Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-08-22
MUTT AND
JEFF-
THERE'S 100
PER CENT
OF SOME
THING IN
JEFFS
STUFF
BY BUil
FISHER
BY BISHOP w. A. GAMBLER

1t is a national shame that
time when the whole world has been
looking to our country for economic
guidance, political wisdom. and NOR
al leadership, there should be, such
gross manifestations of greed among
large numbers of the American peo-
pie.
While the treaty of peace and 9TH
err great issues were under conS1dera-
ton by the federal congress it was
found necessary for all departments
of the government to concentrate
energy and unite effort upon the sup
preston of what is called profit
eering."
Investigations already made show
enormous and diSgraceful stores of
make eXorbitant profits. Multitudes
might go unfed and under-nour1shed
that these men might make gain out
of the primary needs of all these
people What may vet be revealed
by further investigations we cannot
ready to make every good citizen
ashamed and indignant.
But the "profiteers'' are not the
only class showing goddess greed.
Bodies of men have threatened to
make the situation far worse by
starve cities, make production to
come to a standstill, and perhaps en-
gender the worst disorders. And all
this has been done to eXtort from
the enterprises of transportation
WAGES which confessedly exceed the
incomes of these lines. The national
government has been forced for
year or more to pay deficits of the
railways out of the public treasury
because the receipts from these cor
porations have been wholly made
quiate to meet their running. ex-
other words all the
people have been taxed enormously
to meet operating expenses which
could not be met by the income de-
rived from freight and passenger
rates. The demand now is that the
expenditures be further increased,
and, of course, this means that all
the people be taxed still more. Here
again we have ''profteering" in an
other form, openly proposed and
backed by threats.
And it must be confessed that the
'profiteering" of tradesmen and the
.'proffteering" of labor went on. dur
ing the war, when our brave boys
were at the front enduring hard
ships and imperiling their lives for
the pitiful pay of soldiers. The
to have moved men of all classes
into the spirit and habits of self
sacrifice, but it was lost on men who
thought of their own gains only.
In the meantime, universal ex-
travagance is the order of the day.
ing and it is believed that it is a
leading cause Of the continued pre-
valence of high prices. The cost
of high. living has much to do with
the high cost of living. Speaking to
this point the Chicago Tribune says:
THE testimony of merchants
is that despite high prices the
American people are spending
money on a much larger scale
and for much more expensive ar
ticles than ever before. 1t is
described as a period of 'frenZied
buying. The old restraints seem q
to be thrown aside, and money
is appreciated only as means
to indulge in some new extrava-
gance.
After the great war it was
inevitable that prices should be
high. The great waste of mate
rails, the diversion of man-pow-
er to non-productive activities,
the initiation of credit and cur
rency, and the general rise in
wages necessarily have their eff
feet in raising the scale of
of which we have spoken has
immensely stimulated the up
ward-prfce movement. A large
part of the so-called profiteer-
iiiS ID uIiNlueSlIOudDly ATTRIBUTED
to the fact that the public itself
has tempted the producer, the
manufacturer, and the retailer
to boost prices.
1t may be asked how re-
trenchmen in the purchase of
non-essentiaIs can have any eff
feet on the price of necessities
such as food and clothing. Well,
for one thing. if the atmosphere
of frenZied buying is removed,
we think prices are more likely
to go back to something like a
normal level; certainly they are
not likely to do otherwise But
more important is the fact that
every cent that is spent for non
essentials constitutes a diversion
of our national energy from the
production and distribution Of
the absolute necessities OF life
If we ask the baker to spend
large part of his time making
fancy pastries, he cannot pro
duce as much bread, and he will
have to charge more for it,
"One remedy for high prices
lies in the hands of the public,
and it is-thrift."
Now. the time has come for all
classes to stop their strife and con-
tention about money and the things
that money can buy, and repent be-
fore God for all this frenzicd covet-
BUSINESS. The nation is guilty of