Honolulu Republican, Volume IV, Number 504, 23 January 1902 — COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL. [ARTICLE]

COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL.

V far lark in lh» history of *he » >rld as th‘- tim»* of the indrnt <;r*-. ks and Roman* corporations and i -mblnations of c apital were plentiful. (’ndcr the •■arly Homan itfw corr .rations could l»- foran-d at the will «'f th« promoter without any special -tat<- authorization. There is a recof a combination in the i.nn trade which was established more than 2.- < 'it y»ars ago This was before the days nf protective tariff had develop- •• I in any part of the then known world. Xristotle t. lls us that “there was a man in Strut ne in the days of Diony- - is th* tyrant, who bought all thu iron in the Island of Sicily, and was able to s* 11 it at stu b prices as he pit asetl. aii'l thereby made such profit. When Dionysius. the tyrant, heard of this he was pleased with the ingenuity of tht man, ami told him that he might keep his money, but that he iiad better leave Syracuse." More than a century ago Hlackstone said "When it is for the advantage of the public to have a particular right kept on foot or continued, to constrm t artifb ial presence, who may mnitilHin a perpetual succession and enjoy a kind of legal immortality,” the law authorizing corporations seems certain ami proper. He predicted th« need of this form of organization "for the advantage of the public." Ragland's Industrial conditions were ♦ he precursor of those in the Unit«*d States Originally every individual worked and did business independentfor himself. Gradually, however, as the demands of Industry increas'd and broadened, productive enterprise was compelled to concentrate. Capital appeared and gave employment to workers, and so the employing and employed classes were developed. Idirgcr ent* rprlses of manufacture, mining and commerce called for the association of capital in order to carry on business to the best advantage, t’artncrshipg became common, and to tome extent corporations succeeded the pnrtnt rshlp form of doing bustn>\This was the condition of affairs in England down to the beginning of th« eighteenth century. in the United States industrial development began slowly, it was retarded by the conditions relating to the settlement and subjugation of a m w country, and by adverse English legislation that. until the beginning of their national existence aimt-d to repres-, all colonial manufacture. When, however, national Independence gave a stimulus to national enterprise, all ferns of industry went forward with ciant strides. In b ss than one-half a century w< were rivaling the mother country in the diversity and importanee of our manufacturing activities. The Unite.l States has been notably a nation of wealth producers and distributers. Our history is a record of masterly > ffort to w ring from the strongholds of nature the material gains that have enriched us. Inventive genius lias lightened the labor of hands an ! at the same time increased production and com umption to almost fabulous figures. Business saga, it\ and enterprise have developed commercial organization into a powerful machine, co-operating with labor and (mention for the general g-.vwl The factory system, that was to revolutionize the labor activity of mankind. began to exercise its influence in England a* early as 1730. when Watts roller spinning was introduced Fifty vears ago the mother of the household took a week to knit a pair of stockings, and the labor cost put into them was not more than a few cents. Fifty years ago band looms were used to weave cloth in every farmhouse throughout the country. Wool was cardv-d at home; rag carpets—homemade—covered the floors; farmers mowed their fields with scythes; the blacksmith forged the horseshoes for the village; the seam-, stress made the clothes that the titl*

and bnn wore and everybody de-! ponded upon lb*- shoemaker for footwear. All that U changed now. Machinery and factories have superseded Individual labor. Our knit goods. our shirts, indeed everything that we w*-ar. are made within the factory, because they can made better and cheaper there than they ever could be by individual workers. The mowing machine, the reaper, the raker, and the binder enable one or two men to do the work of twenty. Out of these inevitable conditions arose the corporation. With the factory came the foundry and the great manufacturing establishments, ever growing bigger and bigger in response to the ever increasing demand of the consuming public. It was no longer possible for the individual worker to the situation. The formation of industrial armies followed as a matter of course —larger ■ apital Was require*! than any one man could control. Partnerships were for a time effect-' Ive to a certain extent. The corporation in its early days was not in favor in England, and the feeling against It found frequent expression in the common law. In the foiled States similar hostility to corI(orations was exhibited even down to the middle of tie- nineteenth century. Nevertheless, the corporation had to come, whether the people fancied it or not. and whether the laws of the country gave free trade or protection to Industry. The small corporation has had its day. It will always remain. but for large enterprises it has been superseded by those aggregations of capital that, for want of a better term, are tailed trusts. These combinations are. after all. only cor-. [Mirations on a large scale. They are changed in size but not in form. It is i the highest development of the centralization idea manifested in capital and industry. It is the evolution of modern commerce and trade.