The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-11
HAS little FAITH
IN PRICE Fixing
. ,irrh LECTURE or iByINC FISH
EIt TOUCHES On WORK or
HOOvFR's rood tOMMisssoN'
FOOD CONTINUES HIGH
pceu,a,,on he t6niinel p-so rev tom
nlodi,ies That General i'rice Lcsc' noI
i,rtiuccd Eyer 60 Extent oil one y"
Cent. Tie Sass. ''
,su.f,, LECTURE,


RmTIi LEcTUHEo
r.rkole,1, Cal. Dot. IL Irving Fish
er's nth. cost ,ot. living lecture Ses,e'
dny was ON "Rcmes'ies Tie said IN
MrYioo,cr and Price Fixing.
Al prcsent the public Is looking TO
Air. Hoover for. a remedy for the hisn
c,st Of living through price'iiXing.
From the standpoint OF the war emer-
,,cnoy expect Mr. Hoover and nus
food administration 10 do very impor-
,ant work Ia respect 10 wheat. which
Alr. Hoover Is given power TO buy or
SELL it ought 20 be possible 10 MAKE
.rice-hxiI& practicable by such BUY
ing and selling. I also rejoice an the
economy work Mr. Hoover is doing ana
instlgating. The only proper way oi
meeting che cost OF war h out oi re'ii
frugality and Industry. II IL criminal
to talk, Iaf "business as usual
tut I regard the Hoover Commission
~ more likely To succeed In these econ
ouy effpIts, l. G.. Efforts to influence
uhysicaL production. consumption and
distribution (ard <Aerebs. inct1rntssy.
pr,cesf than in its. efforts TO control
,rices in the markets, u may also
prevent. 10 some extent. specuiative
administration ami monopoly. Nor 10
, mean To say. that sosne results may.
not be- achieved In direct pricefixing
through the license system and other
wise. Especially In stabilixing prices
i:ut do not expect any startling or
very radical reduction in prices and.
should radical reductions he attained
and sustaincd.J i should, expect to- see'
the production OF such artiRcialiy
cheapened commodities fall on.
ana Informed by competent observ.
ers tht rkice fixing abroad has proved
. failure In Germany the effort to
keep dowp the price Of milk resulted
in the. slaughter Of COWS for beef. 70
the gSeat detriment OF the German
national food supply. r.
Prioe Fixing Cannot Affect the
General Price Level.
And. (fp far as price-fixing Of any
Kind Succeeds. the prices will necessa-
slly behcenfined' to so few Commodities
las eksfic foods. fuels, etcl that the
general price-level of DIR. Meekers
three hundred commodities. will not be
5 reduced. ventore to predict. even to
the extent of one per especially
as one ishject of Mr.. Hoover's plans
is To- lseef>some prices up enough TO
insure adequate production. IL this be
true. Official price-iixing cannot solve
the gre}t .problem OF the high cost OF
living ahdstf price movements in gen.
eral. We might as well expect TO sweep
back the ocean with broom Even
if ye ceaIid reduce the price of wheat
and coal 10y 10 per cent the effect on
the general level of prices would be
only per cent.
Other Unw0rkabie Remedies.
canfot discuss here in detail the
numerous other unavoidable remedies
for the .high cost of living. such as
socialism. trust busting" the single
tax. bimetallism. trade unionism. and
iaws against speculation. middiemen
and cold storage plants.
Whatever we may think of these pro-
posas for other purposes, they provide
no sovereign remedy for the high cost
Of living. Quack remedies are quite as
dangerous in human society as they
are in human physiology. In fact. the
effect of the fallacious beliefs out Of
which quack remedies grow is. itself
generally injurious.
Historical Effects of Wrong Ideas.
II is curious. how many great his |
torical effects the world has expert
enced from misunderstanding the real |
nature OF rising DC failing prices. For
instance. the MISUNDERSTANDING as 10
failing prices is the eighties and nine |
: les led te the free silver canpsigr OF !
1896 and has effected American poll. |
tics indirectly efer since. 1t stimulated |
the Irish hand sigitation and the home |
rule movement. because of the pitiable |
condition in which it placed the Irish |
peasant debtors The misunderstood, !
-ngs of the rec9nt rise OF prices have |
stimulated the lemand for the Under. |
wood tariff act.t while in England the |
nigh cost Of living has itself been cited |
as reason why England could en-
courage its own: production by putting |
on u protective tariff!
Everywhere the effect Of the unrest
is TO propose Changing the present 1
condition of .thisgs. The general atti-
tudo Of mind hat been 1--WE don't know
what's the matter but let's do some
ihing." :"
The ProbItm is Monetary.
This all means that il we do not
supply an effective. scientic remedy |
for the disease. some unscientific. in.
e1ectiye Ind probably. even injurious
nostrtim win bk tried In 1896 we /
aearly tried tho free silver nostrum
for faxins prices. To-day in the same !
way we are mehaced with revolution.
AIRY socialism.
we come back: to. our propei'-sni,ject
OF price movements. l can see no
way OF r.sdicaliyy changing price move
ments except by changing monetary
standards After the war is over the
question OF the policy of governments
in regard 10 mdnetary standards will
surely come forward. There will be n
dght. for aud against resumption OF
speche payments in paper money cOun-
al. s.. 4.