Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-06-09

chirruping away like inCessant lit
| tie birds that the republicans
have done nothing" l should be
glad. emitting the two years of
war when both parties worked to-
gether, to put the recorded accom-
Iplishment of the five years OF COM
plete democratic control beside
that of our eighteen months ham,
pered by an inimical administra-
ton. Let me assure you that we dc
not fear the comparison.
We have made remarkable be-
ginning, but we are fully conscious
that it is only a beginning. Much
has been done. much more remains
| to do and we pledge ourselves to
exert all our energies to deal with
what is still undone. The wreck
and confusion of great war, in
business. finance and all economic
lcCnditions, cannot be cleared away
and fully readiusted in year and
half nor indeed in twice that
time. Reconstruction must be
steady and energetic but it also de-
mands care IL ii is to be of lasting
value. The rise Of prices, the high
cost of living which reach daily
into every home, is the most press
ing as it is the most difficult and
most essential problem which con-
fronts us. Some of the sources of
this trouble can be reached by
| Legislation, although not all, but
everything that can be effected by
law should be done at once. Profi-
Iteering. the charging of extortion-
late and unjustified prices, which IS
lstupid as well as unlawful. are sub
ject now to ample punitive laws.
Those laws should be enforced,
others If necessary added, and the
offenders both great and small
should be pursued and punished,
not in the headlines of newspapers
after the manner of the present
Iattorney general. but quietly, thor
loughly and efficiently, in the courts
'of the United States. Something
more in this direction can be ac-
complished by the proper regula-
ton of cold storage, and a bill for
that purpose has passed both
houses and is now in conference.
Another deep-seated cause of the
rise of prices, more effective in its
profiteering Is the abnormal m
crease per capita of the circulating
medium. This has doubled since the
war began and If in the space of
few years the amount of the cir
culating medium Is doubled 1t has
most profund effect in stimulating
and advancing prices. During the
war credits have been enormous
ly inflated and there have been
large additions to the currency
through the federal reserve banks.
Here it is possible to check the adj
vance of prices by law. We can
provide for the control of credits in
such manner as to give preference
to the most essential products. We
are also able to reduce the amount
of the circulating medium in the
form of federal reserve bank notes
the authority having been given
during the war to increase the issue
of these notes from two billions 10
four billions. 1t should be one OF
the first acts of congress to deal
with this essential point and 1t
would have a marked effect in re-
lducing prices by steadying them
and bringing them down to a lower
land more normal level.
Remedy Lies in Production.
The most potent remedy of all
against advances in the high cost
of living, however, lies in produc-
ton, which cannot be reached d.
rectly by statutes. II production
begins to fail and fall off. the cost
of everything will be advanced by
the simple force of scarcity which
inevitably drives prices upward
The most essential remedy for high
costs is to keep up and increase
production and particularly should
every effort be made to advance
the productivity of the farms. Just
how much the government can 90
| in this direction Is uncertain. put
it can aid and support and If any
thing can be done 1t must not be
omitted or overlooked. At the same
time it must not be forgotten that
there is a vast difference between
the powers of the national govern
ment in time of war and those
which ii possesses in time OF peace.
The normal limitations of times OF
peace restrict very much the pow
ers of the general government ana
in helping to increase the proouc-
tivity Of the farms, which must De
done through government acton,
| the republican party promises 10
use every power in TINS difectloh
whether within the state or feder-
al jurisdiction.
| have touched upon this matter
of prices and the high cost OF Nv
ing because it is altogether the
most important domestic question
now before the country and one
to which the republican party
should address itself without de-
Law in every direction where help
| is possible. There are, of course
as / have said, many other impor-
tant economic questions to be
dealt with, as speedily as may pe'
hut the time allotted to me makes
it impossible to touch upon them
| all.
There is, however, one measure
which cannot be passed over
single great law which has peen
enacted and which in any period
would be sufficient to distinguish
a congress as one of high accom-
nlishment. This is the railroad act
For six months able committees IN
both houses. committees where no
party line was drawn, toiled day
after day upon this most intricate
of problems. There was much SER
ious debate in both senate ana
house and then the bill. signed by
the president, became law. No
doubt time and experience VIII
show that improvements in the
act can be made, but in the MAN
it is a remarkable piece OF iegis-
lation and in general principles is
entirely sound, and nothing could
be more unfair than to criticize
the present owner contending with
the legacy of mismanagement
waste and confusion bequeathed
nv the government when 1t return
ed the roads only three months ago
The railroad law possesses also an
Importance wholly distinct from