Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-18
PUBLIC IS RASH
SPfNDER, SHOULD
SAVE, SAYS HILL
Railroad King Addresses
Minnesota COnSerVa-
ton Congress
TALKS ON HIGH COST
Declares Waste, IdleneSs,
Big Budgets and Rising
Wages Are Causes
TALKS ON HIGH COST
ASSOCIATED PressI

O T. PAUL, Mimi, March 1.-THE
address of James j. HILL chair
~ man of the board of directors of
the Great Northern railway on Con
servation of Capital was the feature
of the State Conservation congress
today. Howard Elliott, president of
the Northern Pacific railway, presided.
The general subject of the session
was agricultural development in Min
nesota. The other speakers were
Prof. E V. Robinson of the Univer-
sity of Minnesota, who spoke on the
Farm Wealth of Minnesota" and
Prof. A. e. Chamberlain, superinten-
dent of the Farmers institute of South
Dakota, whose subject was "Agricul-
ture-a Science and Competitive Busi-
ness"
Mr.. Hill said in part:
',The phenomenal increase Of public
expenditure has already produced a
plentiful crop of public ills. 1t is one
of the causes of the increase in prices
now disturbing the people. This in
crease follows in a suggestive way the
imitation of national and local budgets.
The average cost of the supplies that
must be bought for practically every
household has increased about 30 per
cent between 1896 and 1900.
Gone Up in Year
"During the past year there has been
A. marked lifting of the price level
Foodstuffs cost from 10 to 10 per cent
more than ten years ago.
"Something of this is due to enor-
nous currency imitation. The tarln is
another contributing cause. 1t is true
that 1t can furnish but a partial eX-
PLANTATION. For to only a limited ex-
tent can the rise in food prices De al
fected by or traced to the ttariff.
denominations which are actually
IN restraint of trade, which have mo-
nopolized their field and are either
controlled by a common secret man
agement or a secret agreement to
maintain exorbitant prices, are partly
responsible.
"When due allowance has been made
for the effect of these forces that
make for dearer living there still re-
mains a large unexplained balance.
This must be credited to the lavish
expenditure which has now grown to
be a national trait.
Causes Varied
Waste, idleness and rising wages,
all inter-related to one another, now
as cause and now as effect, are, next
to an overissue of irredeemable paper
the three most powerful forces In the
world to raise prices.
"Perhaps the greatest factor of all
in the price problem is the wage rate.
Everybody knows that labor cost is
the principal item in all forms of in
dustry. The wage rate has been rls-
ing steadily In this country. To resist
1t Is difficult and may be dangerous.
1.-THE effect of national waste OF
capital is felt Immediately in added
weight of taxation. The taxes col
lected annually from the railroads OF
the country have increased more than
200 per cent since 1889. They increased
by $40, 900, 900 and by more than 800
per mile of track between 1900 and
1908.
Urges Economy
"The saving feature of our situation
Is that 1t is not complex and the
remedy is not obscure. The ideal or
intelligent economy must be restored.
Let the rule be that every dollar un-
profltably spent marks a crime against
posterity Just as much as does the dis
sipation Of material resources. Expen-
diture must be cut down all along the
line.
stop grating, the offspring of pub
lis extravaganza and the parent or
civic decay. Encourage individual and
public economy; adjust distinction be-
tween a high standard Oh comfort on
one side and vulgar ostentation or
criminal waste on the other; check on
income wasting, debt-creation and
credit dit-inflation-these are the essentials
of the new and better conservation.
The reform is so great, so indispen-
sable; so linked to our moral as well as
our material progress that it would
seem to appeal to the heart and mind
of every American until the last battle
IOafr n fcV1a n nd
self-interest strike bands here for the
protection of our homes and happiness
from those most dangerous of all enc
mics, the foes within our own borderS."