New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1916-12-30

+ hunts for the causes Of advancin
prices. That some Of the price.
). That some Of the price advance
. were bred Of speculation, mad
? possible by cheap and abundan
l money, seems certain; that som,
were whatm ay be called psyche
: loglcaf or auto-suggestive may b,
, conceded. but that short Yields
and unexampled demand wer,
, the main causes hardly require.
proof. The fact that Bradstrect :
Index Number for the entire veal
1916 was 20 per cent. above l91o
50 per cent. above 1914, 32 PEI
cent. above 19101the last yeal
of food price revolts and meat
boycotts just double that of
the low-water year 1896, is a Wis
lble statistical exemplifcation III
what have been called the open
alties of prosperity"
Looking Forward.
The war abroad still sets the
measure of prosperity at home,
and the irregularity of our stock,
wheat and cotton markets in tie
last few weeks shows how sensi-
tive we are to any prospect of a
basic change in ire present strur-
gle. Too many fine predictions of
so-called authorities have gone by
the board in the past two and a
half years to encourage any hard
and fast forecasts. but few gen
eral remarks may, however. be
hazarded. Present high prices OF
all products. the scarcity of ships.
the severity Of the submarine
campaign. the decision of the
western allied governments not to
place large quantities of short
time notes here, and the ability |
OF the Allies to produce much war
material at home, would seem to
indicate that our exports have
about reached their zenith. Then.
too. the war. while profitable to
many, hassbrought home to this
country as a whole, through the
of famine prices, the fact
that we are ourselves paying no
lnconsiderable part of the inan-
'lal cost Of the struggle. How
much farther domestic .censump-.I
ion can 90 before past. present +,
md prospective high prices will
automatically check consumptive ,
'uying. if it does indeed do this. p,
$ . debatable question. The crop
ailures Of the past year would in .
formal times have given trade a !;
eavy setback. It was ease to :
reach but hard to practice con-
ervatism in the past year of highl
osts of foods. materials and ope-
alton, as well as of deficient
locks alike of manufactured O
oods and Of raw materials. ills
eace should arrive within a rea- D
onable time, it will find a good D
art of the coming years business r,
J secure as any business can be ii
lat was placed at present price n
vels, and with stocks of goods n
small in all positions. SC
SEEMS certain. however, that m
'ace will come much more grad a
lily than did hostilities two and 81
half years ago. and in this case I'll
'mands from Europe for mater tn
ls for rebuilding and repair will ac
lp to take up the slack of re- Il,
iced orders in other lines. al
Another and much more doubt
feature is the question of the =
tent to which European coun-
es which have practiced state
cialistic or collectivistic methods
the control not only of indus
Z and trade. but even Of public
petites and food supplies, as
litary measures, may seek to
ply these methods to the strup-
} with us for old or new mar
g. To paraphrase the poet, it
seemed Of late that abroad.
least. where national control
! participation in trade and
lustry are accepted as an every