The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-08-15

concord. We see no reason why the
President should not submit the qucs-
ton to men so experienced in national
alimentation as Messrs. Herbert Hoov-
er, Alonzo Taylor, and Vernon Kellogg,
for example. Surely it is possible to
do something effective. Meanwhile
we venture to say that whether it be
possible to decrease the cost of living
or not, it is possible to stop the rank
profteerisg that Is evident on every
side. Each one of US can cite exam
pies within his own experience. Ex-
cry tax is used as an excuse for col
Letting not only the impost itself, nut
an additional amount of profit for the
seller. Even the man who sells pop
corn gives you bagful of half the
former size for the customary nickel.
Why, the rancher from whom we
bought eggs excused his raise in price
by saying that the war had increased
the demand for shells! Joking apart,
every man or woman can quote exam
pies of inexcusable prices, based sim
| ply on the idea of using the opportun-
ity to profteer. Agreements exist be-
tween producers to control markets,
prices are fixed arbitrarily from day
to day, food is destroyed in order to
maintain high quotations, carloads Of
fruit are allowed to rot rather than
reduce the cost to the public, en0r-
nous quantities of foodstuffs bought
by the Government for the army have
remained unused. These are matters
of common knowledge, and they evoke
keen feeling of resentment. How far
the artificial price of wheat has con-
tributed to this state of things, we do
not know, but it might well be an act
of wisdom to sell this years wheat at
more nearly normal price and keep
faith with the farmers by giving them
a bonus out of the guarantee fund.
Cheaper flour might lead the way to-
ward more reasonable market in all
staples of food. The train-men's de-
mand for a cut in the high cost of liv
ing by October may be preposterous,
but it is certain that the subject is
one that is engaging the attention of
the population of this country, and of
other countries, to a point threatening
to stop the great measures of interna-
tional readjustment embodied in the
Treaty of Peace and the League of
Nations. The force implicit in gov
eminent can be used to no better pur-
pose than in preventing the boarding
of food stuffs for the purpose Of Gre
ating an artificial scarcity or in dis
cipling those who under cover of alb
normal conditions set to work to cx-
act excessive profits on the sale of
the essentials of life. The force ac-
corded by the people in democracy
to the government is supposed to be
used for the general good in restrain
ing those whose actions are subver-
sive of order or otherwise hurtful to
the community. 1t is assumed that
the representatives of the people are
given the power of government in or
der that other citizens may go about
their business undisturbed. We elect
our representatives, in the municipal
ity, the State, and the Nation, to per-
form this function because the people
themselves cannot perform it. The
alternative is mob-rule or war Of
parties, When Abraham Lincoln
spoke, of government "by the people,
he did not mean it literally, for that
were impossible, the governing being
done by the representatives of the
people in behalf of all the people, ricl,
or poor, wise or foolish, white or
black. 1t is just as necessary that
the labor unions or the industrial cor
porations should not arrogate to
themselves the settlement of affairs
that concern all of US as it is that our
representatives shall have the initia-
IL III b. he