The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-04-14

Day by day, week by week and
 month by month, this country ana the United States generally faces d rise in foodstuffs.
 Of course that falls most heavily upOn the working man and will con tinue to fall heaviest upon him, first because his purchasing power is con fined to very restricted limits and second because that purchasing power must spend itself almost wholly in food.
 If out of his wages therefore, ai most all of it must go to tho pur- chase of food, his shelter and his clothing will have to take less and less, and his standard of living be- comes materially reduced.
 Briefly it is of interest to con- slider this enormous increase in the price of food stuffs.
 There are many contributing eau ses, not all of which are the same importance. There is the higher cost of raw material; there is the increase in the costs of transporta- tion; there is the increased demand for the food products of the nation and there is the enormous influx of gold into the country since the war began.
 There is more gold in the United States than ever before in it's his tory. Not just a little more or moderate increase in the quantity but collosal increase of dimensions so gigantic that it has literally swamped the banks,
 Gold is as well as the medium of exchange, also commodity. It's price marked in terms of those things for which it is cxchcngd is therefore regulated by the same law that affects all commodities. the law of supply and demand. The demand for gold has not risen excessively iI the United States. But the sup ply has risen tremendously. It has arrived from Europe from Asia ana from Africa. Shipments of gold bullion and Australian sovereigns have come it millions from Aus tralasia. In the banks in the Easj the gold has been received in Midas quantities. And while it has, there has been no such thing as business | revival or a wage increase or de- struction of properties requiring | gold borrowing for rebuilding in the United States would plAcc that excess gold in balancing circulation, As a commodity the relative in crease of gold supply over the de- mand as means of exchange is | simply enormous.
 Now gold is our medium of ex- change. With it as standard the prices of all commodities arc reckoned. A definite quantity ot wheat and a definite weight of meat are equal in exchange value. That mutual equality of value is expressed by saying that they are worth so much l money. A definite weight of mea, is worth ten dollars and a definite l quantity of wheat is worth ten dol lara But the ten dollars itself has a changeable value as represented by sgsla, because. gold is commodity Lad is- affected as already stated by the law of supply and demand like food and drink and clothing.
 The European war has dumped enormous quantities of gold in Am erica while it has heightened the in talresSss k AA Rsmand for, food, and aje rssI unlfSsks 1he European war xss iss1 MiS aH Raormousi quantity. of productive labor or which is the same thing has sent that labor into productive pursuits. It is clear Nassahe WagdMh8 lAaaye tsedarms ts|| to 5lHht faggn1attt aggn1attt lhfafh lhfafh exgBfaado to ffase thl syx4duca caoseGufaa aanbmehoitnsThhh sThhhatt tsYPrk is 1ffiaase bh shbskitutesf ana apaS dpayaslSya sM y4Ass4n baIfwiagRt N aQf tAhhts whsSas| ,fAs Mss5JSpaHadt dthsd dsraesB, 1hsAt bas,fRd be fed just as surely as whons hal Uss S8gaSad eiA faAi aainaKKifqa& EuRyali,I 1peNRal aaeaRibtAa all tthsir, RPffor:s are unable .terRstffx oth9h AfmReh aaqfa the armies and the vast numbdrAmab| s,ppyQdYGttigx.ssc laboregss se9gagSdo i4i
 f6sx fSES .;lI lImySrlSa. yl1 G fsiGs . to Aastfafis to mako up the sha5t- i, ~.,.,.u .,,.,, ,, ., -bsTs ' .~r,s.r1.,,, ,.r iiirst