ft.
io The Conservative *
ABOUT TRUSTS.
As business corporations developed
aud multiplied , the number of alarm
ists who wore able to foretell the
evil they .would do kept pace with
their increase. But the quiet men
of thought , who philosophically appre
ciated the power of organization ,
and who knew the liability of power
to abuse , followed with the restrain
ing influence of the law.
Since the rise of that form of in
dustrial combination called the trast ,
this history has been repeated. The
country is full of political physicians
Tvho can diagnose the disease , but
their prescription of remedies is
either wanting altogether or is purely
empirical.
Every recent campaign has been
vocal with denunciation of the trusts.
The vocabulary of fear aud passion
has been tapped and run dry in such
discussion of the1 subject. And yet
how little real information have the
people received from this affluent
source.
The philosopher always searches
first for a natural reason for what is.
Ho is aware that in all the myriad
complexities which appear in the
affairs of men there is always , some
where , a natural law of limitation
and direction. The astute French
man who organized the first copper
trust called "Le Sooiete des Metaux , "
proceeded in disregard of natural
law. He combined all the copper
properties in the world that pro
duced down to a certain minimum of
pure metal from their ores. He then
arbitrarily and artificially put up the
price of copper , disregarding the sup
ply and demand. Unwittingly he ad
vanced it to a point at which it paid
to work the outside properties that
were below his minimum. Before he
SMI was aware of it these properties had
nearly as much copper on the market
as the trust , aud were getting its
price. His combination was broken ,
and , appalled by his mistake , he
committed suicide.
Here was the working of a natural
law. The power of a trust 'combina
tion lies in its capacity to economize
production. In certain ' . . .38 mills
aud manufactories are built at disad
vantageous points , to which the raw
material used must be carried at high
transportation' , and whence dis
tribution is expensive. But their
projectors are lured to misiocato their
plants by local subsidies , exemption
from taxation , and other induce
ments. If the line to which such
plants belong is combined in a trust ,
they are shut down , because their
production ia not economical. They
are worked against the natural law
of production and exchange. The
production is economized by confin
ing it to plants - that have the least
expensive acoess to rawjnaterial and
the cheapest means of distribution.
This economy is the profit of combi
nation , and it need not take its gains
out of the consumer by arbitrary in
crease iu the price he is compelled to
pay. The community iu which the
disused plant is located suffers , aud
is affronted. It is held up by the
political physician as a mournful ex
ample of the tyranny of trusts , but
the whole body of consumers is bene
fited by the greater economy of pro
duction aud the capital invested gets
a more certain return.
It is of interest to recall the fact
that this law operated in cheapening
railroad freights and fares. When
trunk lines were unknown , and.'sys
tems" were not dreamed of , a multi
tude of small corporations owned the
roads of the country. Though sev
eral links were projected in the same
direction , there was no through checker
or ticket. There was no law to com
pel one link to receive and transport
the frieght cars of another. Each
link had its separate operating and
administrative organization. Soon
the law compelled them to haul" the
freight cars for one another , and thus
they were taught combination. The
links were absorbed into trunk lines ,
the through check aud ticket ap
peared , a standard guage for tracks
was enforced , and the separate oper
ating and administrative organiza
tions disappeared aud were combined
in one It all 'meant economy in
operation , the rendering of a better
service at a less cost , and the econ
omy was carried forward into lower
rates for the benefit of the shipper.
Yet , this was combination. It im
plied greater power. But its liabil
ity to abuse was followed by every
legal restraint necessary to preserve
its power for good and to destroy its
power for harm.
It is not without interest to recall
that this economizing combination
was followed by appeals to popular
prejudice and fear , and was made the
subject of wofnl prophecies , now
and recently current , concerning the
projection of the same system into
the industrial mechanism of the coun
try. Yet it proved the beginning and
the cause of cheaper rates. If ship
pers were compelled to return to the
methods and the rates of the roads of
forty years ago the value of com
merce would be exhausted in the cost
of its transportation. Are the pro
phecies of evil any more valid now
than then ? Wo will see. Washing
ton Post.
ALFALFA EXPERIENCES.
[ By T. L. LYON , of the Nebraska Agricultural
Experiment Station. ]
During the winter of 1902 a list of
between 600 and 700 successful alfalfa
raisers in this state was collected ,
aud to each was sent a report blank
calling for a definite statement , re
garding a number of the processes ho
employed in obtaining his stand of
alfalfa , and also regarding his subse
quent care of the crop. More than
five hundred satisfactory replies were
received , representing eighty counties
in the state. A study of this large
number of reports from successful
alfalfa raisers gives some valuable
information respecting alfalfa cul
ture.
There wore 288 stands reported
upon upland , and 273 upon bottom
land. Even in the western portion of
the state the amount of alfalfa on
the upland is shown to be consider
able , and very satisfactory results are
evidently obtained , although naturally
the yields of hay are smaller than on
the bottom lands of that region. In
the eastern part of the state some
what heavier yields appear to be ob
tained from bottom land , but loss
from winterkilling or other cause is
greater. Twenty-throe reports state
that upland is moro satisfactory than
bottom land. These come princi
pally from the eastern portion of the
state or the irrigated land of the
western portion.
An astonishing feature of the re
plies is the large amount of alfalfa
that they show to be growing on
land , with a clay subsoil. Sandy
clay , clay loam , clay and lime , etc. ,
were not counted as clay. In spite of
this limitation , 245 clay or gumbo
subsoils are reported. A-clay or even
a gumbo subsoil does not appear to
be a barrier to successful alfalfa cul
ture.
The seed bed was prepared by
plowing and further working in 878
cases , and by disking or cultivating
in 75. Among the latter is one
method that appears to bo popular
and satistactory. This consists in
thoroughly disking corn laud after
all trash has been removed from the
field. In the western part of the
state there are a number of good
stands * of alfalfa obtained by break
ing prairie sod , disking it , and har
rowing in the seed ; al o by disking
the unbroken sod , and harrowing in
the seed. The latter commends. it
self as an easy way of supplementing
the native grasses in pastures. The
tendency to dispense with plowing on
unirrigated land increases with the ,
distance westward from .the Missouri.
A study of the dates of sowing al
falfa seed in the spring shows a range
from early March to late June , although - .
though where advice was volunteered
it was practically unanimous in favor
of early sowing. There wore only
eight reports of summer or fall sow
ing , of which one was sown in July ,
four in August and three in Septem
ber.
ber.In
In 108 oases a nurse crop was .used ,
