'Cbe Conservative.
MAKJOBIE.
On nights Horono when moonlights' glow
Spreads o'er the earth Its aubtlo spell ,
While shadows blond with silver lights
And faint winds whisper , "All is well , "
Then oft again comes one I loved ,
To live and move through evening dreams ,
And Marjorie , sweet Marjorie
Is smiling in the moon's white beams.
Toward me she comes from out the dusk ,
Her white form moves with shadowed grace ,
Now dim in shade , now clearly scon ,
Her face gleams from each silvered space.
And if it bo o'er whitened lawn ,
Or through the long walk's winding way ,
My Marjorie , sweet Marjorie
Brings radiance of joyous day.
For , though my arms stretch out in vain ,
And though her voice ne'er greets my car ,
She speaks from shadows to my heart
So surely is her presanco near.
I grasp again my youthful hopes ,
I hold tiio aspirations high
That Marjorie , sweet Marjorie
Held with mo ere her life passed by.
I know 'tis only fancy's play ,
Dear memories that flit in view ,
But all life's evil fades away
And all its best shines out anew
Whene'er the silent , silvered night
Brings blessing with its charming dreams ,
And Marjorie , sweet Marjorie
Comes smiling in the moon's white beams.
MAUV FKENCH MOHTON.
TRUSTS.
The following able and scholarly dis
cussion of the trust question is taken
from the Davenport , Iowa , Democrat :
Too much of a good thing is a bad
thing. Competition , the life of trade ,
may be so exhausting as to be its death.
Go-operation is the basis of civilization ,
but , carried to the extreme , and made
universal by compulsion , it ends in so
cialism and slavery. Moderation alone
has no extremes and is safe.
The progress of civilization is like a
rising tide , advancing and then reced
ing , but creeping higher all the while.
In short , we go to extremes , with a sure
reaction ; but we advance again , and
the sum of the centuries is progress.
In government we have so centralized
the power that we have had despotisms ;
we have BO divided it that we have had
futile and chaotic organisms like Po
land. In economics , also , paternalism
has been carried to such extremes , in
trade and labor regulations , as to fetter
and strangle both capital and labor.
On the other hand freedom of contract
between employer and employee has
gone so far as to result in the moral and
physical degeneration of factory em
ployees , calling for comprehensive inter
ference by the state. In this country
we have generally followed the "laisses
faire" theory of personal liberty , mak
ing notable exceptions in our tariff and
factory legislation , and our recent sta
tutes against trusts.
In industrial matters we have been
guilty of excesses , both in competition
and cooperation. Unbridled competi
tion , devoid of cooperation , is savagery
pittiless warfare , leaving the survivors
but little better off than their victims.
It would render civilization , which is
based on cooperation , impossible.
Partnership.
When two men work together , in
stead of independently , whether they
share products , as partners , or one re
ceives wages from the other , we have
the most primitive case of cooperation.
The social instinct , as well as the gain
in production over what would result
from separate action , drove men to co
operation , in some form , under the
wage system , in partnership more or
less extended , and also in companies or
associations , wherein many men placed
their capital under a single manage
ment which employed wage earners.
This last plan presents in its essence the
modern corporation. A great advantage
which insures its permanence , is that
it enables men of small means , by join
ing their capital under one manage
ment , to-compete with very rich men ,
who otherwise would have a decided
advantage , inasmuch as production and
distribution can be carried on more ef
fectively on a large scale.
While these groups of cooperators
have been formed the movement has
stopped far short of universal coopera
tion , and competition between the
groups has been the rule. During the
past thirty years this competition has
often been carried to such on extreme
as to be ruinous to the participants and
injurious to the public. Competition ,
which stimulates the activity of the
brain , bringing forth improvements in
the mechanical arts and in business
methods , increases the production of
labor , making possible higher wages to
the toilers , fair profits to the furnishers
of capital , and lower prices to consum
ers. Competition may produce these
benefits without serious drawbacks , but
if it goes to an extreme and becomes
merciless , prices may go down so low
that wages ore out and business con
ducted at a loss , often ending in bank
ruptcy. Disorganized business , ruined
manufacturers and merchants , wasted
capital , and idle workmen ore evils for
which abnormally low prices do not
compensate , especially as they may be
succeeded by prices as abnormally high.
The social body is dependent mpon the
welfare of the units which compose it ,
and suffers indirectly but surely from
injury to any of them.
Inordinate and disastrous competition
of recent years is due to various caus
es , among which are cheap and speedy
transportation and a decline in what
may be called the human feeling in bus
iness matters.
Primitive Days of Competition.
When transportation was expensive
and slow the merchant and mauufactur-
er had a limited field of operation. He
was thoroughly acquainted with this
field , knew the amount of goods that
were consumed by the inhabitants , and
also was personally acquainted with his
customers , and on more or less friendly
relations with them. To prevent com
petitors at a distance from shipping in
their goods it was only necessary for
him to be moderate in his prices. There
was little temptation for the outsider to
establish a store or factory within the
occupied territory , as he could clearly
see that there was not sufficient demand
to support two , and that the danger of
his failure was great.
In those cases where several men
were in the same business within this
limited territory they were usually per
sonally acquainted , having mutual
friends and common interests outside of
their business. This tended to mitigate
the fierceness of competition , and in
sensibly led toward agreements , often
tacit , for fixing uniform prices , often
maintained so long as to have the force
of custom. The price of a loaf of
bread , a quart of milk , a glass of beer
and other things , in this way became
fixed.
The personal acquaintance of the
storekeeper or manufacturer with his
customers and their families was also
some restraint upon his selfishnessthe re
straint being strong in proportion to the
closeness of the social relation. A
stranger might be robbed with impunity
but not his own neighbor. If you have
any doubt of the strength of this feeling
visit the small summer resorts where ,
as a stranger , you must pay twice as
much as the natives for everything.
Our altruism has not gone very far be
yond that of the ancients who consid
ered a foreigner an enemy to be feared
if strong and plundered if'weak. We
still yield occasionally to the old im
pulse to "heave a brick at the stran
ger. "
On the other hand the customer knew
the shopkeeper who supplied his wants ;
he not only knew the grocers , Jones and
Smith , but he knew their families. He
saw the little Jones and Smith children ;
knew that they needed to be clothed
and sent to school , was sorry for them
when their clothes were shabby and
their shoes out at the toes , and had no
objection to Jones and Smith making a
fair profit in their business , or to their
agreeing upon uniform prices. In fact ,
he rather preferred that the prices
should be the same. He expected law
yers , doctors and dentists to have uni
form fee bills for ordinary services , and
approved of uniform prices for the
services of barbers , hockmen and
others.
Conditions Change.
The growth of cheap and rapid , trans
portation , which was accompanied by
corresponding development in the me
chanical arts , has changed all this. It
