Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-12-23
PALMER ASSERTS
THERE IS DECIDED
DOWNWARD TREND
-. - 'euoisaaa ,gssss eyed Issued BY
Govern .. % Is Response to
Railroad Mems Demand for
More Pay.

'ANH S1N "Sii " GSl'tb''h wv
More Pay.
! tsY SoEHHa JouPnAL SPECIAL lEAsro mari
Washington. Dec 22.-The cost Of
living is on the decline. No less an
authority than Attorney General Pal
mer made this statement today in an
appeal to the American public to ac-
celerate the downward sweep of high
prices bv increasing production and
eliminating extravaganza.
The attornev general pointed out
that there is a downward tendency 10
prices during the first two months OF
every wear and added "this trend will
be accelerated this wear by the cam
paign initiated bv the government
THE cost of living. already under
control can be reduced IL every one
who produces will produce his utmost
u those who buy and consume will
save. and eliminate eXtravagance and
II all honest people will ioin with the
| ldenartment of Justice in stamping out
profiteering and boarding.
| Although statistics compiled annu-
ally by the government show that In
| previous years retail food prices in
| creased during the fall months Mr.
| Palmer said that since August this
year such prices had been maintained
!
MANY Prosecutions Instituted
! ONLY since October %. when neces-
| sarv amendments to the Lever food
lcontrol act were passed. the attor-
| neY generals statement said has It
been possible to deal effectively with
all cases OF profiteering and boarding
| From October % to date, t79 prosecus
! tions have been instituted and prose-
| cutionS and seizures have covered
| eighteen states. 1t was added.
| Due to cooperation between tho
| government and various retail mer-
chants associations, the statement
said, prevailing profits of clothing
| had been reduced from to so per
cent.
The statement which was issued
with the authorization of the govern
ment officials associated with the at
tornev general in the campaign to
force down living costs, including Di-
rector General of Railroads Hines was
considered In some quarters as a
summary. Of the governments posi-
ton in the face OF the recently re-
newed demands of railroad workers
for an Increase in nay. The railroad
shopmen publicly and the other rail-
road crafts tacitlv agreed in August
son to POSTPONE their demands for in
creased nav for ninety days to await
efforts of the government to bring
down prices.
Presidents Position.
I'm August" said the attorney gem
erals statement. ''in connection with
demands for increased wages by rail-
road shnpmen based on the Increased
cost Of living The presldent announced
I OF living would be lowered as soon as
there were settled conditions of pro-
duction and of commerce. as soon as
the treaty of peace was ratified and
as soon as merchants. manufacturers.
farmers and miners had a certain
basis Of calculation In - statement
to the shopmen themselves, the presf-
dent declared that the primary step
was to Increase production and facii-
tate TRANSPORTATION so as to make up
for the destruction wrought bv the
war and the terrible scarcities 1t ere
ated. The president added that the
govnrnment had taken up with all
possible vigor the task Of bringing the
profiteer to book making the stocks
Of necessities in the country avail
able at lower prices. stimulating pro-
duction and facilitating distribution.
"The movement inaugurated at that
time to gain control over the cost of
Lying has been largely in the hands OF
the department of justice. II should
ready been accomplished and what
further steps are in contemplation. To
assess the situation IL Is necessary to
look back and ascertain what the
trend of prices has been In past years,
Retail Food Prices.
Taking retail food prices as
basis the index numbers of the United
States bureau of labor statistics from
1911 to 1919 indicate that up TO 1919
there has been noticeable trend up
year whereas, since August this year.
such retail prices have been kept
practically stationary. By way of IL
lustIation, during the period. August
to November. inclusive, 1915. there
was an advance in retail food prices
hu nf la
statistics of thirteen points, In 1917.
eighteen points and in 1918, sixteen
points, as compared with no Increase
whatever in the corresponding period
of 1919. Considering the four years
from 1911 to 1914, inclusive, retail
prices show a slight upward trend
from September | to October i .
greater upward trend from October |
to November /, and remained practi-
cally stationary from November | to
December !. During the four years
from 1915 to 1918, inclusive, retail
food prices showed decided upward
trend from August | to September [
and to October /, and a slightly les-
sened but decided upward trend tn
November l and to December /, This
year during September and Octobcr
an actual reduction in the general
level Of retail prices was effected as
compared with August. while the
figure for November, although slight
~ above that of October, shows no
increase above the August returns.
In other words, the official data
clearly show the significant fact that
the cost of living as indicated by re-
tail prices was no greater in Novem-
Der of this year than 1t was In August.
while during former years, extending
back to 1911, the returns for Novem-
Der show a considerable increase over
the August returns.
Downward Trend.
THE history of retail food prices
indicate that "a decided downward
trend ordinarily may be expected in
the part of the year between January
| and March i and 1t is to be hoped
that this trend will be accelerated
this year by the campaign initiated by
the government, which is just now
getting we'll under way.
"The Lever food control act, under
which the food administration ope-
rated and through the enforcement of
which the department of Justice is
now trying to reduce high prices. un-
did not provide a penalty
for certain acts declared to be unlaw-
full, and therefore the department of
justice was unable to effectually deal
with MANY cases of profiteering which
came to its attention. Realizing tho
gravity of this situation, the presi-
dent appeared before the congress on
August 5 and urged an Immediate
amendment of the food control act to
extend it's scope to all the necessities
Of life, and to provide a penalty for
of section four of this act.
which made profiteering unlawful,
and to extend the life of the act into