The Strong Trade Position of Manufacture. 83 



changes entirely the basic principle of commercial rela- 

 tion between man and man. ' ' 



"Combination as an economic force is fast coming to 

 take the place of competition. The producers are com- 

 bining, transportation companies are combining, trades- 

 men are combining, workmen as well as employers are 

 combining, everything seems to be combining in some 

 form of combination, and everybody seems to be a com- 

 biner. The competition that still remains is fast dis- 

 appearing. Workmen are refusing to compete for jobs. 

 Labor unions are enlarging the spheres of their activity 

 and extending their operations. The union of the employ- 

 ers is still stronger and more far-reaching than the union 

 of the workmen. We are now having combination of com- 

 binations. The United States Steel Corporation is a com- 

 bination of a dozen heretofore competing producers, who 

 themselves were combinations of still other producers, 

 and these in turn, often of combinations of still others. 

 To trace them back to their beginnings is like discovering 

 all the multitude of sources that go to make up the vol- 

 ume of the swollen Mississipi)i. ' ' 



The great class of which it is not true that they are 

 combining is the agricultural ; and it is significant that in 

 the above indictment no mention is made of the men so 

 engaged. As usual, the fact of the farmer's existence 

 was forgotten or ignored. 



To what extent the nation is brought under bondage is 

 indicated by Mr. Franklin Pierce in his book, ' ' The Tariff 

 and the Trusts." We give an illustration of his state- 

 ments, pages 65 and (^Q: "The Pittsburg Plate Griass 

 Company has a capital of $10,000,000. In 1899 it con- 

 trolled 682 out of 946 pots in the manufacture of glass, 

 and it increased the prices of plate glass within three 



