The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-01-31

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stated that the statute was passed be-
cause "covetous and evil disposed per-
sons, taking advantage of the short
age have, for their own gain and
lucre, deceived and oppressed his maj
esty's subjects, more especially the
poorer sort OF people"
In 1862 the assembly of Virginia
undertook to regulate wages. There
was no money in circulation, and
price were based upon tobacco. 1t is
an interesting old statute, and reads
In part as follows:
Bricks, well burned, $50 pounds
of tobacco per 1000; brickmakers, in
addition to diet, 40 pounds of tobacco
for each 1000 bricks moulded and
burned; bricklayers in addition to
diet, 40 pounds of tobacco for each
1000 bricks laid in the wall; carpen-
ters. in addition to diet, 80 pounds of
tobacco per day."
Maryland, in 17f5. undertook to
regulate the fees that should be
charged by lawyers. Again there was
no currency in circulation and the
prices were fixed in tobacco, ranging
from 100 pounds to 600 pounds of
the weed" for each case tried, de-
pending upon the court in which the
trial took place.
About all of the states of the union
fix charges, in sense, where public
utilities are involved. Thus we find
the price of gas, the price of public
conveyance. the rate of freight and
passenger charges upon the railroads
and many other prices fixed at this
time. But no state in the union at
tempts TO fix the price of foodstuffs,
although some states do attempt to
regulate hotel charges. At least they
require hotels doing a public busi-
ness to furnish a certain standard Of
service, as for instance the law in
some of the Western states requiring
clean towels and sheets of a given
length for the beds.
In this war upon meat there Is no
demand that the government or the
states attempt to regulate the price
of foodstuffs. The world has come
to understand that prices of such
things are not q matter of statute.
and that while a law might be passed
making 1t illegal to charge more than
q certain price for bushel of grain,
no law could compel q man to raise a
bushel of grain and sell 1t at that
price. Not until the federal govern
ment or the states are ready to go in
to the business of raising foods, which
involves the making of land public
property and the confiscation of much
private property in the name of the
state or nation. will there be anything
said about regulating the price OF
produce, farther than prescribing reg
ulations for the commission houses
and storage plants.
The present boycott of meat will
have only limited effect at present,
so far as reducing the price of meat
Is concerned, but IL will have tre-
mendous effect upon the diet of the
future and thereby affect the prices
of the future. Thousands Of people
will never again adopt meat as diet.
In the sixty days which they abstain
from flesh, they will acquire taste for
other foods, and many of them will
be satisfied in the future without
meat Nearly all of the persons who
abstain from meat Tor thirty or six
ty days will in the future, use less
meat than they have in the past. In
stead of using it three times a day,
they will use II only twice, or those
now using 1t twice will serve
II but once. 1t will be found that 1t
IL unnecessary to use meat at all, and
that will be a revelation to many.
Then, there will be devised all
sorts of savory meatless dishes. The
cooks will learn TO prepare a meal
without the use of meat. The house,
wife who, for the first week or two
will worry her brain" about what
she can serve for dinner, will find that
there are a great many things to take
the place of meat, and she will ac-
quire such skill in preparing a dinner
without meat that she viii come TO
look upon meat as an actual evil.
OF course there will not be a great
deal of economy in the end in do
ing away with, meat. That is to say,
the extra demand that will be created
for other foods will chance them in
value, until the non-meat eater will
have little II any more money at the
end of the week than he now has
Eggs will be much higher than they
would otherwise be; beans and pota-
toes and rice are bound to rise In
price III more Oh tnein dre useu'
Fruits and vegetables will reap the
benefit in price that the meats lose
Instead of feeding his corn to the
hogs and making meat, the farmer
will find that he can get more for 1t
when ground into meal and sold for
mush or corn bread, so that what he
loses on his hogs he will gain in the
advanced price of corn.
But all of that Is supposing that
large number of people adopt the
no-meat habit. OF course If only a
few thousand or even few hundred
thousand of people in this country abb
stain from meat for thirty or sixty
days there will be no perceptible eff
fect.--Sprinfigeld CO.. News.