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Show H m WHY TRUSTS FLOURISH. M 1 f l Hi Many people wonder why the great trusts of the I1 -: country cannot be downed. The chief reason is be- ' ! cause what the trusts do in a large way is precisely ( H what the majority of business men try to do In a , ' smaller way according to their means and their f ifl abilities. The coal merchant who in the winter l when the roads are blocked and the thermometer is ,!f kuB at zero, says "God help the poor," and then to his jjjl fB clerk says, "Advance the price of coal a dollar a .( fl ton,'' is simply working his own little trust. Mr. m jjjjH Jones of Arkansas cried his eyes out for years over Jfl the iniquity of trusts, but at the first opportunity J Wt established one of his own that covered the entire ( ?Jfl cotton belt. Mills and Hogg of Texas were furious I' .B anti-trust men. They "found oil and at once be- ij? '" came monopolists only exceeded by the Standard ;fl Oil company. i jfl I 'il inHl Ex-Senators Towne and Pettigrew suddenly wfirH changed into warm advocates of the omnipotence 4kH of money after they had each made some fortunate S H speculations. Mr. Bryan himself is working a lf!H trust. He is running a newspaper and expects a fpilfl mightv subscription list, not on the excellence of IwisH his journal, but upon his reputation as a contin- IHhH uous candidate for the Presidency, and his lip-love HHI for all the poor and oppressed who can vote. iflGH The labor unions are trusts. They clajm special iff fH privileges for working men, and among those prlv- ' fl ileges is the privilege to boycott any workingmen ' Irlfl who will not join their order. Coming down to tfil local affairs, the Mormon church is the biggest tlJI commercial and political trust in its way in Ameri- JUllM ca, for its board of directors are self-elected in the 19 first place, and their claim in the second place is IfPI that they are exempted from making any account- if H ing, next that they never propose to pay any divi- ! dends, next that an assessment of 10 per cent a !$19 year is due from all members, and. lastly, that un- ill 9 der their charter they have the right to control the HH business and the political convictions of all mem- ber3 of the order, and the power, in case of diso- H bedience to destroy the prosperity of any member fmifl on earth and to damn his soul to all eternity in tho Ml world to come. HH in This, too, is under the Stars and Stripes in iKifl what is supposed to be free America, in a land IPhI founded on the theory of man's exact equality be- IkBI fore the law, in a land the grand opportunities of IH which are supposed to be open to every citizen and ' the safety of which rests solely upon the intelll- ImhAI gence and patriotism of the units which combined 191 make the great America nation. eHHI Is it any wonder that tho trusts flourish with' HI impunity? InJiH Is it any wonder that the voters in their zeal to Jftfl make money, that they, too, may build up a little lH trust somewhere, on election day fall down? The uEfl most terse exhibition of human nature supplied in ilfl history is that story of how after Moses had led !HH the Israelites out of Egypt amid scenes more im- ffl pressive than any people had ever witnessed before; iaB when they had seen the first born die and the other 1HB afflictions in Egypt, had seen the power of Egypt fflH overthrown, the chariots, the horses and horsemen H in the Red sea; though the pillar of cloud led their j flfl way by day, the pillar of fire by night; though the j H rock had been smitten to give them water when IflVAl fainting with thirst; though when they were starv- I ing for food manna fell to restore them; even lHI when the quaking mountain, the blazing light- "JSYfll nings and thunder peals on Sinai were direct TIBb -' shDh mrwm - H - 'If i notices that the Infinite Jehovali in person was HI 'IX I near;, that people gladly contributed their jewels H I 'If iff ' to make a trust of their own and have cast for HI "' H si them a god. HLI jjwl "When it appeared in the 'form of a golden calf Hi ill! they fell down and worshiped it. That golden calf B 1 III ' has been man's chiefest worship ever since. SjlJi! |