PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14480, 29 June 1911, Page 5

PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

_ ♦ OF MONOPOLIES. J LECTURE BY PROFESSOR BULIA . There wo» a atteadaaoe in tte > Assembly Rooms last evening, wbsa ' Professor Mills, of Milwaukee, gave as ontortuiuing ;itid instructive address on "The Public Owuuisiup of afap> i opolised Industries," clou!iu({ with iis' ! subject in a distinctly pleasing mis> ner. . . , Mr Jesso Reader, president of tfc* local branch of the Labour Party, pre. ' sided, and briefly introduced *Uw speaker, wjio, he mid, was a station of humanity and would givo a most' . interesting lecture. For tlio ProfestV or's sake, he might mention tb>t m i lecturer in Tiraaru the other day sali * that Batcialisni was not in bamxifljt.'. with facts and experience, was oppotv ; cd to religion, gave tiho impreosioß ~' that .Soeiulu.m was revolutionary, utd 'v stated that it was opposed to human ,';, nature. The chahman went on to .■ refer to an articUj in the Herald" of Monday last on the falfc ,'•/ uro of Socialism in Milwaukee, alia </'< said the only thing that spoiled tb*„sjj argument was a statement thut Amerk ' f ca had since •elected twelvo Socialist,'*; Mayors. Prcfeaior Mills, who WM'.M well acquninted with tho ' pmiticm; W wonld no doubt, toll them seraothinjjS about it. i "s| Vmiceeot Mills, Who was enthasUaw i% tioslly reooived, aoid he was *t the exporienoea of Sooiahstl to Tl-'yf mnru. Ho would pay ton shflUjiM'jkJ apioo* for any plank m file Socialw-'oE tie platform oonErmrnß any of the legatloDS mode, an named by -Uio chair-- % raan. Ho would ask some on© sent to SBk'tbo' lecturer (referreo toAj* by tfhe chairman) to produce proof' of |SE bis statements or admit that ho-,w«r ' f a. liar. (AppUvuso). t ', J f "I am a Socialist," oontinoed th» J-i Professor "because tboro are million* vj-| of men that > have boon pulled dlown, f and trampled on. I want to "aoj(-'| them pulled up. Will you tell preacher that newly every olergyina«,'*.j in the- city 1 came from votes on*- Jy ticket," (Applause.) . J i;, The subject of his address susMsted >•■;, three points to deal with, Q.) W'P abuse monopolies (2) to abuse Urn "i people in monopolies and (8) to WfhM pose some way. by wnioh n»onop«i*» l fW could be destroyed, He was going to m leave these three points cat of tb» ; -f} question. Ho was not going to poso any scheme io destroy monopoltsfjiii'i because lie .'did not want to »pm"& them. - No sdherne was ever proposal j| by mortal man. by which a moabpoljr S could be destroyed, Giving the ilrui" tration of a naif-built houso not Sttifc {* ing, the Professor said a private onoly was a half-finished structure attfl •; ) he wishedl to oompleto it, no* destyojr, ' it. Dealing with the boot and industry the Professor said there no less tfban one hundred and five- difcf','' fercnt' portions in the manfactur* of^ 1 , a boot in America, Tho process or," >* putting; heels on shoae was divided > i into twelve oooupatdoaa. Tw shoo industry was but a secondary in» ,') dustry to the Beef Trußt ia Aroeno*. \" ■Tho larger that Trust becamo_W,"', more powerful it would be. , .Tnew > . was no choice between oompatition my ono hand and monopoly on to* -' other. When monopoly . arrived v' in any industry, it was. meviUW ,t" that it must irsmain a jnoo- v opoly. There- wore jndiistne* which could not-bo made into mono»,'. A polies, never were MW.,' never could be. Society was enfferiaf; ;■> from monopoly, for it had to p«y.to« <js monopoly price. There wore two WndJ ■•- of monopoly, private monopoly •ro ! j«!{,, public monopoly. Pnvab* «°»OfOJ»*ir waa run privately by part rf tb*9*ojflp ,' so that they could use their against those outsido tho monopoly, k ' public monopoly was one with oil w* .. people in it, which served to give VM> people all the fruita of modern indua* try. So long as private monopoly re* mained, private monopolists would am all tihe benefit. . So soon as publ» monopoly got the ■■ better of priwU monopoly, the results of moderoKoa would belong to the people, who could share tho results on -terms of oquahty. The Government liad tho right to buy any private proptrty whatever. All of the people, acting togetlier through tha public power, exercised this power to buy private property for iiUblio pn»» poses. Just the eame, all the pooplay acting together, mado and fixed. the taxes, revised, adjusted and ro-adjust-ed schemos for taxation ne long as in the adjustment they deemed it for the. common good. Referring to tho power of trusts in America, ho said tho day was pretty well done when trade production could,bo caincd on in violation, of the law, and sates with the protection of tho law. Instead of .nsking for public ownership of monopoly, ho asked for publio control of tho great monopolies. That was all he wanted, and his only reason for asking for pub- . lie ownership of the monopolies was that he wanted to control them. If the public were not going to control monopolies they did not want to own them. ' There was publio ownership of monopolies in Atnei ica for 25 years, and the law male it a felony to a monopoly. But nil was and the law was made of monopoiisUiT"' The Beef Trust had been fined/ and paid their fine by uising tlio prito of bctef. Thus tho people and not the Trust paid tho fine; tho people fined tho Trust and then paid tho fine, (Laughter.) There was not a singls American monopoly which waa controlled t<> brin;; down prioes. President Taft in a publio speech, said tlint if the poopio of America bought tho railways it would impoverish thera to ~nch an extent that it would be centuries they rocovored. Really tho ~ot of going into debt formed (il« psthway to riches if it was a wiso debt. Professor Mills dealt nt some lengMt with tho modol .■ichomo of municipoii> sntioii in Ghisgow, whoto praatically all tlto serv-cos w<to owned ' y tlio people, and homes provided for tlio workers. Tho not in«;mo Inst wnr over ull eharpps had bvu i £200,000, and tha snrp us would bo used in buying Uft morp monopohes. Uoaiiug with private monopolies Ive. said tuat tiliu fruits of industry wero apprnpriatKjd by tho lew «.t Uie ex-pcii.-io of tho luauy, uud th.s moaun a peuaity on tlio ouuutless muuy, audi weaa.i ior thu usolt-as lew. Such' ft statu of all'aii-a was not at all doiirubie. ltufurriug guuerally to tile difficulties brought about by pnvute nii/iioi>oUis the speak*:i' ouid that no s.nglo oouuury ouuld solve probloins apar; irom tho rest; it oould uot bo done until tho wide world was ouo groat brotherhood. He spoke of Sooialisui a:; fouudtd on tlio saying of J«?us ivhei: lie Sii.d: "Thou shult call ino man Masteo - .'' In reply to questions the speaker said: (1) That the muuioipilisation of Ulaapjw had only been accomplished alter many xoars of effort. (S) That some mx.'iiopoiiOii were municipal ltionopulios and aroro controlled munioipally; othors were Dominion monopolies controlled by the Dominion; some were monopolies with one end in New Zealand and ono in Australia,- while othen, had one end here and ..no in the Umtad States. A world-wide brotlwrhoi'd would iiljiio ovcrcoms r,.onopolio«. w) that ho was not opposed to interii'il..onal excliange of tha necessaries of I no, Fi-iaJly tho ioctnror drew attention ..-',?, fi l? fc t,u "- fc '»'» well .mown book on l!.e Struggle for Existcnw" which ulroim- formed food for study in ni-niy parbs, ot Now Zcu'and, could "ijo nblniiiptrdiase'r U> * w * Kr< "^