The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-08-03
EUROPE, BLED, TO
KEEP PRICES UP

tcontinued dom First Page.l

CONTINUED from First Page.)
the fact that the war, in a very vital
sense of the word. does not end with
the signing of peace. 1t has still to
be paid for. The nation is asked to
pay not only it's own share: il must
share the burden of others; the
League of Nations is to used as a
vehicle for stabilizing credit by in
teTnationaI finance; and the United
States, unless it is to repudiate the
whole international program. must is
sue huge new loans to foreign gov
ernments to finance the purchases
they are to make of US.
The effect of all this on domestic
economics is only dimIy realized at
the present time. That it means
sharing our commodity stocks with
the world to a greater and greater
extent: that to procure the large
production of foodstuffs and other
stocks that will be needed. some form
of price-fiXing with guaranteed min
imums' will have to be continued
from the war period; that further
credit expansion will send prices
higher and higher in their general
trend as our international engage
ments increase; these are elements
in the situation which the American
people have not begun to think
about.
Wages Far Too Low.
For millions Of Americans wages
are too low, considering the present
price levels. During the war the
Government adopted a principle which
has great ethical significance in the
relations OF capital and labor-the
n ira - 'fvfn
wage" is and of seeing that all those
engaged in war production received
IL. The war is ended and "the liv-
ing wage" no longer has the arm Of
the Government behind ii. Thou
eands Of tho Governments own en-
ployes do not receive II. on the stand
ards which the Government itself has
promulgated.
Throughout the country labor
scarcity and the ability Of such pow
erful organizations as the four rail-
road brothcrhoods to fight their own
battles are helping to ameliorate the
wage situation so far as the trade
unionists are concerned.
But the millions of middle-class
Americans who have not the slightest
idea OF Croup-action. who arc slowly
being ground down by salaries which
are in many cases lower than skilled
Iaborers receive. whose real tragedy
Is the lower standard of living they
arc being forced to eccept-these are
the people who remain TO he heard
from, and who must adopt, even
against the whole traditions OF the
miTdle-Ciass, some form Of class
policy in sheer self-defense.
What arc they going to do? They
have no spokesman like the chief Of
one OF the railroad brotherhoods. who,
by a single visit to the White House.
caused Congress TO abandon n keenIy-
desired months recess and cause
various Cabinet officials to scUrry
about as il tho high cost OF living
menace was something entirely new
and&tranGe to them.
Write to COnSressmen.
They cannot act except through
consumers leagues. cooperative or
CARNATIONS. etc. which are more or
less Intellectual in the nature of
things. One thing they are doing:
They are writing letters 10 Congress
men and Senators which are causing a
good deal of concern on Capitol Hill.
And in response Congress is going to
have another whiTI Of Investigations
in which charges, counter-Charges in
formation and misinformatiOn will
come in such rapidity that the net
result will be a confusion OF counsel
more than anything else.
These Investigations probably viii
be no more than a safety-valve for
public hysteria generated by the is
sue. Legislation, of course, may be
enacted which will be effective in
limited way. The whole history Of
legislation dealing with economic
questions In the United States is more
or less the history Of failuTe-particu-
larIy when one comes tn the way the
legislation has beens enforced or in
tcrpreted by the courts. A food con-
trolIer or real pricc-fiNinE program
CO.. rHvc- hc expected from the pres
ent Congress.
Is 1t not a safe venture that 'hs
rrsat ISSUE Dl -72E rrtl Re the togl -,