THE FARMER AND THE TRUSTS. 399 



Trusts. The i)opular conception seems to be of a body of 

 wealthy men, already in the enjoyment of exorbitant i)rofits, 

 deliberately uniting because thereby they can extort greater 

 and unreasonable profits. Nothing can be further from the 

 truth. In this I am not speaking at random, for it has 

 happened to me in more than one instance, to be engaged in, 

 or to quite thoroughly know about, the formation of Trusts 

 both among manufacturers and among farmers. There was 

 no difference in the men, or in their avowed motives. Neither 

 was there any difference in the outcome. In both cases the 

 Trusts first formed were ineffective and short-lived, and for 

 the same reason that there was no mutual confidence, or 

 general intent to observe in good faith the conditions of the 

 Trust. The lack of good faith grew out of the disbelief in 

 the good faith of others. In both cases, also, repeated trials 

 resulted in progress, and constantly increasing eff'ectiveness. 

 In both cases the difficulty was with "outsiders" who would 

 not unite with the others, and in both cases the "outsidei-s" 

 were in the main those who were either strongest financially — 

 meaning by that freedom from debt ratlier than magnitude 

 of operations — or those who believed that they could produce 

 chea[)er tlian others. Finally the farmers and manufacturers 

 were alike in being moved to cooperate in a Trust only by the 

 fact that they were being ruined by competition. My personal 

 observation has been such as to fully convince me that neither 

 capitalists, manufacturers, or farmers ever cooperate in the 

 formation of a Trust until depressed by losses, and the fear of 

 greater losses. There is in the breast of all human beings a 

 desire for independent and uncontrolled action, which only 

 gives way to the sternest necessity. Trusts being the result of 

 unprofitable business, their first effort is an attempt to raise 

 prices, and usually the raise is justifiable. In this the manu- 

 facturers are quite likely to succeed, while the farmers are not 

 so likely, by reason of the fact that they are very seldom able 

 to adequately control the sources of supply. 



Having thus, I hope, gotten rid of the feeling of prejudice 

 with which farmers are apt to approach the subject of Trusts, 

 and realized that the successful Trusts are doing nothing that 



