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Page 6
The Cubans, however, prevented the heliograph from being used, and hoped
that they had the Spaniards cut off from their friends.
By some means the news of the siege reached the main army, and three
thousand troops were sent to the relief of Arroyo Blanco.
No sooner did Gomez see the first of the Spanish soldiers appearing over
the hills, than he laid a plan to win a brilliant victory.
Pretending to be alarmed at the arrival of the Spanish troops, he withdrew
his men from the siege of the town, and appeared to be retreating.
Delighted with their success, the Spanish pursued the Cubans, who led them
into a valley between two hills.
This was the trap into which Gomez had planned to lure his enemy.
When the Spaniards had reached a place that seemed favorable to his
wishes, Gomez gave the signal--Cubans poured down the hillsides, from
behind every rock and bush, surrounded the Spaniards, and completely
defeated them, the Spaniards suffering a severe loss, many of them being
killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.
It is said that this victory has so alarmed Weyler that he has sent to
Havana for more troops, and declares that he cannot stand against Gomez
without more soldiers to help him.
The people of Havana do not like this. Weyler has many more soldiers than
Gomez, and the citizens do not want to be left at the mercy of the
insurgent bands that are in the neighborhood of the city.
* * * * *
A great deal of interest is being taken in the investigation, by the New
York Legislature, into the subject of Trusts.
A Trust is the combination of a number of persons who are interested in
the manufacture of a certain article.
These persons join together, and agree to pay certain prices for making
the goods they deal in, and to ask a certain price for the article when
they sell it again.
They put all their money together, and become one company. Each member of
the Trust has to bind himself to do what the members think best, and
though there may be several hundred factories in one Trust, all obey the
one set of rules, just as if they were but one body.
In this way the Trust has a great deal of money at its command, and can
buy the finest machinery to make its goods, and, because of the enormous
quantities needed to supply all the members of the Trust, can obtain the
material needed for the manufacture at the lowest possible price.
Through the means a Trust has for producing goods, it can make and
manufacture at a much smaller cost than a single manufacturer, and can
control the amount of the output of the goods, so that too great a supply
shall not be made at one time, and the markets be so flooded that the
price falls and it no longer pays to make them.
The idea of a number of persons clubbing together and helping each other
with their money and brains, and working together to produce an article at
the least possible cost, is of course a very excellent one.
It would seem as though these methods would help to make the articles that
we daily need much cheaper to us, and that the cost of living would be
less.
But unfortunately it is not always so.
While Trusts could and should work for the benefit of the people, they are
too often used as a means to harm them.
When Trusts get so large that they include nearly all the manufacturers of
a special article, they are not only able to produce the article at the
least possible cost, but to say for how much it shall be sold.
A Trust is formed that the manufacturers may make a better article at a
lower cost--at least, that is what the Trusts say; but the danger is that
they may obtain entire control of the market, create a monopoly, and
having the public at their mercy, make the prices as high as they please.
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