n
10 tlbe Conservative.
1VOKK OF TKUSTS.
Deere * Co. , thoPlow Manufacturers , IHMIC
a Circular to Their Agents.
[ From the Onnwn Weekly Democrat , Onawa ,
Town , November 2,18)9. ! ) ]
Customers who are inclined to ques
tion the reasonableness of the present
advance in the prices of plow goods , as
well as others , are requested to note
carefully the items appended.
Circumstances entirely beyond the
control of plow manufacturers have
forced us to increase our prices or shut
up shop.
The list includes the principal items
of material used by us in the manu
facture of plows. Besides these , how
ever , there are hundreds of other items
of lessor importance which have ad
vanced in like proportion.
This list shows the percentage of in
crease in cost of materials for the season
of 1900 over the cost of the same
materials for 1899.
With an average advance of over 100
per cent in the first cost of every scrap
of material used in plow making , it will
readily be appreciated that the advance
in price of the finished product , which
wo are compelled to make , will not cover
the increased cost of manufacturing the
goods.
Increase In Cost of Material for 1900 Over
Cost for Season of 18 ! ) ! ) .
Items.
Bolts and nuts
Cast Iron
Chains
Coulters
Fuel oil
Hard wood lumber. .
Pipe
Plow steel
Rivets
Shafting
Springs
Square tubing
Ste 'l angles
Steel disks
Steel bands , wide
Steel bands , regular.
Steel ovals
Steel , common
Steel , crucible
Steel , open henrth. . . ,
Steel , to pattern
Steel seats
Steel spring
Tubing
Washers
Wheels , steel
Wire
Wood screws
Per cent.
100
100
75
100
CO
25
150
50
08
200
100
100
129
90
150
125
103
115
100
109
150
70
100
150
80
GO
100
75
On many of the above articles prices
are still advancing.
The foregoing is respectfully sub
mitted to our friends and customers
with the request that it be given
thoughtful attention.
DEERE & COMPANY.
Moline , 111.
Who pays this enormous advance ? It
is the fanner who buys the plow. Who
reaps the result of the high prices ?
Very largely the trust combinations
When wore these advances made ? The
circular says it is on material to be used
m 1900 and that the increase is over that
of this year.
Have corn and wheat advanced during
the past year over 100 per cent ? The
farmer says no. Have they advanced
one per cent ? The answer is no. Have
conditions been favorable to an advance
of farm products ? Well , it would seem
so ; wo have fed a large army and have
enjoyed a large export trade. Why has
not the export of grains increased the
price ? Because they had to be sold on
; ho markets of the world at the same
price as grains were sold at from other
countries. What does Mark Hauua , the
chairman of the republican national
committee , say of trusts ? In a speech he
made a few weeks ago in Cleveland ho
said :
"Democrats say I am afraid to talk
about the trusts. That settles it. I am
going to talk about them. This combi
nation of capital for one purpose or
another is not a political question at all. "
Democrats and populists generally
believe that trusts are a bad thing and
must be treated or controlled by law as
other evils are.
Some years siuc °
Iji _ _ _
Mr. Bryan inaugu
rated the practice of writing a letter
immediately succeeding the November
election informing the people where he
was at. The first of these epistles was
addressed "To the Friends , " and was
issued November 9,1894 , after he learned
that the legislature would be republican
and that his hopes of being elected a
senator from Nebraska had vanished.
In that communication ho vigorously
advocated fusion in Nebraska as the
only possible means of defeating the
republican party. He notified the public
and warned the legal fraternity that he
should resume the practice of law after
the fourth of the succeeding March. He
never resumed.
On the Gth of November , 1890 , after
his defeat for the presidency he issued
his second manifesto which he ad
dressed "To the Bimetallists of the
United States. " In his first letter he
remarked upon the faithfulness of the
"common people" to him. In his second
ho changed the language by adverting
to the "plain people" who had expressed
by their action their affection for him.
He said that before the year 1900 arrived
"the evil effects of a gold standard wil
be even more evident than they iiow are
and the people , then ready to demand
an American financial policy for the
American people , will join with us in
the immediate restoration of the free
and unlimited coinage of gold and silver
at the present legal ratio of 10 to 1 with
out waiting for the aid or consent of any
other nation. "
November has come again and with il
not only an election but an enoyclica
from Candidate Bryan , addressed to no
body in particular. In it he makes no
mention of fusion. Ho fails to thank
; he democrats , populists , and silverites
'or uniting upon one set of candidates.
He writes not a word about gold or sil
ver. Ho mentions neither the "com
mon people" nor the "plain people. " He
attempts in a halting way to obtain
comfort from the election returns in
different states , but it is easily read
between the lines that the result is most
unsatisfactory to him.
What man is this who assumes to ad
dress the public through the uiediiiin of
signed communications published in the
journals of the day ? Simply a common
candidate for office. He was a success
ful candidate in ' 90 and ' 92 ; an unsuc
cessful candidate in ' 94 and ' 90. He is a
waiting candidate now and if he lives he
will next year be the candidate of the
democratic party. He denounces trusts
and yet during his two terms in con
gress he introduced no measure which
tended to restrict such combinations nor
did he demand the enforcement of the
existing anti-trust law. He can point tone
no measure that he ever advocated , tone
no act that he over performed which to
any extent or any degree tended to
ameliorate the condition of human kind.
Certainly the people of Nebraska are
allured by sounding brass and clanging
cymbals. Lincoln Courier , Saturday ,
Nov. 18 , 1899.
THE THUEATENED 1'APEK FAMINE.
The most noteworthy development in
the paper trade during the last two
weeks is that the anxiety of consumers
on account of the rise in prices has given
place to anxiety about obtaining paper
at any price. In some quarters this
anxiety has become so acute as to over
shadow everything else , and unless the
relief of copious rains comes quickly
there is serious danger that some pub
lishers whose needs are immediate and
constantly recurring , such as the owners
of daily and weekly newspapers and of
monthly magazines , will find it prac
tically impossible to supply them.
Under these circumstances the ad
vance in prices is less surprising than
the fact that they have not been jumped
up to the famine mark. This latter fact
speaks well for the influence upon the
market of the great combines and the
powerful mills that practically control
the supply and set the pace in upward
or downward price movements. That
that influence has been and is conserva
tive is proved by the steadiness of the
paper market under critical conditions.
There has been much panicky talk
during the last two weeks , and dealers
in paper whose stocks have run low are
undoubtedly alarmed. But under con
ditions that would explain if not justify
sharp upward leaps , prices have been
held steady at a level brought about
legitimately by the advance in the cost
of raw materials. From New York
Paper Trade Journal.
* -