Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1898 — A DIALOGUE. [ARTICLE]

A DIALOGUE.

What is a trust? A boy asked his father. A trust, my son, in the modern sense, means an aggregation of persons who control large manufacturing concerns (making the same articles and who possibly have been cutting prices) formed into one mammoth company, this company is formed for the purpose of curtailing the cost—to the people? Oh, no, my son, of course we tell the people that is what trusts are formed for, but we don’t mean anything by it. Do you mean to say you do not tell the truth to the people, father? Oh, no, my son, we mean that the cost of manufacturing can be reduced to the trust —self preservation is the first law of nature, you know—and this enables us to limit production, maintain prices and secure a fair remuneration on the investment of our capital. And then if anything is left—we gobble on to that, too, and we usually have a soft snap.