The Washington times., 1920-09-11


Cox Do TO make good the self
determination" idea II he were
{ elected President? II is a harm
less question, for he will not be
elected.
With all the solemnity Of Pooh
Bah" a Government commission
announces that ii must dissolve,
chop up, do away with the Inter
national Harvester Company, the
trust that makes machinery for
farmers"
"You are wicked, you have
profiteered, you have entered into
price agreements, and so you must
die" says the Government commits
sion, and 1t never smiles.
The Harvester Trust will say,
"Please do dissolve me-" eager for
dissolution as Br'er rabbit was
eager for the briar patch. All
trusts remember the Standard Oil,
solemnly dissolved, chopped up
into little pieces, treated as
( French cook treats cold meat the
, next day. 1t was chopped very
fine. Each little piece now is
worth about as much as the whole
thing was worth originally.
The big problem Of the world is
distribution. And the big failure
of the world is distribution under
private ownership. Apples rot on
the ground because it does not pay
the farmer to pick them up, box
them, and ship them. How many
people do you suppose of the hun
| dred millions in this country
would be glad to pay a fair price
for those apples?
In Baltimore hundreds Of water
melons we're given away; there
was nobody to buy them, too many
watermelons for that particular
locality
The ordinary system would be
to throw them overheard to keep
up the price. An entire shipload
! of melons, the best grade, sold for
seven and one-half cents apiece.
You could not buy one in any re-
tail store north of Baltimore for
less than a dollar.
-
A man recently went from the
State of Maryland to New York
city carrying in his Pullman car a
bushel of sweet corn for which he
paid fifteen cents; q bushel OF
tomatoes that cost thirty cents,
and bushel of the finest peaches
for which he paid one dollar and
twenty cents.
That answers the question:
"Is there anything the matter
with magnificent d, PRIVATELY
OWNED distribution"
The Government, through its
parcels post, has machinery for
distribution. But Congress, con-
trolled through its leaders by or
ganized money, fights every eff
fort made by Postmaster General
Burleson to extend the parcels
post and increase it's usefulness.
Farmers produce the food; hun
dred million people need it; the
middlemen profiteer, and the rail-
roads fail. The Government, sup
posed to represent the public in
telligence," does nothing.
Italy is close to the edge of a
real industrial revolution. 1t isn't
|. probable that even an imitation
monarchy will long survive the
war. Victor Berger, of Milwaukee,
who has studied the history Of rev.
olution and of progress, said just
after the Russian explosion:
"The next revolution will come
III ltdiy, Iiieu III IdllSe, III Guk-
land, then in Germany. After that
in America"
Some of those that heard the
prophecy considered it preposter-
GUS. They observe now with
amazement that Germany, beaten
| and bankrupt. has actually been
able to maintain stable govern
I ment and with less difficulty than
in some Of the victorious countries.
' AS for America, everything de-
bends on those that now rule the
|ountry, namely, the great indus
trial corporations and the big en-
yployers.
An intelligent correspondent
sends to his newspaper a descrip-
tion of employers organizing to
keep down pay" Too much and
/ too successful organization Of that
Kind will cause trouble. Better