The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-10-08

.F Wrong Scents.
How are these facts about the hlgn
cost of living to be explained?
We find in popular discussion a
great variety of causes assigned for
the high cost of living such as
speculation, the middle man. foreign
demand, destruction from war. labor
unions, short hours of labor. trusts.
the tariff. cold storage, longer hauls
on railroads, marketing by telephone.
the free delivery system. the indi :
vidual package, the enforcement OF
sanitary laws, the tuberculin testing
Of cattle. the destruction of tainted
meat. sanitary milk. advertising, UNI
scientific management. the elimtna-
ton of renovated butter and of riots
and spots" in eggs. food adultera-
ton, extravaganza, concentration OF
populations in cities. impoverishment
of the soil. the displacement of the
neighborhood farmer. the fact that
farmers wives no longer compete IN
butter making or poultry raising.
drought, and Of late. boarding OF
housewives. While some of these
alleged causes are important factors
IN raising particular prices, not a
single one of them has much to do
with raising the general level Of
prices.
Money Dominates,
There Is is fundamental common
cause underlying the general up
heavaI and that cause is money. Few
realize that the quantity of money
has anything to do with the price of
a commodity, still less that the
quantity of money has anything TO
do with the general level of prices.
Since we talk always in terms OF
money and live in a money atmos-
phere, as it were. we become as I'M
conscious of ii as we do Of the air
we breathe.
Even the war, which is at bottom
the chief reason for the high cost of
living, has, the facts Show, raised the
price level far more through none
tary imitation than through causing a
scarcity of goods. Throughout his
tory and even during war. the pres
ent one being no exception, changes
Of the price level have, in general,
corresponded to the changes in the
monetary circulation and its credit
substitutes.
Price Movements and Gold and
Silver Mining.
Whenever there have been great
outpourings from mines, following
discoveries VI NllC bAONAONS
used for money, as during the six
teenth century after great stores Of
precious metals had been foud in the
new world, after the Californian and
Australian gold mining of the mites
and after the Alaskan and Cripple
Greek mining Of the late nineties. we
have found rapidly rising prices.
Prices and Paper Money.
Again. whenever there has been
artificial monetary imitation through
issue of paper money, such as occur
red during the French Revolution,
during our own early colonial history,
during the American Revolution,
during the Napoleonic wars in Eng
land, during the American Civil war
and during the present war in Eu-
rope. there has been a rise of prices
in such paper standard countries.
" On the other hand, while such
money is being withdrawn. as during
the seventies in the United States,
prices have fallen.
Price Movements and Monetary
Standards.
Then there is a remarkable family
resemblance between the price move
ments of all countries having the
same monetary standard. The price
movements IN all gOlQ SLdludAu Iouh
tries are strikingly similar, such as
in the. United States and England
since 1921 excepting 1928 when
the United States was not on gold
basis. So too the price movements
in silver countries show a strong
likeness, as India and China from
1873 to 1898.
Contrasting Standards.
Again countries with different
monetary standards sfsw CORES
bonding divergences in their price
movements. Thus during our green
back days, 1S62-7S, the price move
ments in this country were unlike
the movements of foreign prices.
We find also a great contrast De-
tween gold and silver countries.
Speaking roughly we may say that
between 1873 and 1895 the price level
in gold countries fell rs per cent and
In silver countries rose 80 per cent.
Close Agreement.
Finally we find that when there are
violent changes in the quantity OF
money there are corresponding
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