WHAT OF TRUSTS? by E. J. Driver

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Jun 7, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 23.

WHAT OF TRUSTS?

By E. J. Driver

ALMOST every paper brings us news of the formation of at least one gigantic trust or monopoly. The press all over the world is busy giving voice to the trust-opposing sentiments of thousands.

To-day as never before, we stand face to face with the stern reality that "money is power." The voice of the people has little weight when compared with the great balance of power on the side of wealth. In spite of all opposition the "trust-mad" spirit rages unrestrained.

And because these things are so, thoughtful minds are troubled with grave unrest and anxiety for looking after those things which are coming to pass in the earth. "The subject is a serious one," says Governor Pingree, of Michigan. "Why, if I had nothing, I wouldn't know how to advise my own son to start."

"And the cause of this?" he was asked.

"Are trusts and monopolies."

For a great many years labor unions and protective organizations have been formed among workmen to maintain their rights against the confederacies of wealth. But now they are beginning to realize that their precautions can but ineffectually compete with this insatiable greed for gain. It is becoming impossible for the laborer to get living wages.

"The trusts are inimical to the public policy," says the Philadelphia Ledger, "not only because they are monopolistic and in restraint of competition, but because they oppress labor. . . . There has been latterly scarcely a trust formed, the first step of which was not that of limiting production, by shutting down works and thus reducing the number of wage earners."

Speaking of this selfish principle, Attorney-General Haines, of Maine, says, "I expect to see the greatest panic the country ever saw in less than five years as a result of trusts."

Why?—Because wealth is working against its own best interest. "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." If they are sowing the seeds of hatred and unrest now, their harvest by and by can only be that bitter fruit, revenge.

"And the songs of the palace [homes of wealth] shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God; the dead bodies shall be many; in every place shall they cast them forth with silence. Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fall." Amos 8:3, 4, R.V.

The situation is terrible beyond human comprehension. Exaggeration is almost impossible. Blindly, madly, the world is rushing headlong into the horrors of revolution. The crisis is just before us.

O may we, therefore, as those who would hearken to understanding, become stockholders in that better union in Jesus Christ, that we may stand firm and fearless through the trials of the coming storm. E. J. DRIVER. Fresno, Cal.