PERILS. — SOCIALISM. 155 



sowing socialistic seed. The Liverpool Cotton Exchange 

 in 1882 by manipulating prices, stopped 15,000,000 spin- 

 les, thus taking the bread out of the mouths of thou- 

 sands of men, women, and children. The above simply 

 illustrates a strong tendency toward combination and 

 monopoly, which is one of the darkest clouds on our 

 industrial and social horizon. Many industries are com- 

 bining to force down production — that means that work- 

 ing men are thrown out of employment ; and to force up 

 prices— that means increased cost of living. There are 

 great numbers of ''syndicates" or "trusts," all formed 

 in the interest of capitalists. Small dealers must enter 

 the combination or be crushed. Once in, they must sub- 

 m.it to the dictation of the " large " men. Thus power is 

 being gathered more and more into the hands of con- 

 scienceless monopolies. 



Adam Smith thought wheat was less liable than any 

 other commodity to be monopolized by speculators, 

 because "' its owners can never be collected in one place." 

 But this supposed impossibility is practically overcome 

 by the railway and telegraph, and now Boards of Trade 

 arbitrarily make and unmake the prices of food, and 

 wheat is as easily "cornered" as anything else. A 

 single firm in Chicago in 1880, gained control of the pork 

 market, more than doubled the price, and cleared over 

 seven million dollars on a single deal, the influence of 

 which in advancing prices was felt in every part of the 

 world. The full significance of such transactions is seen 

 only when we consider, as has been shown by Drs. Drys- 

 dale and Farr, of England, that the death rate rises and 

 falls with the prices of food. When the necessaries of 

 life are "too easily " secured, combinations declare a 

 war against plenty, production is stopped, and tens of 

 thousands are forbidden to earn while prices rise. Thus, 

 in this land of plenty, a few men may, at their pleasure, 

 order a famine in thousands of homes. 



This is modern and republican feudalism. These 

 American barons and lords of labor have probably more 

 power and less responsibility than many an olden feudal 



