TIIK FARMER AND THE TRUSTS. 403 



and annoyance, with a small loss instead of a small profit on 

 each sale. As a result it was cheaper and more agreeable to 

 the wholesale merchants, to submit to the Trust, and be 

 governed by its rules themselves, meanwhile being faithfully 

 protected by the Trust in the small i)rofits which were 

 allowed. By making prices for sugar delivered within certain 

 territory, and different prices in other territory, it was per- 

 fectly feasible for the eastern and western branches of the 

 Trust to divide the country between them according to the 

 terms of any private contract which may exist. In case of 

 disagreement between the two branches, the natural and reg- 

 ular course of events would be a severe "fight" in which one 

 or both parties would invade the territory of the other with 

 cut prices, possibly building a new refinery, and generally 

 carrying on an expensive warfare by which the public would 

 temporarily benefit while it was going on, and ultimately pay 

 for, when, in the course of events, the contestants, tired of 

 losing money, had settled their differences by a new arrange- 

 ment stronger than ever. 



I have selected the Sugar Trust as the example, not only 

 because the conditions for such a Trust are better than for 

 most others, but because they tend to certain methods for main- 

 taining its powers of which I wish to speak. It is not, how- 

 ever, the only important Trust. There are hundreds of them,* 

 many of which are far more oppressive to the farmers than the 

 Sugar Trust can be, because the margin between the actual cost 

 of refined sugar and the price at which it can be imported is 

 never large enough to make a very great difference in what 

 will be used by one family, the immense quantity sold, how- 

 ever, making the profit to the Trust very large. In such 

 articles as plows, sewing-machines, bicycles, stoves, agricul- 

 tural machinery, and the like, in which there are or ma}'- be 

 Trusts, sometimes far more eftectively protected by patents 

 than sugar can be by the tariff, the chance for unreasonable 

 profits, and the loss to individual farmers thereon, may be far 

 more serious than from any Trust controlling sugar, nails, 



*See Appendix G, VI, for list of Trusts. 



