Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-08-01

Tor SClentlnc STUDY oT INC Y avs
WHEN the president of the Brother
| w hood of Locomotive Engineers, Mr.
| Stone, called at the White House and
asked President Wilson to give nm and
his fellow engineers some definite infor-
! nation about what prospect there is for
reduction in the cost of living. he really
spoke for every wage-earner and every
salaried man.
Mr., Stone reminded Mr.. Wilson that s.
a dav will go no further than S2l5 would
60 before the war. He said the engineers
must either have an increase in wages or
the prices must come down. They would
prefer that the prices should come down
IF nothing can he done to reduce the
prices thev must demand higher pay.
Every wage-earncr will await with I'M
patience the reply which the President
makes to the railway engineers. lhey
all want to know whether anything can
be done to reduce the high cost of living.
The engineers think that the government
can do something They charge that the
situation is brought about mainly by
conscienceless profteering by the great
interests who have secured control OF all
the necessares of life
1t is Of vital Importance that the truth
be discovered. and that it be made known
to the whole people.
If the President should appoint COM
mission of experts to make an inquiry
and publish report without delay the
foundation would be laid for whatever
action the facts seem to justify The
commission should contain business eX-
perts familiar with the processes OF trade
and with the condition of industry. and
it should also contain experts in pohtlcal
economy who understand the laws when
govern the fuctuation of prices.
These men could tell US whether there
has been manipulation of the markets,
whether there has been interference with
the operation of the law of supply and
demand and whether the withdrawal from
productive industry of millions of men
and the imitation of the currency incident
| to the war have had any influence. They
| could also tell US whether the production
of foodstuffs in America has kept pace
with the growth of the country IN wealth
and population
Some facts are known. Take the price
| of wheat. for instance. It is fixed by
government guarantee, made last year
before the armistice was signed. There
| were then large quantities of wheat IN
Australia and in Argentina which could
not be shipped to the world markets be-
cause all the available shipping was
needed for other purposes.
It was necessary to do something to IN
| duce the farmers to plant winter wheat.
The guarantee of 1926 bushel worked
The farmers planted the wheat and
| large harvest is now being gathered. But
wheat is not worth 1926 in the world
markets. So long as it sells for this
figure in the American market other
grains will also sell for high price and
everything which is dependent on grain
will be high. This includes not only
bread, but all kinds of meat.
IF the government would permit the
wheat to be sold in open market at the
price which it would bring and would re-
irburse the wheat growers for the diff
ference between the guaranteed price and
the market price, the cost of bread would
be, reduced at once and the price of other
grains would come down and beef and
pork would follow.
It would be better for every one if the
government paid the difference between
the market price and the guarantee out
of government funds and charged it up
to the war debt than to compel the con-
sumer to pay the present high prices for
everything dependent on wheat always
the barometer of food prices. This is one
thing that can be done by the authorities
in Washington.
But it would not bring the prices OF
food down to the pre-war level. There
has been imitation of the currency both
in this country and in Europe.
The Federal Reserve Board gave out
figures the other day which show that II
FIVE of the warning nations the paper cur
rencv in circulation has been increased
from two and half billions in 1914 tc
twenty two and a half billions at the
close of 1918. In the United States more
than two and half billion dollars in Fed
eral Reserve notes have been issued.
Prof. Irving Fisher, of Yale Univer
sitv. reminded the conference of mayor
and .overnors in Washington last Marcl
that every period of imitation had beer
followed by an increase in prices, ant
that prices had never sunk to their forme
level. This happened in the sixteenth
century, when Europe was flooded witt
cold and silver from the mines of tn
newly discovered western continent. I
happened again in 1896, following tn
discovery of rich gold fields in Soutl
Africa, Cripple Creek and Alaska. an
the invention of the cyanide process i
raining which made ores profitable Whic
) could not be worked before.
! Profteering, while it may be guilty t
> some extent, is not wholly responsible fo
present conditions.