Charlevoix county herald., 1907-05-18
TO LOWER COST OF LIVING.
Proposed DicI<er Would Also Lower
the Wherewith to Live.

1t is possible that some OF our ma.
tional statesmen have a solution of
the cost OF living problem, though the
people OF the United States may not
be enthusiastic about the method. Mr..
E!ihu Root, secretary of state, has ar
ranged a treaty of peace with Ger.
many pending tariff changes which he
Is to try to have made. The treaty
or peace covers the willingness of
Germany to continue to use products
OF ours which she must have. OF
course, IL we do not, sooner or later,
lower some of our duties In favor of
German exporters, Germany will re-
fuse to buy from us the things that she
cannot get along without. For ex.
ample, rather than have us collect
present duties on imports from Ger.
many she will quit using our cotton;
and, there being no other cotton for
her to get, she will close all her mills,
throw out of employment all the wage.
earners employed there, and withdraw
{ from the markets of the world where
she is selling those manufactures, etc.
OF course.
But since Secretary Root has ar.
ranged to try for a reduction of Amer.
lean duties Germany will consent for
another year or so to buy from US
what she absolutely must have or go
out OF business in certain lines that
are OF great and indispensable value
to her.
Now, as for the program to lower
the American duties for Germany. The
plan is to put reciprocity convention
such as We have with Cuba-into
operation. When congress passes en-.
aiding legislation to permit such an
arrangement, it would naturally need
to do the same thing for other nationa
else We should have some sorry trou.
BILE on our hands with England,
France and other large buyers OF our
products and sellers to us OF theirs.
The Favored nation" treaties now in
existence would make this imperative.
And, OF course, this taking off the
duties for all the great trading nations
would let them come into this market
and sell here things that the Ameri.
dent, have been buying for nearly ten
years from American producers. This
would shut down American mills and
factories. 1t would throw American
wage-earners out of employment. II
would diminish the purchasing power
OF the American market. With a large
percentage Of our own wage-earners
Of A
tai once more idle there would be
steadily falling demand for all prod
ucts-of the MILL the factory and the
farm. This would surely bring down
the cost of living. The same sort of
thing brought down the cost of living
when we had the Wilson tariff law.
Prices could be got so low in this way
that anybody could buy almost any.
thing for song-if he had the money.
We suspect that the American peo-
pie have not forgotten, however, that
when you bring down the cost OF liv-
ing in this way-putting your own in
dustries out Of business and your own
wage-earners out of employment, and
taking foreign products of labor and
capital instead of your own peoples
the great question becomes not
what thing costs to buy in the mar
ket but where in thunder you can get
the money to buy it at any price.
But, at any rate, the state depart
ment will go on with it's program "a
bring down the cost of living-Nev
York Press.