PROFESSOR MILLS, M.A.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10265, 17 June 1911, Page 5

PROFESSOR MILLS, M.A.

ADDRESS IN MASTERTON.

QUESTIONS OF MONOPOLY.

A large attendance of men assembled in Murray's Hall last night, tp hear Professor Walter Thomas Mills, M.A., who is under engagement to the Trades and Labour Council, deliver a lecture on "The State Control of Monopolised Industries."

His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. M. Coradine), who presided, briefly introduced the speaker.

Professor Mills stated that on the' question of monopoly there were generally three points at issue,, viz., the' abuse of the monopoly, the abuse of the people engaged in it, and the proposal to destroy the monopoly. He did not propose to deal with these points. If abuse would destroy, monopoly would have been destroyed many times over. Monopoly arose in some industries and not in others, because of the fundamental differences in the industries themselves.; Some industries were of such a character that large organisation would not be a good enterprise, while in other cases the larger the organisation the greater the prosperity, and it was the latter that won the market from all, and created a monopoly over all. He referred to a shoe factory, stating that an employee in such an establishment did not require to know how to make a shoe, because the article passed through 105 processes, each, one of " which could be learned in about fifteen minutes. So simple was it that child labour ha 3 captured the cobbler's trade. People requested competition, and not monopoly. Professor Mills held that it was competition that caused monopoly. Competition committed . suicide, and monopoly was what was left after the funeral. 'Where there was competition there must be the successful and unsuccessful competitor, and "t was the former who achiev- ' ed monopoly. In a competition between two persons monopolv must happen by either, of three processes. The first one was if one comp°H+or became bankrupt the second "-o'-Td get the monopoly of the trade. TVi there was the possibility of bo+b into bankruptcy, and i" that onp the creditors would' +.>a businesses and continue until one collapsed. The third possibility was "that the competitors would thus cause a monopoly. If tlv 3 obtaining of good men would soV? the problem of monopoly, then it should havs been solved in America «+ least.

for the two great leaders tion, Messrs Rockefeller and Morgan, were both deacons of churches, and were doing wonderful work on the churches'.behalf. When,a certain section obtained a , monopoly and there wa*? no under-bidding of prices, the price crept gradually up as the commander of the monopoly wished. But the price only went up to the mark that the public was prepared to pay before going without. In a certain toun a gas company obtained a monopoly of trade, and reduced th« quality of the gas and raised the tirire. A new and stronger comoany was formed to restore competition. The old comtxanv had eventuallv to jro out, and the new comoany. which was created to restore competition: became a monopoly. Comnetitors who wished to ficcbt established privnte monopolies must, be stronger politically than their opponents; so that they would have the support of the Government.

The hew competitor generally bought Its machinery from thf> monopoly, borrowed its money from the back of t.ta grid finally sold jits output in a market that was already cor-vo-aJ bv the monopoly. It was essential + hnt the new competitor be stronger ir every point than the established : monnwly. The people. acting thronn-h power of the Government, could buy r>ny man out. fix the scheme of tp.yea. fix the lines on which the other man's must be run. and j thev can fix the conditions under" I the product r*ust be put on 'the j market. Tn A thA people had " the control of monopolies, but the more they controlled the monopoly the more the price weht tto. If a mohonolv was fined Tn the Court, the next day the price was increased, and the ppoote were the ones who had to the fine. The Government. by buyinr out a mononolv. contacted a tremendous d°bf, but the debt would pav amnlf for ifaeff. If s> man made a debt by bettino- or a Josin pliorae lit would fe*ye for his debt, but if I'a man made a rlebiin purchasing a , horso he would lo show for th* debt. %« ktter class of debt was ius*ifj»We, and that , was;: the debt a Government entered inf,in in buying ©tit a mohoßoly. In : Glasgow r . the tramear mopopoTv had been purchased bv the Oity Corporation, and had consequently been improved. The working man's hours were decreased, the wages were increased t fares were cut down by half, and many other advantages were obtained. The income from Glasgow Municipal enterprises reached £200.000. and the problem to ' settle was what was to be done with i the money! Every monopoly in the j city was bought out by the municipality. Numbers of workers' dwellings

were erected by means of a loan. The houses were better than the ordinarv workers' houses, and could be rented at 5s a month less. The rents were fixed on a scale that allowed of the loan being paid off periodically. ' When the loan wag paid, the houses belonged to the city. The tenants had paid the loan, and in doing so had captured a monopoly and saved 5s a month. The country could purchase any monopoly and make. money while doing so, and when the country does buy the monopoly she can fix the hours and wages. Milwaukee - the only town in the world governed by a Socialistic government, had all its municipal enterprises managed scientifically. The hours and wages were reasonable, and no man was paid, a wage unless he was able to earn it. Before concluding. Mr Mills announced that he had a book for sale, written bv himself. The title of the book was "The Struggle for Existence." Professor Mills was recorded a hearty vote of thanks for his interesting address.