y S p
'Cbe Conservative.
I
Jl
EVOLUTION OF THE TllU&T.
In the process of the world's industrial
dovelopnibut various nations have at
times become infatuated almost to the
point of lunacy upon some new and tem
porarily popular trade fad , the basis of
which in each case was the rapid mak
ing of fortunes. Noteworthy examples
of such speculative crazes were the
South Sea bubble in England , the Missis
sippi scheme in Franco , and the tulip
craze in Holland. These all collapsed in
duo time , with fearfully disastrous re
sults. All great speculative enterprises ,
promoted by men of enthusiasm and per
sonal magnetism , who at the same time
lack economic judgment or personal in
tegrity , must ultimately perish when
measured by the law of the survival of
the fittest. That there are many such
among the present colossal brood of
trusts no thoughtful man can for a mo
ment doubt.
Underlying our social and economic
structure there are great natural laws
whose action is inexorable. The evolu
tion of things under those laws up to the
present moment , theorists to the con
trary notwithstanding , has been for the
best interests of the greatest number.
How about the present trust movement ?
The entire country today is suffering
from an attack of trust lunacy. Almost
every conceivable line of business has
been or is being organized into a trust.
It is another great speculative craze , and
the result will probably be to bring on
another great panic. There is every
reason to believe that the seeds have al
ready been sown , and the rank weeds
have already sprouted , which will de
velop into a panic crop at no far distant
day.
day.During
During our industrial evolution we
have suffered a series of severe panics.
"Wild and unreasoning speculation in
mining properties at one time brought
about a disastrous financial stringency.
The wildcat banking craze came and
left its tens of thousands of ruined vic
tims. Stuoendous waste in speculative
railway construction absorbed the sav
ings of the nation and was again an
active force in causing a great collapse.
But in each of these cases we learned a
lesson and came forth stronger after the
wreckage had been cleared away. The
collapse of the wildcat banks taught the
people the true principles of exchange
and banking , and wo have been more
conservative ever since. Amid the
ruins of inflated railways men learned
the lesson of railroading , and the small
disconnected lines were organized into
strong trunk line systems. The price
paid for the lesson was enormous , but
the properties were saved to the people.
We shall probably go through exactly
the same disastrous yet salutary exper
ience with the present industrial trusts.
The combining of some industries
under a central management is an eco
nomic necessity , naturally growing out
of our complex civilization , Our great
h. , .
iron and steel industries have been
evolved out of the village blacksmith
shop , and the great shoe manufactories
have sprung from the village cobbler's
shop. Our magnificent textile indus
tries began with the village hand loom.
The passing away of the day of small
things may have been inconvenient for
lie local blacksmith , cobbler , or weaver ,
but the evolution of these great iudus-
; ries has proved of infinite advantage to
.he . world at large. Apparently the last
step in this reasonable process of ovolu-
Dion is to congregate the various indus-
iries in each line under a central man
agement. Where this results in pro
ducing a better article for the same
price , or the same article for a less price ,
t will bo an improvement of economic
conditions. Trusts organized for any
other purpose must inevitably collapse
with a crash at the first breath of adver
sity. The great law of the survival of
the fittest will in the end settle iuexor
ably this industrial problem which is
causing so much anxiety today in the
minds of men.
There is no reason for taking other
than an optimistic view of the ultimate
result of the trust movement. Still
more true would this be if these great
concerns would extend their principles
so as to include their own employees in
the benefits secured. Probably the tru
est expression of the trust idea would be
a plan whereby the superintendents and
the skilled workers in every dppartment
would be paid a wage worker's dividend
If a great organization like the steel and
wire company , employing thirty or forty
thousand operatives , were to decide to
pay 0 per cent on its stock and at the
same time to promise to each skilled
workman 4 per cent on his annual
wages , the trust would at once place
itself upon the securest of foundations.
There is no reason why shrewd and in
telligent business men should not make
such an experiment. There would be
no surer way for harmonizing the inter
ests of labor and capital , and the method
would be the true and logical expression
of enlightened co-operation the funda
mental principle of the whole trust
movement.
The first store at
STORKS.
Nebraska City was
established by Nuckolls , Hail and Van
Doreu. The firm built and occupied a
large two-story frame-building on the
east side of the court house square.
Their stock of merchandise embraced
codfish and silk , harnesses and sugar ,
hardware and shoes , needles and plows.
That pioneer store sold everything
which can now bo found in the ordin
ary department store. That frontier
bazaar was in truth and in integrals the
unorganized concrete or composite of a
department store.
The reason why all the stores of the
Tootles of St. Joe , the Nuckollses of Ne
braska and the Bosbyshells of Glen-
wood , and Jim Jackson of Council
Bluffs were in 1854 einbryotio depart
ment stores was sparsity of population.
There were not enough people at Ne
braska City in 1855 to maintain the ex
pense of a separate grocery store , an ex
clusively dry goods store , a drugstore , a
shoe store.
Therefore , to save expenses and reduce -
duce the cost of commodities to their
customers , all country merchants in
; he pioneer days sold everything legiti
mately demanded in their respective lo-
ialities. This general assortment of
things saleable was handled by a sinal-
er number of persons than could have
managed a dry goods , hardware , gro
cery , shoo , millinery , drug and clothing
shop separately. No one on the fron
tier complained of this concentration of
apital and commodities. Nor did any
buckskin-garbed economist denounce
the merchants for having reduced the
cost of tilings to consumers by having re
duced the number of their employees to a
minimum. Everybody was satisfied with
the stores of general merchandise which
dotted the Missouri valley from West
Port Landing to Sioux City during the
decades from 1850 to 1870. And yet
each of those stores was , in fact , an
uiiarrauged , unclassified department
store. Each kept all saleable and neces
sary commodities common to a newly-
settled country in this latitude.
With more density of population came
specialties in stores. The hardware
store , the drug store , dry goods and
shoo stores were set up and each under
a distinct management and with its
own employees to bo paid out of the
profits derived from its own patrons.
Did the incoming of the new stores
devoted distinctively to especial branches
of commerce reduce prices to con
sumers ?
Is not the department store a sort of
regeneration of the old-fashioned coun
try store ?
Only a small per cent of the commun
ity can make a living on irom cno
exchanges of their neighbors. Too many
men trying to sell drugs , or jewelry , or
anything else in a small city injure
ihemselves. The department store is an
agglomeration of a number of small
stores. And the trading community in
large cities , like Chicago and New
York seem to patronize , encourage and
maintain department stores. Would
they do so except they find them advan
tageous ?
Because such combinations of capital
throw many out of employment , though
they thereby reduce the cost of goods to
the majority , ought they to bo antag
onized by unfriendly legislation ?
With 5iOO paleontologists , six train-
robbers , the Beatrice blood-hounds and
numberless sheriff's posses going up
and down in it , Wyoming is a lively
state these days.