rther, and
trace the gradual agreement, integration, and fusion of the capitals
represented in various trades. There is, in fact, an ever-growing
understanding and union between the various forms of capital in a
country. The recognition of this ultimate identity of interest must be
regarded as a constant force making for the unification of the whole
capital of a country, in the same way as the common interests of
directly competing capitals in the same trade leads to a union for
mutual support and ultimate identification.

Sec. 4. Uses and Abuses of the Trust.--This, however, carries us beyond the
immediate industrial outlook. The successful formation of the Trust
represents the highest reach of capitalistic evolution. Although the
subject is too involved for any lengthy discussion here, a few points
bearing on the nature of the Trust deserve attention.

The Trust is clearly seen to be a natural step in the evolution of
capital. It belongs to the industrial progress of the day, and must not
be condemned as if it were a retrograde or evil thing. It is distinctly
an attempt to introduce order into chaos, to save the waste of war, to
organize an industry. The Trust-makers often claim that their line of
action is both necessary and socially beneficial, and urge the following
points--

The low rates of profit, owing to the miscalculation of competitors who
establish too many factories and glut the market; the waste of energy in
the work of competition; the adulteration of goods induced by the desire
to undersell; the enormous royalties which must be paid to a competitor
who has secured some new invention--these and other causes necessitate
some common action. By the united action of the Trust the following
economic advantages are gained--

a. The saving of the labour and the waste of competition.

b. Economy in buying and selling, in discovering and establishing new
markets.

c. The maintenance of a good quality of wares without fear of being
undersold.

d. Mutual guarantee and insurance against losses.

e. The closing of works which are disadvantageously placed or are
otherwise unnecessary to furnish the requisite supply at profitable
prices.

f. The raising of prices to a level which will give a living basis of
steady production and profit.

That all these economies are useful to the capitalists who form Trusts
will be obvious. How far they are socially useful is a more difficult
questio