Oxford eagle., 1920-04-29

gone the wages went ur we don't
begrudge the men who stayed at
home the wages they got but it's
damn funny that when we come back
down go wages The cost OF living.
don't 60 down. guess we're ont of
luck"
I found two phrases inseparable In
the speech OF the discontented, "th0
high cost Of living;" "the proiteer." ."
Workingmen with whom talked,
freely admitted that some Of the high
cost Of living was the legitimate re-
suit Of the great demand for every
thing and the natural shortage, but IN
the same breath they insisted that
much Of 1t was due to the mercenary,
ghoulish profiteer.
The profiteer took blood money dur
ing the worlds greatest tragedy. He
exacted usury from the toiler at home
and the fighting man at the. front.
He drew dividends out Of the tears
and walls Of broken-hearted women
and fright-stricken children. He
minted his gold out Of agony, starva-
ton, heartaches. He stands today
the Judas of the war, the most de-
spised man Of earth.
The profiteer is not an Englishman.
a Frenchman, Italian or American.
He is found in every country Of tho
world, a man without nationality.
without conscience, without humanity.
He is the pimp Of civilization. He u
still on the Job.
The prof1teer has given the United
States terrible black eye. A COM
mon comment of Europe is. The
United States made money out OF the
war;" These people do not refer to
the money we made legitimately.
They point to the fact, fact that
has been given great publicity In Eu-
rope, that in August, 1914. there were
about 1000 millionaires In the United
States, while at the time Of the sign
ing of the armistice it was estimated
the millionaire colony had increased
by $4,000, making total OF $4,000
millionaires in the United States. The
profiteer is still on the Job. He Is
holding up the world, starving. cold
world.
Profiteering Gaze In Point.
Under date Of November II, 1919, J.
s. Bache & Co., members Of the New
York stock exchange, in their financial
letter say: "In mercantile circles
there is proceeding at the present time
vast amount of speculation on
very large scale in commodities An
Incident is cited to us of one con-
cern that is carrying $15,0O0,O 900 worth
of vegetable oils, which are in great
demand, and the concern Is holding
them for higher prices. This is
distinct damage to the consumers, ana
keeps living prices in these things,
used daily, at top and increasing lev
els. Speculation Of this kind Is
real detriment to the community"
The pair OF shoes the workingman
once bought for $3.50 are now So and
$40. 1t is true that the cost Of tabor
and material have gone up, but not
enough to warrant any Sucn eXOrDl-
tant prices. Business men have TAX
en- advantage of the situation, and jus
tify their larcenies on the ground Of
the law of supply and demand. A
shoe man with prominent Chicago
firm, man long in the business, told
me that the present unwarranted and
outrageous price of shoes was due to
the fact that American shoe manufac-
turers could get almost any price for
shoes from the barefooted people OF
Europe.
Governments are blamed for not
dealing with this species Of holdup.,
The discontented ask why isn't
profiteering treason-why shouldn't
these Fagans be sent to the wall with
a firing squad as an escort?"
Copyright, 1920, Western Newspaper Union)'