The Devils Lake world and inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1915-1920, 1917-07-26
FIXING
where DOES It
BEGIN and END?

can Publicity Association through it's
President, Hon. Jonathan Bourne, Jr.,
today gave out the following state
ment at its Washington headquarters:
"The President, by solemn address
to the American people, has commit
ted himself to a doctrine of price-fx-
ing in connection with all purchases to
be made during the period of the war
whether by our government, or by
the public. It is gratifying that the
President has finally recognized the
truism that the government is the
people organized and the public the
people unorganized, and that neither
in justice o aso can discrimin-
alton be made Between the two in the
way Of prices. It is to be hoped that
ultimately the President will also real
ize that the economic law of supply
and demand cannot be, permanently
regulated by legislation or executive
dictatorship.
"The President declares that Amer
lean producers should have "a just
price, How is that to be determined?
This query has no reference to the
agency, governmental or other, which
shall attempt to establish "a just
price," but to the scope which such an
agency shall embrace in it's endeavor.
"For example: The government
wishes to place an order at "a just
price, for a million pairs of socks for
the army.
"The contracting manufacturer of
socks owns a plant. Upon his books
it is carried at a given sum, though it
may have cost him more or less than
that figure; it could be replaced, per-
haps, at a cost different from either
that at which he carries it or which
he paid for it. At what figure shall
one compute the interest charge which
will properly ente- into "a just price
for the socks??
"He employs managers, sales-ag-
ents, superintendent, accountants, Of
flee assistants and others who, in a
narrowed sense, are not concerned in
the production of socks but whose sal
aries are properly chargeable to their
cost. Are these salaries to be subject
to review? Is the number of such
employees to be scrutinized and the
list purged if the price-fixing agency
shall so determine?
HE pays taxes on the real property
employed in the enterprise; perhaps
he also pays a franchise tax, a better
ment tax and other levies of the State
or municipality. Is his assessment to
be examined and corrected as an aid to
determine what shall be "a just price
for one of the million pairs of socks
He may carry insurance to a degree
which the price-fxer would deem ex.
cessive. The premium is a part OF
his overhead. Is it to be scaled tc
meet the price-fixer's notions?
"He may be borrowing money. Is
the amount of such obligation and the
interest it bears to be subject to re.
view in order to determine whether he
is inefficient as a financier or whethe,
he has been overreached by his bank.
ers or other holders of his paper?
And if such prove to be the case, are
the latter to be disciplined?
"He has to buy wool. How shall
one say whether he was charged &
just price, by the commission house
with which he traded? And did thi:
house, in it's turn, pay more or less
than "a just price, to the rancher who
raised the sheep? And then the ran.
cher himself. Was he paying tot
much for his range privileges, in cast
he had to rent his sheep-run? Ant
did he get "a just price when h.
bought his wire for fencing and hi.
feed for carrying the sheep through
: from eason to season?
D "And the MAI who raised the feet
for the sheep-what did it cost hin
for fertilizer, "a just price or an un
Just? And the railroads which trans
ported the fertilizer and the feed ant
the wool and at last the socks-dit
they receive "a just price for thei:
service?
"With the wool in the socks ther,
may be some mixture of cotton. VIVA
lis "a just price for cotton? Is it tn
price which prevailed in the spring o
1914, before the European war began
or the price to which cotton fell in tn
autumn of that year, or is it the sky
high price of today?
"The wool and the cotton have t.
be dyed and the dyes must be pur
chased somewhere. What is a jus
price for d~yestuffs? Dyes are mad
largely from coal-tar derivaties. Goa
is a by-product of a c%oking-ove1
Did the dye-maker pay "a just price
for his coal-tar? Who says so? AN