The Match King’s Monopoly: How Edwin Gould Bought Seattle’s Competition
A look at the massive consolidation of the American match industry by J.P. Morgan’s ally, Edwin Gould, and what it means for local manufacturers.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
HE WANTED A MONOPOLY
SEATTLE, June 2.—Edwin Gould, president of the Continental Match Company, has sold out his interests to the Diamond Match Company, effectively handing over control of a significant portion of the nation's match production to a single trust.
Gould, who entered the match business only six years ago in September 1903 with the incorporation of the Continental Match Company in Trenton, N.J., has now become simply a director in the Diamond Match Company. In addition to this directorate in the huge Illinois corporation, he receives $1,000,000 for turning over his three factories to the trust.
One of these factories is at Passaic, N.J.; another at Chambersburg; and still another, "without a pane of glass broken in it," at Kankakee, Ill.
All this has been officially agreed upon. To carry the agreement into effect, a resolution will soon be adopted by the board of directors of the Diamond Match Company recommending the issue of $1,000,000 additional capital stock, one-third to go to Mr. Edwin Gould, an equal amount to be used in sweeping away or acquiring the properties of other competitors, and the remaining million to be offered to the public at par.
This gives the Diamond Company a practical monopoly of the match business in this country. It is already a competitor in foreign markets, and it is taking an aggressive capitalization to dominate the match business of the entire world. With the $1,000,000 additional stock, it will have a capital of over $25,000,000.
It will be next September since Edwin Gould first entered the match business. On September 3, 1903, the articles of incorporation of the Continental Match Company were filed in Trenton with a capital of $1,000,000. Mr. Gould said at the time that the capital stock would be increased to $10,000,000 if deemed advisable, and that the company was not organized to fight trusts, but to make and sell matches. The reason for expansion was the ownership of a patent and machine which, by the aid of three employees, was said to be capable of furnishing out 15,000,000 matches in a day.
This story captures the peak of the Progressive Era's anxiety about monopolies. Edwin Gould, son of financier Jay Gould and later a key figure in J.P. Morgan’s circle, was consolidating industries into massive trusts that controlled everything from matches to railroads. Today, we see similar concerns with tech giants controlling digital infrastructure or pharmaceutical companies dominating drug prices; the core tension between efficient mass production and consumer protection remains identical.
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