nues to grow,
there is less opportunity for its profitable investment in improving
undeveloped natural resources. The greater portion of our wealth we save
and invest, the faster will the rate of interest tend downward. But, as
this occurs, the operators of mills and mines have to pay less out of
their receipts as interest on their borrowed capital, and can,
therefore, pay more to their workmen.

There is another way in which monopoly works to cause over-production,
with its attendant evils. Suppose a trust is formed in some
manufacturing industry, where the working capacity is just equal to
supplying the demand. The first work of the trust is to raise the prices
perhaps 20, 30, or 40 per cent. Of course this causes a falling off in
the demand, and the trust has to shut down some of its mills to ward off
over-production. The true cause of over-production in this case is, that
the prices are not in equilibrium with the relation between supply and
demand. Let prices come down, and the demand will increase. The working
of this special case gives us an idea of the way in which general
over-production is caused. For it is well known that monopolies have
raised the prices and reduced the consumption not of one, but of
hundreds of articles. If the men who are made idle by the
over-production in these industries flock into other occupations to
secure work, they reduce wages there; so that, in any case, their
purchasing power is reduced, and this tends to perpetuate and increase
the evil. Of course it is not pretended to claim that all industrial
depressions have been due to over-production, or the local congestion
of the world's income. But that a large part of it may be justly laid to
this cause, seems to be beyond question.

We have shown that the congestion of wealth is very largely due to the
growth of monopoly, and we have discussed the more immediate evils that
result from this congestion of wealth. But when we attempt to describe
the evils and abuses which follow close after, as a result of the power
which monopoly has placed in the hands of a few, we may well pause at
the task. The whole array of perplexing social problems comes before us,
and we realize more and more what a curse monopoly has become. The
philanthropist tells us that poverty, and all the distresses that follow
in its wake, are largely due to the fact that our workingmen under
present conditions _must_ live from hand to mouth, _must_ rely on
charity fo