factories is not necessary to reach the evil. Yet in the case of large trusts like Standard Oil and Tobacco, the Roosevelt administration adopted just that remedy by starting suits which worked out their natural result in Mr. Taft's administration to Mr. Roosevelt's and most other people's disapproval.

The Standard Oil trust has seldom bored for any of its own oil. It preferred to buy the oil from innumerable oil seekers who themselves stood the loss when they did not find. If such a law against unfair competition in selling as we propose had been in effect and had been enforced, the Standard would have been unable to work undue harm either to its competitors in refining or to dealers. If it had not been able to put the former out of business there would have been plenty of competition for the purchase of crude oil. The Standard would also now, perhaps, be a small concern proportioned only to the limited ability of its managers, not to unlimited, extortionate and adventitious oppression. This state of things would have led to each plant supplying that portion of the country which it can supply most cheaply. It would have left natural competition to operate in each section instead of allowing the Standard to monopolize the whole country by making one part of the country for a time carry another.

Of course there are pipe lines and railroads to be considered. Corporations which need a carrier's franchise are in another category. The regulation

of railroads seems fairly assured. There is no necessity for allowing a merchandising oil company to own a pipe line any more than a railroad. Both are public service corporations. Corporations were originally formed, among other things, to make the transfer of interests easy. They have no necessary advantage in creating a monopoly. So far as their size now aids them to create a monopoly it can be easily rendered impotent for evil by following the spirit of the common law according to well-established methods. Size aids only in unfair competition. Under the fair competition of civilized commercialism it will be harmless. A $100,000,000 company cannot better afford to lose $1,000,000 a year than the $100,000 company can afford to lose $1,000 a year. In the case of the Steel and other corporations which themselves own (or lease) the major part of a natural product within the nation's boundaries, there is a monopoly of ownership (or control) as well as a monopoly of the means of distribution. By the removal of all tariff favors these corporations can be placed upon an equality with those who do not own or control the nation's sources of supply. There is a world-source for iron and steel and, once the excess tariff has been removed, the Steel Corporation will be on a par with the Standard Oil Company in this respect. The Standard has come to its position of greatness because it was able to undersell competitors piecemeal, not because those

competitors could not buy oil from producers. The Steel Corporation has to some extent, aided by the tariff, been able in addition to narrow the source of supply for its competitors by buying or leasing the most extensive ore fields. Were any excess tariff removed the company would have to meet competition from those who would have access to the ore fields of the world which it cannot yet monopolize. But monopoly of ownership will count for less under the proposed statute, for it will become monopoly's own self-interest to sell low enough to all to sell to the number of customers who furnish its largest total profit at a single price. That will be far lower than the present highest price to some. "Dumping" will be abolished. Much of the present mismatching of trust production, which poisons the channels of trade and brings panics at shorter and shorter periods, leaving times between almost all hard, will be prevented.

Monopoly is an evil only when it is monopoly at high prices. Monopoly at low prices is a blessing yet unseen by mortal eyes. Under civilized commercialism it will open to their vision if there is one combination anywhere which can be everywhere more efficient than anybody else. This will mean a low price on a nation-wide scale. In that case there will be no one anywhere who will not be able to put more money in his pocket by buying from monopoly than by making the article himself. This is now

unknown and, except for civilized commercialism, will so remain.

Publicity automatically prevents piratical selling to two buyers before their faces. The retailer in general cannot do it and does not try. The wholesaler does piratical selling only by practising secrecy. He claims to do no wrong because chancelors have not yet found his collar nor the penal brogan his trousers seat. The wholesaler's system is to sell to all at the same time, like the retailer, but he differs from the latter in making every trade a barter. When fully utilizing the present system he gets all he can from each instead of trying to make an equal price for all. He gets much more than he could get by such a price because he gets the full benefit of all the high trades.

Assume a merchant has for sale 111,111,111 barrels of oil which could all be sold at $2. They cost him $1 per barrel and he could make a reasonable profit at $2. If he sold all at $2 he would make $111,111,111 profit. This is 100 per cent. but not satisfactory to our wholesaler. Further assume that there are men in the country who will buy some of the oil at higher prices. One has a sick mother and needs a lamp at night. He will give $10, if necessary, for one barrel rather than leave his mother in the dark. Ten other men have sickness but are not quite so well-to-do, and they decide that $9 is all they will pay or go without. There are some 100

merchants who will each give $8, 1,000 will give $7, 10,000 $6, 100,000 $5, and 1,000,000 $4, rather than close at dark. Their stores are of varying prosperity and each decides on the figures at which it will pay to shut up shop. Other barrels can be worked off on those who either need them less or have less money, 10,000,000 at $3 and 100,000,000 at $2. Our wholesaler sends at the same time to each buyer a different salesman who makes a sale for the most his buyer is willing to pay. As many markets are made as there are buyers instead of all coming into one market, as they do in economic books on the theory of exchange. The wholesaler makes many markets in order to avoid making one price. He does not change economic theory. He merely so stacks the situation that economic theory works for him instead of for all. The pickings for the wholesaler who, meanwhile, denounces political economy as merely "theoretical" are as follows: