F I ?
I
Conservative *
Th6
TRUSTS.
years have w it-
nessccl a concentration of industry and
a combination oC capital never before
dreamed of. It is the natural and in
evitable result of steam , the railway and
the telegraph. Distant places are
brought closer together , business is not
bounded by the lines of the town , the
state or the nation. The world is the
market , and business and capital in
business must be as boundless as the
trade.
In 1880 there wore in the United
States 801 cotton factories with $40,000-
000 capital. In 1880 there were 75G
factories , with § 208,000 000 capital. As
a result of this concentration , three
times as many spindles were operated by
each laborer , the product from each
spindle was one-fourth greater , the
product per dollar invested was doubled ,
the consumption of cotton cloth was
doubled , wnges were doubled , the num
ber of persons employed more than
doubled. The laborer could , with his
wages , buy five yards of cloth in 1880
for one in 1880 , and the cotton manu
facturer is now richer with his two
cents a yard profit than he was then
with his four cents profit. A largo trade
with small profits is better for all con
cerned than a small trade with large
profits.
In twenty separate branches of in
dustry , in which concentration of busi
ness and aggregation of capital were
most manifest , from I860 to 1885 , wages
increased from $8.64 to § 9.88 per week ,
while the purchasing power of wages in
the products thus manufactured in
creased from 100 to 150 per cent. In
the industries in which special concen
tration took place the increase of pur
chasing power of wages has been far the
greatest. In railway transportation it
amounts to 142 per cent , in telegraphy
288 per cent , in petroleum 900 per
cent.
There is no mistaking the fact that
concentration is the order of develop
ment ; concentration of people in large
cities , concentration of handicrafts in
large factories , concentration of trans
portation in great railway systems. To
successively resist it we must banish
steam and discharge electricity from ,
human service. Man is made for co
operation. Savages unite only in war.
Civilized people unite in work. The
evolution of association is the evolution
of civilization. Considering that this
tendency is inevitable , is it wise to re
sist it ? Is it not wise to consider care
fully how it may more and more be
made a power for good , and less and less
a power for evil ?
Contrast the countries whore indus
tries are concentrated , where capital is
greatest , and machinery most effective ,
with those where large'partnerships and
corporations are almost unknown ,
where industry , is not organized and
largo aggregations of capital are not the
rule. The condition of labor is always
worst where capital is small. Business
drifts in old ruts , cannot attempt new
enterprises ; manufacturing is done by
hand or by defective machinery ; prod
ucts are dearer , wages lower , a greater
number of laborers are idle , and their
general condition much more de
plorable.
In Spain 24 per cent of productive
power is furnished by vital force ; in
Italy , 84 per cent ; in Portugal , 42 per
cent ; in England nnd America , 4 per
cent. That is , to accomplish the same
result , 42 laborers would be employed in
Portugal , 84 in Italy , 24 in Spain , and 4
in England or in the United States. The
wnges in the United States are nearly
three times higher than wages in Portu
gal , Spain or Italy. There are ten idle
men in Portugal to one in the United
States , and the general condition of the
working classes in those continental
countries is beyond comparison worse
than the condition of our working
clashes. The reason for this is , that in
the countries namtd confidence and
security do not exist such ns lead
men to associate , to entrust their inter
ests to others , and to risk their weal thin
trade. Aggregations of capital are not
there possible such as are necessary to
erect great factories , to introduce the
most costly machinery , and to build the
necessary steamships and lines of trans
portation. In every land wages are
highest and the condition of the laborer
best where most capital is employed ,
and that capital mont concentrated. In
India capital amounts to $35 per head ,
and wages are CO cents per week ; in
Russia , capital $190 per head , of which
only 10 per cent is aggregated capital ,
wages $3.50 per week ; France , capital
$1,000 per head , of which 86 per cent is
combined in large industries , wages $5
per week ; in England , capital $1,800 per
head , 78 per cent of which is united
capital , and wages are $7.74 per week.
* * * * * * *
There are over two millions of people
in the mountains of Virginia , Tennessee ,
and North Caro-
I'rhnitive. , . . . . . ,
hna , living today
as our ancestors lived , without the bene
fits of capital , machinery , railroads or
commerce. They are of good descent
and started fairly with the other settlers
of America. They raise , card and spin
their own wool and cotton , and wear
homespun cloth. Five persons in ten
hours convert five pounds of cotton into
cloth worth twenty cents a yard , making
their labor worth about twenty cents
per day. They are not on idyllic people
ple ; even Charles Egbert Craddock has
failed to make them poetical. As the
world has progressed through the aid of
aggregated capital , and the improve
ments it renders possible , these people
have been left behind. Their mountains
are filled with coal and other minerals ,
their forests are composed of valuable
timber , but they do not utilize them.
The laziness , filthiuess , mental and
moral degradation , all that may be
summed up as "general cnssedness" of
these people is proverbial. To send
missionaries to them at present is use
less. What they first need is the capital
ist. When enterprise and energy ,
backed by capital , shall have aroused
their dormant souls , and infused into
them new physical and mental life , then
the missionary may follow and arouse
them to new spiritual life. In all
progress the material is first , and capital
in these days of steam and machinery ,
aggregated capital is the basis of mater
ial progress. * * *
THE REBELLIOUS TRAVELLER.
[ A FATJTE. ]
A clergyman and an editor were walk
ing together , when they espied the
mayor of their village sitting on a fence
and holding an evil-looking clnb ; while
in the distance a traveller approached.
"My journalistic instinct tells me , "
said the editor , "that the man on the
fence is contemplating a criminal ag
gression upon yonder traveller. "
"In that case , " replied the clergyman ,
"it is my duty as a teacher of morality
to persuade our brother from his evil
intention. "
"Yes , " said the editor , "and as I also
am a conserver of morals I will aid you
in your task. "
So they reasoned with their fellow-
villager on the sinf ulness of acquiring
property by forcible annexation , urging
him t'o refrain from any violent act.
The man on the fence spoke them fair ;
nevertheless , when the stranger cnme
up , the man on the fence rushed at him
and knocked him down.
The traveller offered a stubborn re
sistance , and the clergyman and the
editor watched the combat. The editor
was the first to speak. "Clearly , " said
he , "it was our duty to reason with the
mayor so long as he only contemplated
the robbery. But now that he is at
tacked , we cannot permit the traveller
to escape. In the eyes of the world the
defeat of our mayor would dishonor us. "
"The Lord be with us in our patriotic
effort , " said the man of God. "Let us
first sustain our village honor , and after
the Rebellious Traveller has been sub
dued , we may arrange about the dispo
sition of his effects. "
Therefore , with one accord , the guar
dians of morality rushed into the fray ,
and sat on the traveller while the mayor
benevolently assimilated his purse.
When last seen the clergyman was
opening a little Bible , to convert the
traveller before the latter died of his
wounds ; while the editor dictated a
scare-head for a special edition ; and the
mayor paraded the flag of the free.
A. C. PLEYDELL.
