“But the People,” exclaimed the Professor, “were not responsible—they did not approve——”
“Approve!” cried the Colonel explosively; “much credit to them for that! Do you think the People of England, or of France, would have thus tamely submitted? Even in darkest Russia, do you not think there would have been a few signs of lack of approval in the shape of bombs? Was there a violent ebullition of popular wrath? Was there an outbreak such as might have recalled the French Revolution of 1789? No; your free and assertive citizens tamely submitted. The corporations kept their franchises; the men of the soiled ermine retained their positions on the bench; the police force, despite investigations and exposures, continued, haughty and arrogant, to ply its nefarious traffic; and it is recorded that the officer to whom I have referred was allowed to quietly and profitably serve out his term. Do I state facts, or fiction?”
“You are stating only the truth,” said Kearns sturdily.
“And the franchises which were robbed from the People!” cried the colonel. “What was done with them? Not content with securing these valuable franchises infinitely below their actual worth, the holders proceeded to form corporations whose stock was watered to an absurd extent. Upon this watered stock dividends had to be earned. And how were these dividends earned—by the transportation companies of the great cities, for instance? By treating the people—to whom these companies owed their corporate existence—like dogs, and transporting them as they would not have dared to transport cattle. Men, women and children were herded in the street cars of your day as animals were never herded. Thus year in and year out were the great and supposedly all-powerful People treated. And for what? All for the benefit of a comparatively tiny coterie of men, who derived the profit. And the People submitted tamely as any band of sheep, did they not? The power of the people, indeed!”
“Come, Colonel!” exclaimed the Professor; “it seems to me that you are somewhat intolerant of the shortcomings of the people of our day.”
“Pardon me,” replied the Colonel hastily, “if I have said anything to offend, though I have only recited a few facts as taken from the chroniclers of your own times. Of course, we have our faults and our evils; but not such as these. Thank God, such things could not be under the Empire! Thank God, such would not be tolerated under the beneficent rule of His Majesty, the King! Long live the Empire! God save the King!”
CHAPTER VI
THE STAR OF EMPIRE
“You would doubtless prefer to hear how the great changes which have taken place were brought about and learn of the events which led up to them,” continued the Colonel. “For this we must go back to the beginning of the century and the days when the various great Trusts began to grow into maturity and strength. Just prior to the beginning of the century had come the formation of the gigantic financial organizations known as the Trusts. That is to say, they were regarded as gigantic in that day, though as a matter of fact they had not yet assumed the really colossal proportions they later attained. They were then in their infancy, so to speak.”
“I can recall,” remarked Kearns, “a little billion-dollar concern. Surely that was a pretty solid, bouncing infant!”
“A beggarly, puny infant?” retorted the Colonel, “as compared to those born later. The Trusts grew until business upon anything but a colossal scale was an impossibility and the smaller manufacturer and the middleman were wiped out. In the course of time, by a brilliant series of consolidations, seven great Trusts were formed which practically absorbed the business of the country. The fields covered by these Trusts were respectively: Alimentation, Transportation, Manufacturing, Land, Ores and Minerals, Retailing, and finally, the great Miscellaneous Trust which took in pretty well everything not embraced by the others. These main Trusts subdivided their respective fields between numerous subsidiary Trusts; but these subsidiary Trusts all operated subject to the direction of the general head of that particular Trust. The methods adopted by these organizations involved the ruthless crushing out of all outside competition. For instance, the Retailing Trust would start in by founding baker shops all over a given city, and would sell bread at the actual cost of production. With the enormous resources at the disposal of the Trust, this plan of operations could be kept up indefinitely. What was the result? All rivals were forced either to sell out to the Trust, or go to the wall. Similar methods of procedure were adopted in other branches of retail industry, one after the other, until the cream of the retail trade in all the great cities was practically in the hands of the Trust. It was a case of steady absorption. To oppose the Trust meant ruin and this speedily came to be very thoroughly understood. Another example is the Alimentation Trust, which deals with the foodstuffs, both solid and liquid, of the country. With its enormous resources, it was enabled to corner the raw material in one product after another until all competition was forced out of existence.”