Arizona republican., 1919-09-04
RETURNS FROM H.C.L. CONFAB
 WITH US. OFFICIALS
Conferences With President and Attorney General Throw Considerable Light on Present Situation.

Governor Campbell, one of the mem bers of the committee appointed by the conference of governors at Salt Lake to go to Washington and consult with the president and Attorney General Palmer with reference to the high cost of living, returned yesterday morning. The governor had several conferences with the attorney general and the com mittee had pleasant conference of an hour and ten minutes with the pres;s dent in the course of which the natter was thoroughly discussed.
 The president said that the adnninis- tration would do all that could be done. under the existing legislation but be- believed that much would depend upon the ratification of the peace treaty f9r8 which he said the whole world W{sk waiting. He spoke on the condition oG unemployment in Europeap countriesk especially Great Britain,~ France anaz Italy where there seemed to be a dis~z position on the part of more than haifN the population to remain idle Thaa* was partly because the people did nog& yet have to go to work and partly be E
 
 settlement of the worlds affairs.
 Will Enforce Laws X
 The attorney general said that tha& machinery of his repartment would hez employed to it's fullest extent in en-k forcing such laws as there were fofs the protection of the people against profiteers and hoarders, and with suche meager financial resources as were available. He hoped, though, that With the passage of the Lever bill which will hardly be enacted before next rl0nfi7f that his department would be able fos proceed with greater yigor and effect. {
 It is recognized by students of con- ditions, said the governor, that ffet present era of high prices is due in a large measure to the extravaganza of the people when the reaction after the thrift exercised during the war set it. and in part to habits of extravagancs formed when men who had had but meagre wages suddenly drew large wages and began buying things that they had never before been able to buy Reasonable prices will have to be re- stored by reform of the people; by economy and thrift; by the purchase Of only such things as they need. i The situation is worse in the east than ill the west; wages are higher there than here. No kind of labor is obtainable at less than s4 a, day. Negro bod carriers are receiving from s5 to i S7 day and they and their wives are spending the money fast as it is earned. The women formerly were washer women or were engaged in domestic work. They have quit all that and are 1 spending money.
 Consumer Largely at Fault l 1 been boosted are buing only the best and generally they gauge the best only 1 by its price. Tradesmen have learned that it is the price that sells and they have made it as high and as attractive | as possible. It is this study of the working of the mind of the new high wage earners that has resulted in Sl6 shoes and s75 and s100 suits of clothes. i The merchants and manufacturers of clothing are pandering to those who want to pay prices so as to be sure that they are getting the best.
 There is much that the government can do and it is trying to bring into action again the T tschinery of the food administration for the purpose of price 1 fixing wherever price fixing seems to be necessary and no doubt in many parts of the country it will bring about a measure of relief
 Plumb Plan For All industries.
 The Industrial Institution, said the governor, east of the Mississippi is bad almost beyond description. Said 1 he, I believe that in different parts of that region 10000 strikes are in pro gress. Some of them are small but others are of large dimensions In the course of the conference between the president and the governors com mittee, the former made the statement that there could be no industrial peace until an industrial democracy hafIs been established. I would have liked to ask him for a definition of indus trial democracy but refrained from do- ing so. On my way home I travelled as far as Indianapolis with Secretary of Labor Wilson who was on his vva,ss l there to maKe a Labor Day speech [, asked him what the president naeant' by an industrial democracy. T am utf able to give the presidents definition said MT. Wilson, but to me 1t mean ] that labor shall have voice in ths| management of industry; \ that it shaaiI receive a wage based on proper standard of living and that t shasi| have part of the profits of industrr if there be any, after the satisfaction| of a wage system based on stand ard of living
 'T gathered that the secretary's pla1'
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