THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF TRUSTS 129 



majority of forty one combinations recently investigated 

 "did not answer this question specifically/' while the rep- 

 resentations made by the minority claimed no great economy 

 in purchases except in a few cases. Even when considerable 

 savings are realized, it is always possible that these represent, 

 chiefly or wholly, gains on that part of the aggregate pur- 

 chases which was formerly made by the smaller and weaker 

 establishments; so that the realizing of a net gain does not 

 establish the existence of an advantage over the largest com- 

 panies that entered the combination. 



Finally, we come to economies in advertising and in 

 soliciting business, where the wastes of competition are cer- 

 tainly serious and the room for improvement correspondingly 

 great. Those who deny the tendency to monopoly generally 

 admit that a trust can have a material advantage here, while 

 those who affirm the existence of such a tendency evidently 

 realize that their case is strongest at this point. Yet an 

 opportunity for saving in these departments does not always 

 exist, and the extent of the economy is easily exaggerated in 

 other cases. Mr. Nettleton is right when he says: "But to 

 whatever extent the trust organizers have counted on prac- 

 tically cancelling expenditure for these two items, on the 

 ground that buyers will be obliged to come to the sole manu- 

 facturers, they are likely to be surprised. Those trusts that 

 have tried this experiment have discovered that demand for 

 commodities falls off with remarkable rapidity as soon as 

 effort in pushing sales is materially reduced. To an extent 

 which few appreciate, the buying public has become accus- 

 tomed to being reminded of its needs before making purchases. 

 The country merchant often has more inertia than enterprise, 

 and, with the periodical visits of his favorite drummer dis- 

 continued, his orders dwindle or are delayed until unseason- 

 able. Except in staple and absolutely necessary commodi- 

 ties, demand is largely created and maintained by advertising 

 through periodicals, catalogues, or traveling salesmen. Hence, 

 the trust that expects to save the bulk of this important item 

 must also expect to lose through diminished sales more than 

 the economy represents. This is not theory, but the testi- 

 mony of leading dealers in many lines." 



Vol. 3-9 



