The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1916-12-08

large quantities of food and stored it
with the object Of making such food
scarce and then charging high prices.
An embargo however, is only excusable
when the country IS actually in need OF
the stuff, and is not legitimate simply to
reduce the price. That would be equiv.
alent to passing law fixing arbitrary
prices.
The great mistake of the present
forms of this agitation is that the fight
is made on food products only. Nobody
in these movements wants to reduce the
price OF days work, nocody is trying
to make salaries any less, no one is boy.
cotting the manufacturers of shoes on
cloth, while the prices of the steel man
ufacturers are soaring on eagle wings.
In other words. everybQd IN the big
cities and manufacturing towns wants to
buy their. .::pictuals cheaply, but to pre-.
serve the::present scale of wages and the
profits on their own goods.
Now, as q matter of fact, the farmer
:an buy no more manufactured goods to.
day with his two dollar wheat than be
could five or ten years ago with seventy.
i've cent wheat.
Years ago, when asailor boy on = mer
chant ship in the harbor of Calcutta, q
floating river merchant, who IN sailor
parlance as called a '"bumboat man. wat
rather short OF English words by which
to express the idea that he was ready te
buy, seA or exchange anything that the
sailors wanted. So as he sailed by the
ship he would shout in q sing SONG
"Chaagee for changee; blackdog fol
white monkey"
Really, that is the rule of all trade
1t is . "'black dog for white monkey
1t isn't question of the price Of wheat
eggs or butter, but q question of the
comparative value of all comodities,, one
with another. ANY effort that reduces
the price of one or more commodities
must necessarily affect the prices Of all
other goods and products lncludine
labor. Thus the housewives are try
ing to boycott bread, butter and eggs
they are also fighting for the reduction
OF the salaries of their own husbands
OF course an embargo would have sim
iliar effects. II wheat is placed under
embargo. wheat will doubtless fall
in priceS The farmers will have
less money to buy manufactured goods
and they won't buy, and if the farmers
don't buy then such goods will fall in
price. There is no getting away from
this rule, this commercial law, of supply
and demand.
Another phase of this embargo matter
is that it enters into the European war.
We do not care to add to this lengthy
editorial except Just to call attention to
the fact that Germany would be pleased
to learn that we had concluded not to
export any of our wheat or other food
to Europe.
Logically, an embargo on wheat should
also include an embargo on steel and
other war munition. These latter are
just as high priced comparatively as is
wheat. lit is desirable to lower the
price of wheat by embargo. Why not
also lower the price of all metal products
in the same way. The Germans would
also favor an embargo on metal pro
ducts, and there are many in this coun.
try.
When all things are cheap. then the
farmer is willing to sell his products
oheaply. He can afford to. But he has
the right to make his labor and capital
60 as far in the markets as the capital
and labor of any other class of capitalists
or workers.
The boycott or embargo methods, il
enforced, will prove to have two edges