Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-25
WHAT'S THE cAusEs

III IIpoIt VI the senate tOfnnllttee
on the cause of the increased cost
of living cannot be said to be very
informing, even IL the truth of the ma
jority's findings is conceded. Even as
the committee has divided on partisan
lines, so individuals will have their
own opinions (where they have any at
alb In the matter. The problem is so
complicated that it battles anyone who
endeavors to dip into it.
A prominent newspaper in the east
recently gathered a symposium of
views from a group of noted Ameri-
cans, 1t was significant, and almost
amusing, that among the half dozen or
so of replies, no two agreed. One
ascribed the increased production of
gold as the cause of the rise in prices,
another the extravaganza of the peo-
pie, another the trusts, another the
tariff, and so on And, as Mr.. Dooley
would say, there We are"
The truth lies in the fact-and in this
the senate committee is right-that the
causes are not one but many. Which
predominates not even the ablest and
shrewdest economists and sociologists
are able to say with agreement. "When
doctors disagree who shall decide?"
Take, for example. the case of beef.
No one can deny that as American
prosperity grows and people want por-
terhouse steaks whose parents were
content with soupbones and other
,I,A
parts must inevitably go up. Nor can
anyone who knows the facts fail to see
that the cutting up of western ranches
and the higher price of corn are to-
gether bound to reduce supply and
raise prices. Further, it is patent that
the great beef trust, able in large
measure to say what it will pay for
beef on the hoof and what it will re-
ceive for dressed meat, is a large
factor in the case.
Many other trusts, enabled by crush
ing out competition absolutely to laugh
at the law of supply and demand, have
put prices up almost at will, and the
only reason they are not higher for
their particular commodities is that
there is a point beyond which it is in
advisable to go because to pass it
would cause a falling off in demand.
When the senate committee says that
trust products have not advanced "as
rapidly as have other commodities it
only reveals its political bias.
The people know better. Figures
may be prepared that will show any
thing desired, but everyday experience
disproves them. The consumers of to-
bacco, for instance, know that while to-
bacco may not apparently have risen
much the size of packages has been
reduced and the quality of goods of cer-
tain prices has deteriorated. Other
trusts have resorted to the. same tricks
as the tobacco trust and have cut down
packages, not greatly in the units but
enormously adding to profits in the ag-
gregate; so much so that some states
have passed laws compelling producers
to stamp packages plainly with the
weights.
So with the tariff. You can't tell
people that when the makers of steel
rails sewing machines, watches, type
writer's and host of other things sell
them for less abroad than at home, the
tariff doesn't let them do it, Gambling
in foodstuffs, cold storage, the greed
of middlemen and retailers the water
in stocks upon which we must pay
dividends, and a dozen other factors
enter into the mounting cost of living.
In our opinion there is one great en-
bracing cause that overshadows all
others. 1t is the exploiting of man by
his fellow man. The spirit of greed
seems to be abroad as never before.
under this condition prices could not
remain down.