New-York tribune., 1918-03-24

will not save lives. Rather it will cost
them.
Price-Fixing
Leads to Slaughter
The war has laid new and immense
burden upon the nation. Congress can
neither increase nor decrease this bur
den by one iot or title. It's measure
is told wholly by the ferocity and tc
nacity with which Germany fights and
the part our allies take in resisting
her. Our own Congress can do nothing
except shift part of the load from our
own people to those of another, and in
whatever extent it relieves one croup
it must to just exactly that extent bur
den the other. And that is exactly what
1t is doing when it fixes prices. 1t is
shifting part of the load; it is shifting
part of the load from the shoulders of
the civilian to those of the soldier. It
is compelling the soldier to run great
er risks in order that the civilian NAV
nave more comforts; it is buying
"Jewelry" for the civilian with energy
that might be going into aeroplanes for
the soldier; it is buying music-ma-
chimes for the stay-at-home with en-
ergy that might be going into machine
guns for the fighter; ease and comfort
tor the one, risk and hardship for the
other. 1t is shifting the load; it is
prolonging the war. They are one and
the same thing.
Prlce-tixng in time of war is nothing
short of wholesale murder.
There are other objections to price
fxing, numerous and serious objec-
tions. Fixing the price of one commod-
lty means eventually fixing the price
OF all commodities. If the price of
wheat is kept down artificially. then
the production of wheat declines. This
IN turn creates an increased demand
for the next best substitute for wheat
say, corn; and this increased demand
for corn causes the price of corn to
rise, and 1t then becomes necessary to
fix" the price of corn. Or if the price
of steel is fixed, then it becomes neces
sary to fix the price of lumber. and so
on throughout the whole list. Then.
flxing the prices of all commodities
leads inevitably to fixing wages and
salaries, and fixing both of these things
makes 1t necessary for the government
to take over all the sources of raw ma
teral, indeed, all the natural resources
of the country, together with all of the
machinery Of production and all of the
machinery Of distribution. That is.
when price-fxing is once begun there
is no natural stopping place until the
government has confscated every kind
of property and assumed control of all
of every ones activities down to the
most sacred relationships of private
life.
1t is, indeed, Il very fortunate thing
that there is natural law against this.
For this is the last word in socialism
overdone, and would mean the end of
human progress and the death of in
dividualism. Not only is this true, but
also that every step in the deadcning
course followed to reach this end would
be accompanied by confusion worse con-
founded. Every price fixed would in
stantly make it necessary to control"
more people and more activities as we'll
as to fix some other price. Chaos
would reign all lines of business and
private life. No one would know from
one day to another whether he had g.
job or not, or if he had job how soon
somebody in Washington was going to
order reduction in his wages. In
c'ustry would halt and limp, trade would
be impeded in a thousand ways, labor
would be employed one day and idle
, the next and unthinkable uncertain
ties would confront every one in every
walk Of life.
Has No Scientific