Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 58, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1914 — By Far Greater Number of Large Organizations Fall Short of Monopoly [ARTICLE]

By Far Greater Number of Large Organizations Fall Short of Monopoly

By CHARLES R. VAN HISE,

President University of Wisconsin

IN a discussion 6f the trusts it will be well to question to what extent there is general agreement concerning them. It is widely agreed by those who have considered the question of big business that MONOPOLY SHOULD BE PKOHIBITED; also there is an equally general conviction that unfair practices should be eliminated. It is further agreed universally that competition should be retained. These premises I shall accept in this discussion without any attempt to prove their soundness. There may be great magnitude in business and not mopopoly. Indeed, it is believed that by far the greater number of large organizations fall short of monopol}\ Only if we assume that all of the greiit combinations of industry' arc monopolies does the conclusion follow that they should be destroyed. NOT ONLY DO I HOLD THAT NOT ALL LARGE BUSINESS IS MONOPOLISTIC, BUT THAT CONCENTRATION UP TO A CERTAIN POINT IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO GIVE EFFICIENCY. IT WOULD NOT BE HELD BY ANY ONE, I IMAGINE, THAT WE SHOULD RETURN TO THE SITUATION OF FIFTY OR SIXTY YEARS AGO, IN WHICH INDUSTRY WAS MINUTELY SUBDIVIDED, IN WHICH THERE WERE FEW ORGANIZATIONS OF LARGE SIZE. DO ANY OF YOU BELIEVE THAT WE SHALL EVER RETURN FROM THE GREAT FLOUR MILL TO THE CROSS ROADS GRIST MILL? IT IS IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMIC GAINS OF MAGNITUDE.