CARTEL MONOPOLY MARCHES ON
Hull, Rep. Merlin
Cartel Monopoly Marches On By REP. MERLIN HULL THE Department of Justice continues to grind out indictments against monopolies, even though it brings but few alleged malefactors of great...
...But the foxy heads of the organizations seem able to avoid any serious revelations, submitting to the small fines imposed and going right on doing business in the same old way...
...How many more cartels are in the making will be known later...
...More should be revealed, but that will be a postwar problem of enormous proportions...
...MERLIN HULL THE Department of Justice continues to grind out indictments against monopolies, even though it brings but few alleged malefactors of great trust-made wealth to trial...
...Of late it has been giving special attention to "cartels," the European word for iron-clad combinations of capital and industry which dominate their line of trade the world over...
...Our national debt is nearing the $200 billion mark, but the interest thereon will be a "piker's sum" compared to the cartel dividends if present international trends are continued...
...Match Monopoly Indictment The latest move is against the match makers who monopolize the world trade in the little fire-sticks...
...A holding company in London is said to be the center of the inner working of the monopolies, uniting those of the several countries into one grand profit making crowd, fa this country it is charged that 85 per cent of the matches are made by the monopolies, which share a trade amounting to more than $40 millions annually...
...of them...
...Through control of the chemical industries producing the necessary ingredients for match heads, the tribute can be assessed even in the making of the little free matchbooks commonly used for advertising purposes...
...More Should Be Revealed The war has revealed some of the machinations of these international organizations which had agreements with each other to protect the monopolies in the event of war as well as in peacetime...
...The indictment alleges that there are eight corporations in this country, two in Britain, one in Canada, and one in Sweden which practically determine just what shall be the price and profit in every match used for any purpose from lighting a cigarette to starting a kitchen fire...
...Just how much if any income tax dodging there is in these combinations is not mentioned...
...The British trusts control the trade of the British Empire, and the other sharers in easy money have the trade of other countries...
...Other "conferences" are being held, ostensibly to establish world commerce on a basis of sharing in world resources...
...Control of ocean shipping may be one...
...Even now the big oil companies of several countries seem to be holding "trade conferences" with the idea of "stabilizing" the oil supply of the world...
...One good big trial, bringing out the interlocking methods of the big special interests, might be interesting in letting folks know how the monopolies handle international trade in a manner to prevent competition in the great robbery which levies tribute running into billions...
Vol. 8 • May 1944 • No. 20
