Date: 5-3-2001
THE MAKING OF A NATION #139 - BENJAMIN HARRISON
By FRANK BEARDSLEYVOICE ONE:
THE MAKING OF A NATION -- A PROGRAM IN SPECIAL ENGLISH.
(THEME)
THE EIGHTEEN-EIGHTIES WERE YEARS OF IMPORTANT CHANGE IN AMERICAN
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY.
TWENTY YEARS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, THE UNITED STATES HAD BECOME
ONE OF THE LEADING INDUSTRIAL NATIONS OF THE WORLD. AS THE
NUMBER OF FACTORIES INCREASED, SO DID COMPETITION BETWEEN
BUSINESSMEN.
SOME INDUSTRIALISTS COOPERATED WITH THEIR COMPETITORS TO REDUCE
COMPETITION. BUT THIS DID NOT ALWAYS SUCCEED. THERE WAS NO WAY
TO ENFORCE THEIR AGREEMENTS.
VOICE TWO:
IN EIGHTEEN-SEVENTY-NINE, A NEW FORM OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION WAS
DEVELOPED -- THE TRUST. IN A TRUST, STOCK OWNERS OF MANY
COMPETING COMPANIES GIVE CONTROL OF THEIR STOCK TO A COMMITTEE,
OR GROUP, OF TRUSTEES.
THE TRUSTEES OPERATE ALL THE COMPANIES AS ONE AND PAY PROFITS TO
THE STOCKHOLDERS. THE PROFITS WOULD BE HIGH, BECAUSE THERE WOULD
BE NO COMPETITION TO DRIVE DOWN PRICES.
ONE OF THE FIRST TRUSTS WAS FORMED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IN THE
OIL INDUSTRY. THE STOCKHOLDERS OF SEVENTY-SEVEN OIL COMPANIES
GAVE CONTROL OF THEIR STOCK TO NINE TRUSTEES OF ROCKEFELLER'S
STANDARD OIL COMPANY. THE NINE MEN CONTROLLED NINETY PER CENT OF
THE NATION'S OIL PRODUCTION.
VOICE ONE:
THE SUCCESS OF THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY LED TO THE CREATION OF
TRUSTS IN OTHER INDUSTRIES. SOON THERE WAS A SUGAR TRUST, A SALT
TRUST, A STEEL TRUST, EVEN A WHISKY TRUST.
THESE HUGE CORPORATIONS REPRESENTED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS. THIS GREAT WEALTH MADE THEM VERY POWERFUL.
FORMER PRESIDENT [GROVER] CLEVELAND, HIMSELF A FRIEND OF
BUSINESS, WARNED OF A GROWING DANGER.
"CORPORATIONS," HE SAID, "SHOULD BE CAREFULLY-CONTROLLED
CREATURES OF THE LAW AND SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE. INSTEAD, THEY
ARE FAST BECOMING THE PEOPLE'S MASTERS."
VOICE TWO:
THE PUBLIC BEGAN TO DEMAND GOVERNMENT CONTROLS OF THE TRUSTS.
FARMERS CLAIMED THAT PRICES WERE TOO HIGH, AND THEY BLAMED THE
TRUSTS. WORKERS SAID THEIR UNIONS COULD NOT NEGOTIATE WITH THE
NEW INDUSTRIAL GIANTS. SMALL BUSINESSMEN CHARGED THAT TRUSTS
WERE TOO POWERFUL. THEY SAID THE TRUSTS COULD DESTROY THEM.
PUBLIC DEMANDS FOR ACTION LED THE GOVERNMENTS OF FIFTEEN STATES
TO PASS ANTI-TRUST LAWS. BUT THE STATE LAWS COULD DO NOTHING.
MOST OF THE TRUSTS WERE NATIONWIDE CORPORATIONS WHICH DID
BUSINESS IN MANY STATES.
PUBLIC PROTEST WAS SO GREAT THAT BOTH PARTIES IN THE
EIGHTEEN-EIGHTY-EIGHT ELECTIONS PROMISED TO PASS A FEDERAL LAW
AGAINST TRUSTS.
VOICE ONE:
A NUMBER OF SUCH BILLS WERE PROPOSED. ONE OFFERED BY SENATOR
JOHN SHERMAN, A REPUBLICAN, WAS APPROVED BY CONGRESS. PRESIDENT
BENJAMIN HARRISON SIGNED IT INTO LAW IN EIGHTEEN-NINETY.
THE SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST LAW SOUNDED SEVERE. IT SAID IT WAS
ILLEGAL FOR A TRUST OR ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION TO INTERFERE WITH
INTERSTATE COMMERCE -- TRADE AMONG THE STATES. IT WAS ALSO
ILLEGAL FOR ANY PERSON OR ORGANIZATION TO FORM A MONOPOLY -- TO
GET CONTROL OF A WHOLE INDUSTRY. THE LAW ORDERED HARSH
PUNISHMENT FOR ANY PERSON FOUND GUILTY OF THESE CRIMES.
IT SOUNDED LIKE A STRONG LAW. BUT IT WAS NOT. IT WAS WRITTEN IN
A VERY GENERAL WAY THAT LEFT THE COURTS TO DECIDE WHAT THE LAW
REALLY SAID. OPPONENTS OF THE SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST BILL SAID ITS
PURPOSE WAS NOT TO DESTROY TRUSTS, BUT TO MAKE THE PUBLIC BELIEVE
THAT TRUSTS WOULD BE DESTROYED.
VOICE TWO:
DURING PRESIDENT HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION, ONLY EIGHT
CORPORATIONS WERE ACCUSED OF VIOLATING THE NEW ANTI-TRUST LAW.
OF THE EIGHT, ONLY ONE WAS FOUND GUILTY...AND ONLY IN A VERY
LIMITED WAY.
THE FIRST COMPANY CHARGED WAS THE WHISKY TRUST. A COURT
DISMISSED THE CASE. IT SAID THE GOVERNMENT FAILED TO PROVE THAT
THE TRUST HAD INTERFERED WITH INTERSTATE COMMERCE.
A FEW YEARS LATER, THE GOVERNMENT ASKED THE COURTS TO BREAK UP
THE HUGE SUGAR TRUST WHICH CONTROLLED NINETY-EIGHT PERCENT OF THE
SUGAR-PRODUCING INDUSTRY.
THE SUPREME COURT REFUSED TO DO SO. IT SAID THAT IT WAS TRUE THE
TRUST HAD FORMED A MONOPOLY IN THE SUGAR-PRODUCING INDUSTRY.BUT
IT SAID THE MONOPOLY WAS IN MANUFACTURING -- NOT IN TRADE OR
INTERSTATE COMMERCE. THEREFORE, SAID THE HIGH COURT, THE SUGAR
TRUST WAS LEGAL AND DID NOT VIOLATE THE ANTI-TRUST LAW.
VOICE ONE:
INDUSTRIAL TRUSTS HELPED TO REDUCE COMPETITION AMONG AMERICAN
COMPANIES. HIGH TARIFFS ALSO GAVE SOME PROTECTION FROM
COMPETITION WITH FOREIGN COMPANIES. BUT BUSINESS LEADERS WERE
NOT SATISFIED. THEY DEMANDED EVEN HIGHER TAXES ON IMPORTS TO
FURTHER REDUCE COMPETITION.
SO, REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM MCKINLEY OF OHIO PROPOSED A
NEW TARIFF BILL -- ONE THAT WOULD RAISE IMPORT TAXES HIGHER THAN
EVER BEFORE. THE TAX ALREADY WAS ABOUT THIRTY-EIGHT PERCENT ON
MOST IMPORTED PRODUCTS. THE NEW MEASURE WOULD RAISE IT TO ALMOST
FIFTY PERCENT.
VOICE TWO:
NOT EVERYONE IN THE HARRISON ADMINISTRATION SUPPORTED THE HIGH
TARIFF MEASURE. SECRETARY OF STATE [JAMES] BLAINE WANTED TO
INCREASE TRADE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES.HE
WARNED THAT NEW, HIGH TARIFFS WOULD DESTROY THOSE PLANS.
BLAINE ALSO OPPOSED THE BILL BECAUSE HE FELT IT WOULD HURT THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY POLITICALLY. IN A LETTER TO CONGRESSMAN
MCKINLEY, BLAINE SAID THE BILL WOULD ANGER THE FARMERS BY ADDING
AS MUCH AS EIGHT PERCENT TO THE PRICE OF SHOES FOR THEIR
CHILDREN.
"SUCH MOVEMENTS AS THIS FOR PROTECTION," SAID BLAINE, "WILL MOVE
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ONLY INTO SPEEDY DEFEAT."
VOICE ONE:
MOST WESTERN AND SOUTHERN CONGRESSMEN OPPOSED THE TARIFF BILL,
BECAUSE IT WOULD MEAN HIGHER PRICES TO THE PEOPLE OF THEIR
STATES. BUT THE BILL COULD NOT PASS WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF SOME
OF THEM. SO, SUPPORTERS OF THE TARIFF BILL OFFERED A DEAL.
IF WESTERNERS VOTED FOR THE TARIFF MEASURE, THEN EASTERN
LAWMAKERS WOULD SUPPORT A SILVER PURCHASE BILL THAT THE
WESTERNERS WANTED.
THE BILL, KNOWN AS THE SHERMAN SILVER PURCHASE ACT, WOULD HAVE
THE GOVERNMENT BUY FOUR-AND-ONE-HALF-MILLION OUNCES OF SILVER
EACH MONTH. THE GOVERNMENT WOULD PAY FOR THE SILVER WITH PAPER
MONEY -- TREASURY NOTES -- WHICH COULD BE EXCHANGED FOR GOLD OR
SILVER MONEY.
VOICE TWO:
WESTERN MINES WERE PRODUCING HUGE AMOUNTS OF SILVER. BY SELLING
IT TO THE GOVERNMENT, THE MINING INTERESTS HOPED TO KEEP THE
PRICE OF SILVER FROM FALLING. WESTERN INTERESTS SPOKE IN
CONGRESS NOW WITH A MUCH STRONGER VOICE. IN EIGHTEEN-EIGHTY-NINE
AND EIGHTEEN-NINETY, SIX WESTERN TERRITORIES BECAME STATES. THIS
ADDED TWELVE MORE WESTERN REPRESENTATIVES IN THE SENATE AND
OTHERS IN THE HOUSE.
THE DEAL WAS AGREED TO. BOTH THE MCKINLEY TARIFF BILL AND THE
SHERMAN SILVER PURCHASE BILL WERE APPROVED BY CONGRESS AND SIGNED
BY PRESIDENT HARRISON. AS EXPECTED, THE PRICE OF IMPORTED GOODS
ROSE. AND THE PEOPLE BLAMED THE REPUBLICANS.
VOICE ONE:
IN THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS OF EIGHTEEN-NINETY, THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY SUFFERED HEAVY LOSSES.
THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY IN THE SENATE WAS CUT TO EIGHT. AND NOT
ALL THE REPUBLICAN SENATORS WOULD SUPPORT THE PARTY ON EVERY
ISSUE. THE REPUBLICANS LOST CONTROL IN THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES. ONLY EIGHTY-EIGHT WERE ELECTED TO HOUSE SEATS.
DEMOCRATS ELECTED TWO-HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE REPRESENTATIVES.
VOTERS ALSO ELECTED NINE HOUSE MEMBERS AND TWO SENATORS FROM A
NEW POLITICAL ORGANIZATION -- THE PEOPLE'S PARTY. THE NEW PARTY
WAS BORN IN FARMING AREAS OF THE WEST AND SOUTH. IT WAS A PARTY
OF PROTEST, FORMED BY MEN WHO REFUSED TO SUPPORT EITHER OF THE
TWO OLD PARTIES.
VOICE TWO:
YEARS BEFORE, FARMERS HAD UNITED IN AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS
THEY CALLED "GRANGES." A NATIONAL GRANGE HAD BEEN FORMED.
DURING HARD TIMES, THE GRANGE ORGANIZED POLITICAL ACTION GROUPS
TO HELP ELECT OFFICIALS WHO WERE FRIENDLY TO FARMERS. BUT AS
FARM CONDITIONS IMPROVED, THE GRANGES BEGAN TO DISAPPEAR.
A FEW YEARS LATER, FARMERS BEGAN TO BUILD NEW ORGANIZATIONS.
LIKE THE GRANGES, THEY BEGAN AS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC GROUPS.
BY THE LATE EIGHTEEN-EIGHTIES, MANY OF THESE GROUPS HAD UNITED
INTO TWO LARGE ORGANIZATIONS. ONE, WITH MORE THAN ONE-MILLION
MEMBERS, WAS THE SOUTHERN ALLIANCE. THE OTHER, WITH FEWER
MEMBERS, WAS THE NATIONAL FARMERS' ALLIANCE. MEMBERS OF THE TWO
GROUPS BEGAN TO UNITE FOR POLITICAL ACTION.
THAT WILL BE OUR STORY ON THE NEXT PROGRAM OF THE MAKING OF A
NATION.
VOICE ONE:
YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO THE SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM, THE
MAKING OF A NATION. YOUR NARRATORS WERE LEO SCULLY AND
JACK WEITZEL. OUR PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY FRANK BEARDSLEY.
Source: www.voa.gov/special/