SOCIAL EFFECTS. It has often been charged that the great corporations and Trusts exert a corrupting influence upon legislatures and the courts. It is probable that in individual cases this charge is true. On the other hand, legis latures have not been free from such charges under the competitive system, and it probably would be difficult to prove absolutely that con ditions are worse now than they were before the great industrial corporations were formed. The remedy for such an evil would seem to be chiefly in improving the character of our legis latures.
A more significant consideration is whether the Trust, by bringing so many individuals under one centralized management, destroys to any ma terial extent the powers of self-reliance' and of self-direetion on the part of individuals which are naturally developed by the struggles of the competitive system. Opinions differ to a con siderable extent, on this subject, but there can be no doubt that, although the opportunities for a man to start an independent business in cer tain lines of industry are lessened, on the other hand the competition for promotion and for positions of responsibility within the combina tion itself is severer in the case of the great corporation than iu the ease of the private busi ness or partnership. When a group of two or
three partners are managing a business, they may readily give preference to their sons or friends even when the business ability of such persons is not of the highest type. When the interests of thousands of stockholders must be considered, and there are large hoards of di rectors, each feeling that his position depends to a considerable extent upon the success of the business, favoritism cannot be shown to any very great extent.