Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1892 — The Cordage Trust Again. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Cordage Trust Again.

Since Nov. 2, 1891, the National Cordage Company, otherwise known as the Cordage Trust, has been paying John Good, the millionaire twine manufacturer, at the rate of $200,000 a year to keep his mills dosed down. Previous to that he had received $150,000 to keep his cordage mills idle. In connection with the ooutraot to shut down his mills the trust had an option for a purchase. Mr. Good, on the fourth day of April, returned the trust’s cheok, with the notice that if the trust did not avail itself of the option to purchase before April 26 he would resume business. The .National Cordage Company was organized under the laws of New Jersey in 1887. Its oapltal is $15,000,000. It contains a majority of the large eordage companies of the United States and nearly every one in Canada. Notwithstanding the express desire of the company to furnish cheap rope to the publio,

the prloe of that artiole has advanoed from five and a quarter cents to nine cents per pound since an agreement was reached with John Good. Mr. Good, says: "My chief reason for terminating the contract is that I find a very large number of customers are anxious for me to resume operations on my own aocount, and as 1 am in a position to make a profit at prioes whloh would not pay the cost of production to the National Cordage Company. I oan make as much money as they wore paying me, if not more. ”

The works of John Good embrace tho big plant at Bavenswood, Long Island, where the rope output amounts to 10,000 pounds daily, and the works in Brooklyn,. where Mr. Good manufactures all kinds of machinery for making rope and twine. He employs 300 men. As left by the McKinley bill, the duties on cordage and twine are from 6 to 36 per cent. With Good’s patent machinery for twisting rope and twine, cordage is made more oheaply in the United States than anywhere else. In foot we exported over ,$1,000,000 worth of cordage last year to almost every country and island on the globe. The oordage trust is an old offender, and its depredations were well known to the makers of the MoKinley bill, and yet these duties were left on cordage that this trust might raise prices until It could afford to pay one manufacturer $200,000 a year to remain Idle. Of course the cost of keeping Good's and other mills Idle has come out of the pockets of consumers.

A BACK-BREAKING BURDEN-Puck.