Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-11-21
WOULD SHIFT THE BURDEN

movement has been started in San Francisco to per-
feet and forward to congress mammoth petitions de-
mandne that an embargo be laid wheat and oodsuffs
In other words to compel the wheat growers to take a
less price for their product than conditions and demand
cause them to receive There are two sides to every
question: and in this it is simply the confhctlng
desires of the seller and the consumer 1t is dangerous
thing to attempt set aside the natural law OF supply
and demand for when this is d0ne the precedent gener
ally back In such shape that those Responsible
are sorry. -.
If it is right to prevent the wheat grower getting a
high price for his product following short crops or con-
dtons causing extra demand then 1t IS also ght TO 90
something toward fixing minimum price for the same
products when conditions and demand cause prices TO
fall to- OF below the cost Of production II 1t is 1ght TO
limit the price of the farmers products then 1t right
to limit them against low prices as well as high ones.
Looked at in another light the crop of wheat this year
was about GAO 100000 bushels against lO5o000OOo
bushels last year. In other words the crop was less th
two-thirds as large That two-thrds OF crop IS Wortn
not great deal than the crop last year 1t cost
inst as much to grow and harvest it did the full CROP
so the farmer is getting but little increase over his re-
ceipts of last year. -,
the remedy proposed would simply remove the hardship
from him and place it the farmer. When prices are
low and conditions the markets to be guted the
hardship the farmer Would 1t be night under such
conditions for the government by some law to remove
this hardship from the farmer and place on the con-
sumers? Its poor rule If it will not work both ways
Then again if this principle IS once adopted whefe VIII
it end? From the fortunes being made by auto makers
it is evident there great profit in the business would
these same advocates of embargo insist the auto
makers be forced to accept smaller price Tor their
wares Should old John d. be compelled to take less Tor
his gasoline? Should the wood dealers here IN Salem be
forced to charge for wood this year than they
did last?
The fact is that prices can never be made to SUIT every
one Naturally the grower wants high prices and just
as naturally the consumer wants low ones 1t is sell
evident that both cannot be satisfied 1t is safe plan TO
let all products be governed by the laws OF supply ana
demand In doing however, the artificial interference
with this law by cold storage trusts and other systems
should be regulated that what should be blessing and
boon to mankind the art of storing products when they
are cheap and abundant and keeping them until periods
of scarcity would not be turned into an injury
law compelling cold storage plants to make state
ment every month as to what their plants contained
would help the situation some and the time will come
when the government will perhaps be forced to take over
all such plants and operate them in the interest OF the
people Then law forbidding the sale of anything which
the seller could not deliver would stop gambling in food
sts and with these two things assured the matter OF
prices for all foodsu could safely be left to the old laws
of supply and demand and none would need to worry
Canada will import 10000 war widows after the war
ends In New York there is abundance OF war babies
now especially on Wall street. If the widows should
prove as profitable the babies Canada should import
half million Of them and get in the Rockefeller class
City Commissioner DAILY of Portland, has set aside
the action of the city council in stopping the neys rum
ming and with his aid they operating wide open as
ever Perhaps the for this is that while he is
daily the balance of the council are only weakies.