The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1919-08-05
1T REMAINS TO BE SEEN

the altitude record raises a shadow,
hope in the breasts of millions O
housekeepers, wage earners and hea1
Of families that "the overnment ma,
turn out to be of some earthly use
after ALL" For one American either
male or female, who worries about
the fate of Shantung or the style in
reservations" which will best become
the peace treaty at least ten thousanS
are profoundly stirred by the price OF
beefsteak or the cost of clothes.
1t is not subject to be flippant
over. In the majority of American
homes the rising cost of living is a
rally tragedy. 4 means more mea-
ger table, curtailment and often an
elimination of the bright things in
life, the heart-crushing obliteration
of that splendid plan to educate the
children" the descent of something
very like despair upon the household
We must not permit the temporary
and noisy prosperity of a few fortu.
nate ones who "have made the war
pay and who fling their unaccus.
toned winnings about with the usual
flash and folly of easy come, easy
og'' to hide from us the grea. mass of
toiling many who may possibly be
forced their wages up bit in an
inadequate effort to overtake soaring
prices, but who are still suffering
precisely the deprivations and humil
iations which would usually follow
loss Of work or a cut in pay.
We have had strikes and labor
victories" and wage increases to an
unprecedented extent; but the butch
ers' and grocers' bills still bea; the
pay envelope. Wise labor leaders have
come to see that THIS is i. race in
which they always lose The working
community cannot lift itself b. it's
own bootstraps. When they win an
approach to a general increase in
wages they increase the cost OF prs
duction all round and then they i'm
mediately pay that increased cost
themcelves, plus interest on the in
crease. plus added middlemen's prof
its on the increase, plus whatever
prcfiteering this now disturbance in
prices may permit. The working con-
sumer remains 'the goat
If any branch of government can do
anything about it. in the namo of hui
mainly they ought to do it. 1t is an
nounced from Washington that COM
mittee has been appointed to ir~es-
tigate and report to the president.
While admitting that the government
IN OF act without information some
will feel that it must have good
deal of inform lion now: others will
recall that the sounding phrase Gin
vestigating committee is often only
a long way of writing delay" while
most of us know by bitter expert
ence that it is idle to hold an inves-
tigation, secure mass of maddaning
pect the pressure of public opprobr4-
UNI to compel the profiteers to for
bear. Profiteers are not bull. that
way. They will employ experts to
show that their profits are really SO
small-when reckoned on each indi-
vidual purchase-that, if the public
had any decency about them. they
would pass the hat for the poor prof
iteer; they will prove beyond a per-
adventure that their benevolent and
practically gratuitous Intervention be
tween the raw material and the con
sumner very much reduces the cost to
the latter; that they are, indeed, un-
boasting and unjust abused public
benefactors, and that the naion
would go to the "demnition bow-wows'
if they got off it's back
The consumer, caught between the
millstones of mounting prices and lag
ging wages, does not want ''lighl" on
the subject-he wants lightning"
If our political wiseacres in Wash
ington have any lightning" to let