New-York tribune., 1920-01-24

unalterably opposed to socialism. TAX
ing Edward Bellamys once popular.
but now almost forgotten book, Look
ing Backward" as a text, he attacks
the SOCIALIST utopia on several fronts.
ne is convinced that any experiment in
collectlvism on large scale must
break down, partly because it places
too great strain upon human nature
partly because it involves the creation
of an immense, unwieldy and incompe-
tent bureaucracy.
Mr. Leacock occupies a middle po-
sltlon, equally far removed from com
munlsm and unrestrained individual
ISM. Among the social reforms which
he advocates are the minimum wage.
state provision against unemployment
and progressive shortening of the
hours OF labor He also recommends
the retention Of the wartime principle
of heavy income taxation. In his
OPINION, 1.-The safety of the future lies
in progressive movement Of social
control alleviating the misery which
1t cannot ohlteratc and based upon the
broad general principle of equality Of
opportunity. The chief immediate di-
rection. of social effort should be
toward the attempt to give to every
human being in childhood adequate
TODD clothing, education and an op-
POi Culllly III ll1e.
Professor Fisher sets forth novel,
interesting and carefully worked out
plan for avoiding the evils Of PROLONGED
periods of rising and falling prices by
stablllzing the dollar According to his
scheme, the standard Of value would be
an imaginary goods dollar" based
upon the prices of several commodities
in general use. If the prices of these
commodities should rise the effect
would be counteractcd' by adding more
gold, IN proportion. to the gold bullion
dollar. If they should fall, a corre-
spending reduction would be made in
the actual amount Of gold in the dollar.
In this manner, Professor Fisher con-
tends, the evils Of excessive imitation
and excessive contraction would be
ehmlnated. contracts, wages and prices
could be established upon stable basis
and financial crises would be avcrtcd.
1t is undeniably true that many Of
our economic troubles can be directly
traced to the fluctuating value Of our
currency. Many of the recent "unau-
thorized" strikes, called in violation of
contracts, were justified in the eyes of
their participants because Of the sharp
and unforeseen advance in the cost of
living. A period OF falling prices. such
as led up to Bryan's free silver agita-
tlon is cruelty hard upon the debtor
class, which is compelled to pay out, in
actual value, much more than it has
borrowed. A period of rising prices
such as we have witnessed during the
: last few years, is equally hard on the
creditor class, although their com
plants arc naturally less vociferous
and less likely to arouse sympathy. A
stabilized dollar would be vcrltable
gOdScnd to the professional and in+e|
lectual classes, whose salaries arc al
ways the slowest to respond to an up
ward trend of prices.
But the possibilities of Professor
Fishers plan should not be overesti-
mated. In the last analysis prices are
determined by quantity Of goods, rather
than by quantity of gold. If the people
of Petrograd possessed ali the gold in
the world, and were cut off, as they
have been, from their ordinary sources
of food supply, prices Of food would
remain abnormally high. The author
himself admits that his plan would not
stand the test Of another great war un-