(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. 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 businesses. Some industrialists cooperated with their competitors to reduce competition. But this did not always succeed. There was no legal way to enforce their agreements. This week in our series, Leo Scully and Jack Weitzel tell how these issues were handled during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison. 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.
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." 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. 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. 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.
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. 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." 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. 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. 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. 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.
重点解析
1.fail to 不能；没有
Those who fail to register risk severe penalties.
那些没有注册的人可能会受到严厉的处罚。
2.refuse to 不肯；拒绝
I absolutely refuse to get married.
我决不结婚。
3.vote for 投票赞成；选举
I was going to vote for him, but I changed my mind and voted for Reagan.
我原本准备投他的票，后来却改变了主意，把票投给了里根。
4.As expected 正如预期；不出所料
He came as expected.
他果真来了。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。18世纪80年代是美国工商业发生重大变化的年代。内战结束20年后，美国已成为世界主要的工业大国之一。随着工厂数量的增加，企业之间的竞争也在加剧。一些实业家与竞争对手合作以减少竞争，但这样做并不总是成功的。没有法律途径来执行他们的协议。在本周的系列节目中，利奥·斯库利和杰克·韦策尔讲述了在本杰明·哈里森总统执政期间如何处理这些问题。1879年，一种新的商业组织形式——信托发展起来。在信托中，许多相互竞争的公司的股票所有人将其股票的控制权交给受托人的委员会或团体。受托人将所有公司作为一个整体经营，并向股东支付利润。利润会很高，因为没有竞争来压低价格。最早的信托之一由石油行业的约翰·D·洛克菲勒成立。77家石油公司的股东将其股票的控制权交给洛克菲勒标准石油公司的9名受托人。这9个人控制了全国90%的石油产量。
标准石油公司的成功促使其他行业建立起信托基金。不久就有了糖业信托、盐业信托、钢铁信托，甚至还有威士忌信托。这些大公司代表了数亿美元，巨大的财富使他们非常强大。是商界的朋友，他警告说，危险越来越大。他说，“公司应该受到法律地谨慎管控，是人民的公仆。而现在，他们正迅速地成为人民的主人。”公众开始要求政府控制信托基金。农民们声称物价太高，他们把责任归咎于信托基金。工人们说，他们的工会不能与新的工业巨头谈判。小商人指责信托太过强大，他们说信托会毁了他们。公众要求采取行动促使15个州的政府通过了反垄断法。但是，各州法律对此无能为力。大多数信托公司是在许多州开展业务的全国性公司。公众的抗议如此强烈，以至于在1888年的选举中两党都承诺要通过一项反对信托的联邦法律。有人提出了一些这样的法案。共和党参议员约翰·谢尔曼提出的一项提议得到了国会的批准，总统本杰明·哈里森在1890年签署了该法案，使其成为法律。
谢尔曼反托拉斯法听起来很严厉。该法表示，信托机构或任何其他组织干涉州际贸易是非法的。任何人或组织形成垄断，获得对整个行业的控制也是违法的。法律下令对任何被判犯有这些罪行的人严惩。这听起来像是一条强有力的法律，但事实并非如此。它是以一种非常笼统的方式撰写而成，让法院来决定这条法律到底说了什么。《谢尔曼反托拉斯法案》的反对者表示，该法案的目的不是摧毁信托，而是让公众相信信托会被摧毁。在哈里森总统执政期间，只有8家公司被指控违反了新的反托拉斯法。在这8家公司中，只有一家被判有罪，而且只是在非常有限的范围内。第一家被指控的公司是威士忌信托公司。法院驳回了此案。法院说，政府未能证明信托基金干涉了州际贸易。几年后，政府要求法院解散控制着98%制糖工业的庞大的糖业信托基金。最高法院拒绝这样做。它说信托公司在制糖业中确实形成了垄断，但垄断是在制造业，而不是在贸易或州际贸易中。因此，高等法院说，糖业信托是合法的，并没有违反反托拉斯法。
工业信托有助于减少美国公司之间的竞争，高关税也在一定程度上防止了与外国公司的竞争。但是，商界领袖对此并不满意。他们要求对进口商品征收更高的税款，以进一步减少竞争。因此，俄亥俄州的共和党国会议员威廉·麦金利提出了一项新的关税法案，该法案把进口税额提高到比任何时候都要高。大部分进口产品的税率已经达到38%，新措施将使其提高到接近50%。哈里森政府中并不是所有人都支持这项高关税措施，国务卿詹姆斯·布莱恩希望增加美国和其他国家之间的贸易交往。他警告说，新的高额关税将摧毁这些计划。布莱恩也反对这项法案，因为他觉得这会在政治上伤害共和党。布莱恩在给国会议员麦金利的一封信中说，这项法案会激怒农民，因为这将使他们孩子的鞋钱价格上涨8%。 “像这样的保护运动，”布莱恩说，“只会使共和党迅速陷入失败境地。”大多数西方和南方的国会议员反对这项关税法案，因为这将意味着各州人民的物价花销会上涨。但是，没有他们中的一些人的支持，这项法案无法通过。因此，关税法案的支持者提出了一项协议。
如果西部居民投票赞成这项关税措施，那么东部立法者将支持西部居民希望达成的白银购买法案。这项名为《谢尔曼白银购买法案》的法律将要求政府每月购买450万盎司白银。政府将用纸质货币国库券来支付白银的费用，这些纸质货币可以兑换成黄金或银币。西部矿山正在出产大量的银。通过出售给政府，矿业利益集团希望阻止银价下跌。西部的利益集团现在在国会中拥有更强的发言权。在1889年和1890年，6片西部领土成为州，这使参议院和其他众议院中又增加了12名西部代表。协议达成了。《麦金利关税法案》和《谢尔曼白银购买法案》均获得国会批准，并由哈里森总统签署。果然，进口商品价格上涨了。人们就此指责共和党人。在1890年的国会选举中，共和党遭受了重大损失。共和党在参议院的多数席位被削减到8席，并不是所有的共和党参议员都会在每个问题上支持该党。共和党在众议院失去了控制，只有88人当选为众议院议员，民主党选举出235名代表。
选民还从一个新的政治组织人民党中选出了9名众议院议员和2名参议员。新政党诞生于西部和南部的农耕地区。这是一个由拒绝支持两个旧有党派的人组成的抗议党。几年前，农民们联合起来成立了他们称之为农庄的农业组织。一个归属国家的农庄已经成立。在困难时期，农庄组织政治行动小组，帮助选出对农民友好的官员。但随着农场条件的改善，农庄开始消失。几年后，农民开始建立新的组织。像农庄一样，他们开始作为社会和经济团体。到了18世纪80年代末，这些团体中的许多已经联合成两个大组织。其中一个成员超过一百万，是南方联盟。另一个成员较少的是全国农民联盟。两个团体的成员开始联合起来采取政治行动。这将是我们下期建国史话节目要讲述的内容。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
