East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-02-10
SOCIALISM AND HIGH PRICES.


downed, fortunately Oregon is not
taking hand in SO foolish a fight.
Oh, what sagacity, what forethought
is it not strange that in a socalled en-
lightened country people shall take
on so foolish a thought as to imagine
that they can kill off the beef trust
or any other kind of trust by re-
fusing themselves food for a week or
two, is il not about time for some of
us to rouse ourselves out of our own
somnambulistic state and get down
to real action. | have as much re-
gard for the beef trust as l have for
any other kind of monopoistic insti-
tuition that lives and fattens upon the
common people, but | think l have
enough common sense to know that
living expenses cannot be reduced by
such poorly advised hunger strikes.
The beef trust is only following the
tactics of all other trusts Why,
therefore, single out that trust alone.
Furthermore. have we ever taken in
II considerations as to whether taking
things all in all, the prices are any
higher than they would be If there
We're no beef trust in existence. We
know our local butchers are not gov
erned by the trust yet it is safe to
say the socalled beef trust could ship
beef into Pendleton and undersell our
home butchers. If the beef trust has
arbitrarily raised prices without TAX
ing into consideration the cost to it
self of cattle on the hoof and if the
government does not deny any private
individual the right to go into the
slaughtering business II he has a
mind so to do, how comes it that the
| independent packers are not any low
er in price. There are\quite num-
Der of independent packers in this
( country. yet no one has heard that
| their prices were any lower than that
/ of the beef combination. Why is i
so? Wry not have the municipalities
go into the slaughtering business, if
/ in that way We think we can reduce
| the prices of meats. Did it ever oc-
! cur to you that the beef trust earns
most of its profits out of It's by-pro
ducts2 Did it ever occur 20 YOU that
I the beef trust need depend very little
upon margins of profit on fresh
meats? Did it ever occur to you that
taking the price the packers pay for
cattle on the hoof and its selling price
for the dressed beef, the average
butcher II he were to attempt to buy
at first hand and do his own slaught-
ering for sale to his customers unless
7 he could find a market for the by
/ product. would very quickly be forced
10 the wall. Nince meats plum pud-
ding. baked pork and beans. putted
meats, etc. butterine. lard. oil. soap.
f. compound lard. all these are by-pro-
ducts made out Of tail ends. etc,
which was entirely wasted in the
early days of the beef packing indus
/ trv Today bv scientific methods
everything is consumed The sooner
we come to recognize that the result
Of trustified effort is not necessarily
higher prices. but lower prices and
less work for the masses. the better
for an of us There is not an in
dustrv In this country that has been
rrus,ined but what the price Of the
product is lower than it would be if
The Industry were not centralized and
controlled by the few. The trouble
TODAY is that Jobs are harder TO get
and wages as a consequence are low
or than they would be # there was no
competition for Jobs between the
rr4pertvless class The trusts always
aims tn minimize waste. All kinds of
production is systema tized Greatest
results with least possible effort eX-
pended The working class docs not
share in trust benefits because they
arc ON the outside. II the govern
ment owned the trusts and operated
them in the interest of all the people
! no person would then have any such
grievance as high prices or low wages
or lack Of employment.
We socialists look upon the trusts
in the same light that We do upon i'm
proved machinery Both save labor
TODAY for the employing class to the
detriment of the employed class I'm
der the cooperative system the social
lists advocate il would save the work.
ing class many hours of toll Today