Monopolies and the People | Page 7

from meeting one
another.
Now within the past few years things have been going from bad to
worse with the manufacturers of linseed oil. The long and short of it all
was that the margin between the cost of the raw seed and running our
mills, and what we could get for the oil cake and the linseed oil in the
market, has grown exceedingly narrow. It's hard to tell just what has
caused it. They say over-production; but what has caused the
over-production? One thing that may have had something to do with it
is the new mills they have been putting up in the Northwest. Many of
the Eastern mills used to get large quantities of seed from Iowa; but
they are building cities out there now, as well as raising flax-seed, and
when they were booming some of those cities they would raise heavy
bonuses in aid of new enterprises. Among these were some great
linseed oil mills, which have loaded up the market pretty heavily of late
years; so that not only has the price sagged down, but we have all had
to work to get rid of our stocks. The firms which had the best mills and
machinery, and were in a position to get their seed reasonably and put
their goods on the market with least expense for transportation, etc.,
have been making a small profit over and above their expenses. But
some of the works which had to bring their seed a long way, and which
haven't quite as good machinery as can be had now, were in a bad way.
There were some of the oldest houses in the trade among them, too, and
with fine men at their head. It was too bad to have them go under. They

tried to cut down expenses, but strikes and trouble with their men
prevented their saving much in that way. Then there was one item of
expense which they had to increase instead of cutting down: that was
the cost of marketing. Competition was so fierce, that, in order to keep
up their trade, they had to spend more on salaries of expensive
salesmen, and in advertising and pushing their goods, than they would
dream of ordinarily.
It seemed too bad to cut each other's throats in that way, for that was
what it amounted to, and when the association met,--or what was left of
it, for the business rivalries had grown so bitter that many of the former
personal friendships between the members had become strained and
one after the other had dropped out,--the situation was discussed by the
few members who met together. It was discussed earnestly, too, by men
who felt an interest in what they said, because unless some remedy
could be devised, they had got to sit still and watch the savings of a
lifetime slip through their fingers. One thing was very clear to all.
Though competition was as sharp as any one could possibly wish, the
public was not getting such a wonderful benefit after all. Prices were
not so very much lower for oil, nor higher for seed. It was the selling
expense which had run up to a ruinous figure; and on one point all the
members were unanimous,--that if all the firms in the trade could only
work together in harmony in marketing their goods, they could save
enough in salesmen's salaries, etc., to make a great difference in the
profit-and-loss account without affecting the selling prices in the
market one penny.
Another very important matter, which we had to handle pretty tenderly
in our discussions, was that of adulteration. I must confess that a good
many firms in the trade, who used to be above any thing of the sort,
have been marketing some goods in the past few years which were not
exactly the "pure linseed oil" which they were labelled. It's a mean
business--adulteration,--but not many of our customers ever test their
purchases. The one thing they are apt to look at is price, for they are
buying to sell again; and when rivals are selling a cheaper oil that
seems just as good until it is laid on as the pure linseed that you are
obliged to ask a higher price for, the temptation to meet them at their

own game, rather than lose your old customers, is a very strong one.
Certainly, when competition took this form, it hurt the public even
more than it hurt us. When people wish to buy pure linseed oil they
ought to have some prospect of getting it, instead of getting an
adulterated mixture of various substances; but at the rate competition
was running, there seemed to be small prospect that there would be any
really pure linseed oil put on the market in