The Dallas express. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1893-1970, 1920-01-10
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATS
TICS.
Interview on Prices and Cost OF Liv-
ing, With Royal Meeker, L. s.
Commissioner Of Labor Statistics.

are coming down. The wish is faith
er to the thought, and it is easy for
the housewife to accept any state
ment that prices are slated for a fall
in the near future.
, Before attempting to answer the
query as to when, if ever, prices
are to fall, it would be well to con-
slider the causes which have brought
about the remarkable rise in prices
since 1915, These causes may be
summarized as follows:
l. By far the most important
cause of increased prices is the
enormous additions to the circulating
medium, money and its substitutes,
during the past four years:
2. Decrease in the actual physical
quantities of goods produced and ex-
changed.
8. Manufacture for and purchase
by the governments of the world foI
war and other purposes and
4. Changes in the demands for
and the supply of goods and services.
If prices are to be lowered the
causes operating to boost prices must
be attacked. The amount of money
appreciably reduced and the quanti-
ties of necessary goods must be in
creased in amount. The stocks of
commodities manufactured on govern
ment account must, so far as pos
sible, be salvaged and thrown upon
the market. The XtIaordinary de-
mands for goods new and old must
either be curtailed or production of
these goods expanded to meet the
needs.
The financing of the war has made
two dollars grow where but one
dollar grew before This coupled
with the fact that there has been an
enormous destruction of economic
goods and of the farms. mines, for
ests and factories supplying these
goods explains the enormous and
worldwide decrease in the purcha-
sing power (value) of money, which
causes increased prices. AS long as
the people have twice as many dol
lars with which to buy a smaller
number Of commodities. prices are
bound to remain high. 1t will take
long time to deflate the worlds
inflated curl ences or to initiate the
worlds Debated supply of goods. The
profiteer is being blamed on all
hands for the increase in prices. I'm
doubleday, profiteering of a most
repI ehensible sort has existed and
does exist today, but the profiteer
is a result of ever increasing prices
rather than a cause thereof. His in
| fiuence in boosting prices is neglible
If all the protiteers in the world
could be apprehended and thrown
into pail or linked up and shot, it
would have no appreciate influence
upon prices.
1t has been suggested that alb
normally high prices are psychology
cal in origin and that prices will
fall just as soon as the people can
be made to think falling prices. OF
course, psychology is involved in
every price, but the larger quanti-
| ties of currency and the smaller
amounts of commodities are physical
facts that no psychic legerdemain
can overcome.
l see no prospect of any consider
able fall in prices for several years
| to come. 1t will be impossible for
the governments of the world to pay
off their debts very rapidly. On the
contrary, there is every reason to
apprehend that credits must be is
sued to fol- eign governments, foreign
manufacturers. and foreign business
men, in order to rehabilitate the
broken and shattered industries of
| Europe. This being the case we may
| expect that larger volumes of checks
and credit instruments will be
thown into circulation, thus boosting
prices still higher. If it is impos-
sible to reduce the volume of the
worlds Indebtedness suddenly, ii is
even more impossible to increase the
quantity of the worlds goods sud-
denly. Of course, the worlds produc-
tive forces are being marshalled as
rapidly as possible in order % in
crease the production from farms,
forests, mines, and factories, but this
is necessarily a slow process, es-
pecially in these times of great bust
ness instability and labor unrest. The
1919 farm crops have practically all
been marketed The only way that
prices can be brought down before
next years crops begin to find their
way to market is through deflation
of the currency. AS pointed out
above, still further Invitations are in
evitable if Europe is to rehabilitate
her industries so that she can in
crease her supply of material goods
and thus bring about lower prices
by increasing goods and decreasing
debts.
Some business men are appI chen
sive that the United States will be
footed with European made goods
which will bring prices down tumb-
ling. The price of foreign exchange
at the present moment is such as to
make it highly profitable for Ameri-
can business men to buy large
quantities of goods in Europe, es-
pecially in Germany and Austria, ii
European countries only had the
goods to sell. Not until Europe has
rehabilitated its industries may we
expect to have our markets flooded
with European goods. That puts of
the tumble in prices several years
The normal seasonal drop in prices
may be expected in 1920. This seas
onal drop comes much earlier thar
is generally supposed. In normal
times the low price level for all
commodities combined comes in
March, April or May. These seasonal
price changes are relatively small
and will have but little effect upon
the housewives expenditures. Nc
great and sudden fall in prices seems
possible for long time.
ppon1e generally are warming sc
intently for lower prices that they
have not thought much about tho
results of falling prices. The prices
we kicked about in 1918. have come
to be regarded as ideal. Untold dis.
tress has been caused by the rapit
price increases of the past foul