Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1912-11-01

facturer nor the middleman Is re-
sponsible for the cost OF high Nv
ing. The flannel-mouth campaign
orator howls at the producer bf
cause he is easily in sight, because
through him the manufacturer can
be held up to obloquy as a bene
fciary of the tariff Small men IN
varibly follow the line OF least re-
sistance. Other platform dangers
ossail the middleman, the retailer.
1,eis the criminal who heaps up pro
fits at the expense of the suffering
people. The tariff isn't behind HIN
as it is in the case of the infamous
manufacturer. He is despolllng thu
ultimate consumer from pure cuss
edness.
This assault on the retailer is moi
50 serious, however, because 1t can
not be associated with the tariff by
3 direct course of wickedness. That
is the only reason.
Our position is that the people
themselves are responsible for the
ort;ro Grievance. In this era OF
prosperity they have become recK'
less. They buy more than they
can afford and of course they buy
at a sacrifice. Young men with all
income of $1,000 or $1,000 a year
purchase $4,000 automobiles nat
urally on credit. Prosperous farm
ers purchase silks and satins tol
their women folks and prime cuts
and miscellaneous delicacies for their
tables, without counting the cost.
In ancient times we used to see the
householder pottering about among
the markets with basket on bis
arm In these times it is the tele-
phone. Nobody stints himself.
Nobody thinks of saving. Every
body spends for luxury and display
and the middleman has arisen out
of the fury of the common carnival
Urged by special customers. he sets
up his shop with all the necessary
paraphernalia of employs and ac-
countants. After this he branches
out into larger trade. He makes
bad debts at times; he has to en-
ploy collectors ctr, and so bis
charges rise if he expects to keep a
live. Retailers sell on credit, on
the installment plan, on anysbasls
that will keep abreast of customers
who are buying beyond their means
They take risks; they assume res
possibilities and, oyer and above
all, they have to make both ends
meet,
But, as we say, the needs and
the caprices and the wanton ambi-
ton of the purchasing public are at
the bottom of the cost of high liv-
ing. The manufacturers and the
retailers adjust themselves to the
situation as best they may and, in
the end, the patient, accomplishing
tariff receives the brunt of the a.
buse and execration. We should
like to meet a dweller of this happy
Valley--happier than Rasselas ever
dreamed of-who will show us that
it costs him more to live now than
it did twenty years ago, provided
he is willing to live in the same way
and on the same material. The ex-
PLANTATION lies in the fact that we
are not contented with the ancient
arrangement. We are getting rich
and we intend to eat, wear and en-
Joy the best of everything. Why
not? We can afford it. But why
revile the instruments of our luxary
and why throw mud at the tariff
which has little or nothing in the
world to do with it?-Staunton
Daily News.
Floyd Allen and his son, Claude,
have been taken to Richmond and
put in the death chamber to await
the day of execution, The old man
is still using crut:hes.
His wife has issued an appeal to
the public for financial adm furth-
er efforts to save her husband and