HINDRANCES 65 



of evils responsible for the numerous conditions 

 against which we have been so long, and against 

 which we are now directing so great a body of re- 

 form measures'? 



The evolution of modern businesses, the natural 

 result of changed conditions of society, has thrown 

 us into a reformatory fit and so much energy of 

 speech, writing and legislative enactments, has 

 been directed against the concentration of capital 

 into great business combinations, which have 

 actually brought about better business methods of 

 manufacturing and transportation by which man- 

 ufactured products have been cheapened one-half 

 or more, and scores of men have been given em- 

 ployment, and better conditions, both as to prices 

 and employment, have been obtained that never 

 could have been secured by the individual acting 

 alone. Yet these combinations of capital which 

 have brought these bettered conditions and ad- 

 vantages to the people, have been denounced and 

 legislated against as the most monstrous of evils 

 that should not be allowed to exist, even under pro- 

 per regulation. And writers and speakers who see 

 both the good and the evils in these combinations 

 of capital, and know that the proper thing is to 

 regulate the evil out of them and encourage the 

 good in them, are cowed and become afraid to ex- 

 press their honest thoughts and convictions re- 

 garding them. 



