the Cincinnati Post as follows: , ' i In London the British worship Lord Nelson and honor him by their chief monument in Trafalgar square. In Birmingham the masses turn with great pride to Hon. Joseph Chamber lain, M. P., because he has given his life work to preserving lives and health, to advancing education, to In creasing the comfort and adding to the happiness of this, community through municipal reforms. Birmingham, with a population of 625,000, In a thickly populated portion of the Midlands, seems to be an ap propriate selection for municipal ex periment. The new year of municipal rule In Birmingham dates from 1874, when, during Joseph Chamberlain's mayoralty, the two great branches of the common service, the water and gas supplies, were municipalized. The city council since has extended Its control over almost every depart ment of municipal life, having the management of the markets, slaughter houses, Btreet cars, baths and wash- houses, cemeteries, libraries, museum and art gallery, technical . school and school of art, artisans' dwellings, sow age farm, hospitals, Industrial schools and asylums. -, , In 1899 the corporation agreed to purchase the electric light plant at a cost of $2,000,000. The greatest enterprise undertaken by the corporation was the acquisition In 1876 of an overcrowded and un healthy area In the heart of the town, 90 acres, with about, 4,000 dwellings and 10,696 Inhabitants.. The estimated cost was $8,500,000. , , . The section was one of filthy hovels. The blocks are new and beautiful In architectural design. The rents received last year from this tract were $290,000 and $90,000 from the water and gas rates. The capital expended upon this scheme by the city has been summarized about as follows: Seven million two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars for artisans' dwellings, $90,000 Milk street improvement housing. ., of working classes $30,000; total capital expended to March 81, 1898, $7,775,000. The present value of this municipal estate Is at least $10,225,000,,,. The artisans' dwellings are built In the form of double bouses, with entire separate entrances, a ground floor, having a living room 14 by 13 feet and a front bedroom, joining the living room, of 14 by 8 feet There are a rear bedroom of 9 by 9 feet and a kitchen 6 by 9 feet stationary wash sinks, coal bins, garbage or dust bins and water and gas plumbing. The second story is a substantial duplicate of the first, With a balcony and two front windows. Tenements are arranged in four ter races and comprising 24 family apart ments, of a living room 13 by 14, a bed room 12 feet 2 Inches by 9 feet, and 28 family apartments comprising some what larger living rooms, with two bedrooms, while the ground floors are arranged with a shop,, one living room and two bedrooms, and another set with shop, living room and one bed room, and on the first floor two of the dwellings contain a large living room with three bedrooms. Each tenement Is provided with a water closet and a scullery, containing a copper (or boiler), coal bunk and sink. The smaller apartments, thus suit able for newly married people without families, rent at $1.50 a month; the apartment with two bedrooms, at $3 a month; the larger ones, $4.50 a month. These rents, after paying Interest and sinking fund on the outlay, are estimated to leave a margin to pay a ground rent on the land of 5 cents a yard. How far our American cities would tolerate, under the guise of police pow er, this socialistic tendency we can only conjecture, but the masses argue that If they must pay rent they want the best equipped homes, the best san itary regulations and the most con veniences that can be had for the money. These can be furnished them through municipal ownership, because the city's credit Is such that It can borrow money to carry on these enter prises at the very lowetrt rate. The city has the power to obliterate an entire district and treat It as an open field. The compensation for the compulsory purchase of the sanitary houses Is subject to the ordinary rules f condemnation, but the Insanitary property that Is breeding or liable to breed Infection or Is not suitable for dwelling houses Is dealt with more stringently. The bare value for the property is paid, no special grant being made by reason of the purchase being a compulsory one. Even this bare value Is subject to a number of strin gent provisions. For exsmple, the in come Is not always the test 1. Houses which are overcrowded. In these cases the compensation for the purpose of condemnation Is not calculated upon the actual rental, but upon the rental that would be obtained If the number of Inhabitants were re duced to comply with the reasonable sanitary standard. 2. Houses which are In bad repair. In these cases the cost of repairs Is calculated and deducted from the com pensation. 8. Houses which are unfit for human habitation. In these cases the com pensation is merely the value of the laud and of the old material. Landlords who refuse the compensa tion thus offered by the municipality may appeal to an arbitrary court, but this appeal is costly and not often re sorted to. As soon as the purchase of the old bouses in the condemned dis trict Is sufficiently advanced the munic ipality ascertains whether those about to be displaced desire to live In the neighboring district or In the suburbs. As soon as new accommodation can be found the old tenants move, their re moval being aided by a slight compen sation, and the old houses are demol ished. As soon as possible the new streets are formed, and the site thus obtained for the construction of new dwellings Is sold, subject to the condi tions that working class dwellings of an Improved type, the plans for which have been approved by the municipal ity and the home secretary, are erected upon the Bite. The difference between the money expended on tha purchase of the old property plus the cost of the new streets and that obtained from the sale of the new sites where the city does not build thereon represents the loss that the city has Incurred In the execution of the entire scheme, tho theory all the time being that It is for the public health, convenience and wel fare that these processes of condemna tion be carried out Many other English and Scottish cities are following In the footsteps of Birmingham In this respect Edin burgh last year spent 450,000 under the working classes act Douglas spent 400,000 on sanitary schemes and ar tisans' dwellings. Liverpool expended about 3,500 for .buildings In one square, other parts of the city having been improved In a similar way, Man chester now owns two blocks of la borers' dwellings. It holds a good many unhealthy dwellings pending removal or reconstruction. At Southampton loans are being applied for, and the corporation Is erecting municipal dwelling bouses at a cost of $50,000 and artisans' flats at $25,000. .The former will accommodate 187 people, the latter about 116. Municipal Waterworks. Whatever may be thought of the claims for municipal ownership of lighting street railway and telephone systems, It Is now almost universally admitted, except by those directly in terested In private plants, that water works should be under public owner ship. As is shown by the Manual of American Waterworks for 1897, not only Is It true that only nine of the 50 largest cities of the United States are dependent upon private companies for their water supply, but In addition four of these nine have recently taken steps to change to public ownership, New Orleans having actually voted to do so, while San Francisco, Denver and Omaha have the matter under con sideration. Of the remaining 41 cities, about half were formerly under pri vate ownership. We started the cen tury with 16 private to one public works and early In 1897 bad 1,500 pri vate to 1,700 public works. Besides the changes among the 50 largest cities, there had been enough others to bring the total changes from private to pub lic ownership up to some 200 by 1897, while since then many have been add ed to the Hat and Oakland, Los An geles, Burlington, Dubuque and Ottum wa, la., together with a host of smaller places, are actively striving to reach the same goal. At present many of our ablest engineers, Instead of being en gaged In new construction, are spend ing large portions of their time as ex pert witnesses In arbitration and con demnation proceedings where works are being taken over by cities or In le gal controversies over the Interpreta tion and enforcement of water con tracts. New York should take warning from the unfortunate experiences which the Quaker City has had with private wa ter schemes "water snakes" they are now called. For more than a dozen years the city has been drinking a grossly polluted water supply and seek1 Ing for a better one, but It has made no progress because the officials have In sisted on dealing with private compan ies having something to unload on the city, but they have never quite dared to put through any of these schemes conceived for the good of corporations and city officials Instead of the public. The nearest approach to a contract of this sort was headed off and killed by charges of wholesale bribery, which, while not proved, were universally credited. Engineering News. The Voice of Webster. Daniel Webster In bis great speech In reply to Calhoun In 1S38 thus spoke "But, sir, I have Insisted that govern ment Is bound to protect and regulate the means of commerce,' to see that there Is a sound currency for the use of the people. The honorable gentle man asks, What then Is the limit? Must congress also furnish all means of commerce? Must It furnish weights and scales and steelyards? Most un doubtedly, sir, It must regulate weights and measures, and It docs so. But the answer to the general question Is very obvious. Government must do all that for Individuals which Individuals can not do for tbemselvee. That Is the very end of government Why else save government? Can Individuals make a currency? Can Individuals regulate money? The distinction Is as broad and plain as Pennsylvania av enue. No man can mistake It or well blunder out of It They cannot, make a currency. They cannot Indi vidually decide what shall be the money of the country. That everybody' knows Is one of the prerogatives and! one of the duties of the government' nnd a duty which I think we are most, unwisely and Improperly neglecting. We may as well leave the people to' make war and to make peace, each one, for himself.ii to lea veto Individuals the' regulation of commerce and currency."! 6CGENTIFIC MONEY. What U ta, the Serviee It Performs and llow It Should Be Rea-ulate. Money js merely evidence of debt How then- should it become "leeal ten der In payment of all debts, public or private?" That's easy. Governments do not as yet produce many material things. They produce protection for ach citizen as be produces material things. ' This protection requires the services of a vast number of men, espe cially when citizens of the government are scattered to the ends of the earth and must be protected wherever tbey may be. The men engaged In the serv ice of tha government require ma terial things with which to sustain life. Each citizen protected must contribute his share of the protection extended. In primitive times he contributed his share by service in person. As society became more complex be contributed by proxy. , What then? When a man rendered service to the government he received a certificate that the govern ment owed blm for services performed. Other citizens are notified that they must contribute their share of service that Is, tbey must pay taxes. So be who has rendered service has the op portunity to sell bis certificates of serv ice performed to those taxpayers who cannot or do not wish to render direct service. In exchange for his certificate he receives food, clothing and shelter in due m-onortlon to bis labor. The taxpayer, having received the certifl- catee of labor performed, returns them to the government In satisfaction of its claims against him. Those certifi cates of service performed thus become money. ' From their foregoing history we con elude that the primary function of money is to enable governments to be carried on without calling on each cit izen for bis proper share of service to be rendered In person; that the three fundamental movements of money are; First from the government to its serv ants to enable them to receive satisfac tion for services rendered, not In payment for those services; second, from the servants of tho government to the necessary supporters of govern ment In payment for satisfaction re ceivedin payment because each par ty has now received equivalent values, the citizen his protection, the govern ment service the material things he needed, and be has now been paid; third, from the citizen to the govern ment to show that he has Indirectly rendered bis share of service to the community that Is, he pays his taxes, When money has made this round, It has been Issued and redeemed. When it goes out again, it starts on an en tirely new but exactly similar mission. If paper money, so called, were made the only legal tender In payment of public debts, canceled and destroyed whenever received by the government and new bills constantly Issued In payment of government debts, this proposition would be moat easily under stood, but we think with this lUnstra- Ion It Is simple enough. What follows ? Several most Important conclusions first, the nnlversal existence and need of government more universal the need for money; second, the more gov ernmental functions are Increased the more will the need for money Increase third, that value of money does not de pend on Its material substance, but upon the universal need which exists for Its use; fourth, that It does not and cannot measure values (as a matter of fact value cannot be measured); fifth, that the use of metallic substances for money Is absolute and unnecessary waste of all the human energy needed to produce those substances; sixth, that governments have no right to make any certificate of private debt legal tender, as they do when they au thorize the use of bank bills. Omaha Nonconformist Government Should Own Them. From Chicago comes the news that the Hariiman syndicate has practically completed plans for a transcontinental railroad system from Chicago to the north Pacific coast and south to the gulf of Mexico. This system Is to era brace seven other vast railroad sys tems. The Vanderbllts are also linking new ly acquired lines In the west and south, The Gould system already extends to the gulf, aud the management Is plan ning to acquire more roads. When all these systems are rounded out the sequel Is Inevitable. Tbey will combine Into one vast pool nine-tenths of the railroad franchises In this coun try and will conduct business practl cally under one management. This will place In the hands of a few men the power to ruin any business en terprise related, however remotely, to railroad traffic. Many of these railroad systems al ready discriminate In favor of com binations and will continue to do so until the government steps In and ac quires ownership of all American rail roads. Such railway discrimination means ruin to any enterprise that Is dlscrlm Inated against It means monopoly for any enterprise unjustly favored. With absolute equality In railway rates no combination or trust could maintain a monopoly for 48 hours. Discrimination could not exist with public ownership of public franchises. National ownership would enable the merchant conducting a small business to ship his produce to market upon equal terms with any combination of capital, howtver vast In Germany, where the government owns and c petrols the railways, the poorest mer bant In the empire can ship bis gods from one end of the country to trie other as cheaply as any merchant prince. What boras are to the bull, what claws are flhe tiger and' what ten tacles are to. le devilfish railroads art to the trusts I New York Journal FARM FORESTRY. Tree Planting In the Northeast, the West and the Pine Belts. Wherever the planter has chosen bis trees with Intelligence and so succeed ed In producing a useful plantation, there has been the real spirit of for estry. In the spruco lands of the northeast for example, many lumbermen have come to see that by leaving the small trees standing they 'can return for a second crop earlier than would other wise be possible and that this plan pays. ' In many cases they are leaving the spruce which measures less than 10 inches In- diameter aud In others that which measures less than 12 Inches, because the trees under these sizes can be harvested with greater profit if they are lert a rew years 10 gain a larger growth. Similar work has been done In other sections of the United States, as, for instance, In the southern Dine belt where repeated crops of long leaf pine bave been cut from the same tract By for the greater amount of such work has, .however, .'. been done by farmers and other owners of small tracts of woodland. Very many farm ers bave made a practice of thinning their wood lots with care, first remov ing the dead, dying or unpromising trees and then letting the remainder stand In order to utilize the growth of the trees and to obtain continually from the wood lot firewood and other material for the farm and occasionally, a crop of larger trees for the marttt. Other farmers, again, devote a number of acres to the production of hard wood sprouts for fuel. They cut over the land every 25 or 30 years ana cal culate that from one-balf to one cord of wood Is produced annually by this system of forestry. . t. Tree planting on waste places, on the farm Is yet another kind of forest ry which has been practiced. Work of this character Is now widespread, and much of It has been accomplished. In New England there are numerous In stances,, of . planting white pine on waste places , with excellent results, and In Massachusetts the planting of larch has proved highly satisfactory. Many farmers have found It profitable to plant locust and red cedar for fence posts, and, in more than one case the cultivation , of black walnut has brought large returns. In the central west the fast trrowing catalpa and the allanthus, have produced remarkable results In short periods in tne nanas or private growers. A distinct branch of tree planting is practiced In the treeless states of the west. There, In addition toJe flses to wmcn meir woou is put, r,,, cw proved of great value In U windbreaks. . In these cases': results have generally been from the osage orange, catalpa elm, box elder, Norway spruce, pine and others, according to df local conditions. There Is yet another use to w, . tree planting has been put Along hanks of streams trees have been tn fli tha fast eroding soil and to pf runt the increasing floods, and on ci. tlvated hillsides which have begun tl. gully from the washing of rain trees;-, i - w- n.A n An crnswt service in ' .t. .,..... Ua arwiulvn anrfara drain- iUDvftUlft W.W -v-"" - - age and saving the fertile soil. The protection or wooaianas ironi lire forms one of the most Important branches of forestry which have been practiced In the United States. Indeed, without such protection any efforts to cut the timber with a view to repro duction or to plant new forests are useless. Various measures to guard against forest fires have been adopted In different localities. For example, la the Atlantic pine belt many forest owners burn off the upper layer of leaves and needles In the early spring In order to prevent the spread of fire later in the season. 1 In Michigan, lumbermen have en deavored to lessen the danger from firs by lopping and burning the brush left after lumbering. The cutting of flr strips along railroads, and even withta the forest itself, has been used as s precaution against fires. But a com- ,' mon and a very effective way to guard against fire is careful watching. Many large owners of forest land employ . number of men as a fire patrol, an4 often an extra crew of watchers 'Is) hired during the dangerously dry sear sons. In the same way many lumber companies which own logging rail roads employ a man to follow the . trains and put out any fires that may be started. ' The foregoing Is extracted from s tircular by Gilford Plnchot forester of the United States department of agrt-' tulture. The yearbook of 1890 will consist of a resume of the achieve ments of this country In every branch", ef science relating to agriculture and will be prepared with a view to Its' special distribution at the Paris expo- sitlon. The division of forei.-y will contribute a short history of forestry In the United States and also an ac count of . the efforts of private land owners to apply the principles of for estry. An Impression widely prevails'' abroad that little or nothing has been ' done In the United States In the way of forestry, xms impression, ai Plnchot thinks, the yearbook ought remove, and. In seeking Informatlo regarding such forest work as has be described, be earnestly Invites cor spondence from those who bave doi any work along the lines of forestry. Salsify (uoy be left out all winter, tfl freezing is not severe, bnt It Is coo-1 setter to dig and store Iderad 4 - ' - -- - - ? V