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The Commoner.
APRIL 28, 1905
11
WHAT TRUSTS ARE ACTUALLY
DOING
E. R Lewis of Sioux City, Iowa,
has written to the editor of the Trib
une the following letter:
Some days ago a number of gentle
men at the Mondamin were discussing
the Standard Oil octopus, when one
spoke up designating as "scare heads"
the Tribune's New York correspond
ence of February 9, giving 72,740 miles
of railroad as owned by that corpo
ration, and asking whether it was go
ing to own all the railroads.
A stranger sitting by said: "You
call notices of what the corporations
are doing in this country 'scare heads,'
do you? Let me tell you, sir, that
you are 'either lulling yourself into a
fatal sleep or you are wholly unin
formed as to what the trusts are do
ing. "I was in business in Illinois until
six months ago. A combine got con
trol of pretty much all the plants in
the same line. I had been doing well,
but foreseeing that I should be forced
to sell or crowded out of the trade, I
sold made a good sale and was hap
py for a few days I began to look
about for some business into which I
could put my time and my bit of
money. Then my troubles began. For
six months I have followed one will-o'-the-wisp
after another only to be
met everywhere by the same condi
tions, and I have just put the,..money
into a bank which will pny me about
one-fourth as much as I was making
out of it in the business. Everywhere
I came up against the steel fingers of
some trust. Individual industries are
no more. Men of small capital are
crowded out, and there is notnmg left
but to become a cog in some great
wheel put your money into its 'stock'
with an almost certain prospect tnat
sooner or later the big stockholders
will freeze out the little ones and
leave them dependent upon the wages
which our owners choose to give, and
those wages subject to continual nice
calculations as to how small a ration
will sustain a man in working order.
"Not only the oil and gas you burn,
but the' flour you bake, the hats, shoes
and clothing you wear, everything you
touch taste or handle, the chair you
sit on by day, the bed you sleep in by
night, are controlled by trusts, and
while there may be great margins in
their manufacture, yet an individual
embarking therein would soon learn
to his cost that the profits are not for
him.
"Go into your stores and see how
they are selling this, that and the
other you will find the retailer usu
ally held with hooks of steel under a
hard and fast contract by which he
can only sell such and such goods and
at such and such prices, and the pen
alty of a, breach is that the trust will
deprive him of its line of goods.
"How long will your retailers be al
lowed even the poor privilege of hand
ling goods at the meager margin per
mitted? "How long before right here in your
own city the trust controlling lines of
canned goods, for instance, will put
up a great warehouse and do their own
distributing, and the retailer be sent
whistling down the wind?"
But turning our friend found that
the objector to "scare heads" had
himself gpne whistling down the
wind, and none seeming disposed to
dispute with one who had learned
with much sorrow the lesson he was
trying to teach, the company sepa
rated. But 'how strangely in line this man's
experience seems to have been with
what Judge Grosscup says in Mc
Clure's for February:.
"Deposits in the banks in the JJnit
ed States in 1880 were about $2,225,
000,000, and in 1904, $11,000,000,000.
The effect of the corporation under
the prevailing policy is to drive the
bulk ofour -people out of:business,and
once out they lceepout!They..puf their
money in some bank or bond "
It has been continually heralded
over the country as an unanswerable
proof of increasing prosperity that
the banks are overflowing with money.
It never was such proof, and today
less so than ever. The body of Amer
icans seek active investments. They
do not under normal conditions put
money into banks at 3 or 4 per cent
when twice or four times as much
could be made with it in business.
Money piling up in the banks is al
ways evidence of unrest, hesitation,
suspicion, fear, danger.
wo are rapidly approaching a time
when there will be but two alterna
tives: First Conversion of corpora
tions to tho golden rulo as corpora
tions havo no souls that door seems
closed. Second Government control
for tho benefit of tho people
A FLIMFLAM
Senator Depew was explaining to a
clergyman the slang term, to "flim
flam." "To flimflam," he said, "is to confuso
a man's mind to such a ddgreo that he
actually consents to and concurs in his
own cheating.
"Now permit mo to give you an il
lustration of flimflam.
"A boy goes to a grocer and asks for
a pint of molasses.
" 'Put the molasses, sir' ho says, 'in
this pitcher.'
"Tho grocer draws tho molasses In a
pint measure, pours It into tho pitcher;
and hands It to tho boy.
"But tho boy, looking at tho meas
ure, exclaims:
" 'See hero, you haven't given mo all
my molnsses. There's some still stick
ing to tho bottom of tho measure.'
"'Oh, that's nil right, sonny says
tho grocer easily. Thcro was somo in
the measure before.'
"Thereupon tho fllmflammed boy
goes off content." New Orleans
States.
The
1
W'aMm,MiwwtMmww
JWWW'VWOft1
Primary PledgeOigan ize Now
'"'iV'riii'YiifrirmiwrrnniriMMifrWii
From The Commoner, Lincoln, Nebraska, March 17, 1905
tV t w t i& W && tfr US ftP W fcy
Newspapers favoring the dt
plan outlined arc requested to &
reproduce this editorial to-
gether with the primary &
pledge as it appears below. &
They may request their read- &
ers to sign this pledge and for- &
ward the same either to The &
Commoner or to the office of &
their local democratic paper. r &
In the latter event these &
pledges may be then for- '
warded in bulk to The Com-
& moner office where they will &
& be duly recorded. t &
S '$
tV tS w Iff && 1& G& l2r t &t U9 t
The Pledge Outlined
The following editorial appeared in
The Commoner of March 17:
"Mr. Bryan has been in receipt of
a multitude of letters since the elec
tion urging organization for the cam
paign of 1908. The rank and file of
the party are ready to begin the fight;
they only await a plan of co-operation.
This plan has been under considera
tion for some weeks and is herewith
submitted.
"Let each democrat pledge himself
to attend all of the primaries of his
party to be held between now and the
next democratic national convention,
unless unavoidably prevented, and to
use his influence to secure a clear, hon
est and straightforward declaration of
the party's position on every question
upon which the voters of the party
desire to speak.
. "This plan does not involve the
writing of a platform in advance of
the primaries; it does not rest upon
tho paramount importance of any one
issue. It recognizes tho right of the
democratic voters to control tho policy
of the democratic' party, and to deter
mino its position upon public ques
tions. It also recognizes the import
ance of honesty and sincerity in poll-tics.
"This proposition will appeal to all
who believe in the rule of the people
to all who are willing that tho ma
jority shall govern in party manage
ment and in the nation. It does not
mean that those who exert themselves
to secure a good platform will be
bound to support a bad platform that
is a question which each must deter
mine for himself but it does- mean
that the democratic platform shall give
voice to the prevailing sentiment of
the democratic party, and that tho
party shall take the country into its
confidence. The pledge proposed is a
primary pledge because the people
speak at the primaries. The national
convention is attended by delegates
and each delegate represents tens of
thousands of democrats. The state con
vention is also attended by delegates,
and these represent thousands of dem
ocrats. The county conventions are,
as a rule, attended by delegates, and
these in turn represent hundreds of
democrats. At the primary tho voters
speak for themselves; there democ
racy has its citadel.
"When the work of organization is
sufficiently advanced, a tlmo can ho
set for tho meeting of the members in
their various localities. The mem
bers of this organization, whllo
pledged to but one thing namely, t
tendanco upon., tho primaries are
urged to co-operate among themselves
for tho support of every effort put
forth to eliminate corruption In poll
tics. No causo can prosper perma
nently that does not appeal to tho
moral sense of tho country, and tho
rioral sense of the country Ib now be
ing awakened to tho importanco of
purifying politics.
"The Commoner will do its part in
aiding every movement that has for
its object tho ascertainment of tho will
of tho peoplo and the scrupulous en
forcement of that will.
"The Commoner will also furnish all
the information that it can upon tho
questions which are before tho public
to the end that its readers may be'pre
pared to render the maximum of as
sistance to every worthy causo.
"Who will bo tho first to make this
pledge? A record will be kept in Tho
Commoner office of tho name and ad
dress of each person who enters into
this movement. Those who desire to
be enrolled can either write approv
ing tho object of the organization, and
asking to have their names entered on
the roll, or they can fill out and mall
the blank which is printed below.
"The Commoner will bo pleased to
publish a limited number of .brief let
ters on this subject. Mr. Bryan is
encouraged by his correspondence to
believe that there wlllbe a prompt and
hearty response to tho above proposi
tion."
f
THE PRIMARY PLEDGE
I promise to attend all the primaries of my party to be held between now and tblj next demo
cratic national convention, unless unavoidably prevented, and to use my influence to secure a clear,
honest ana straightforward neclaration 01 the party's position on every question upon wnicn tne
voters of the party desire to speak.
: .4 ... Signed ,.
Street ,
Postofiice . - f State ,
. :
--. :
County Voting precinct or ward
Fill out- blanks. and mail 'to Commoner "Office, Lincoln, Neb.
fl
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