Norwich bulletin., 1920-04-09
Great Responsibility Rests Upon The Farmer
cwr.tt.n Specially For The Bulletin.)

Cwr.tten Specially For The Bulletin.) There Is no topic at present so uni vcrsally interesting as that. of the high cost of living-or the high cost of loahng-or the cost of high living whichever way of putting it you hap pen to prefer.
 Therefore any contributions to- wards our knowledge of how it be- gan and of what fosters it are timely. Let me start off with quotation from one of those brighk newspaper paragraphers, in whose brief but snappy sentences often resides not pnly the soul of wit but the palpitat- nE heart of truth
 aIf wouldn't be such a difficult job 70 make both ends meet if there were lot SC many silk shirt, fur-coat, Ehipped-cream appetiteS-
 Don't mass that off with a smoth- cred laugh. Chew on it a bit. Get Inc real taste of it.
 A silk shirt isn't a bit more com Eortabie than one of woolen or cot lon.- It doesn't wear any better, as- running equally high grades of ma ieriai in those of other make. It aoesn't look any better. what small part of it shows. But it costs more. A fur coat, in these Iatitudes; is neither a necessity nor any great comfort IL is a cumbrous. clumsy, heavy garment, useful, no doubt, in the lonely and wide spaces of the 60- beiow-zero Arctic, just as whale blub- Der is dinner tidbit in the same trozen reaches. In our climate. where Inc thermometer is oftener above the freezing point than below it, the gar- ment is certainly never necessity. But. again. it costs more.
 And whipped cream isn't a bit gWeeter or more tasteful or more aonfishing than plain sweet cream, freshly skinned. But it is more trou- bie to make and. if you buy it, it costs more.
 Tn those three latter words lies the whole secret of the silk-shirt, fur coat. whipped-cream appetite. Those things cost more. Therefore we want lem. That is. some of us do-alto- geEher too many of us.
 Having arrived at that indubitable conclusion, please stop a minute and reflect whether that motive is a wor- thy or even a creditable one. Whether that appetite is a wholesome one Whether the indulgence of it is worth while for any man or woman unless for the one who has so much money and SO inactive brains that he can't hnd anything better to do with his iupefnuous cash.
 So far as this country is concerned 1e present deplorabie condition was initiated by the federal government al Washington. All during the war Fhen you and I and a hundred million Bther patriotic Americans were Jtraining every nerve and sacrificing half our daily comforts in order to supply the government with money Tor winning the war-even then a great many of us couldn't but feel the strong suspicion that our hard won and generously parted-with dollars were being wasted as recklessly as ii they were water. Since the war has eiosed formal investigation has dis closed what seems to be conclusive evidence that this general suspicion Eas the exact truth.
 Congressman Denison of Illinois. il ( recent speech in congress present. ng some of the facts already brougt put. summarized the situation il these words:
 When the investigations are com pleted and their results fully disclosed Co the American people, there will b. n political h not an actual revolution There has been an orgy of waste, ex travaganoe, dishonesty, fraud in tn disbursement of these billioHs takel oy taxes and borrowed from the peo pie that not only surpasses everythin, sver recorded in connection with an, government, but exceeds the wildes Imagination"
 A. preliminary basis for this amaz tnG indictment, MT. Denison presente several scores of instances alread proven which I have no space eve 70 summarize They will all. doubt hA tnN NcA CAr r1. be the duty of all citizens to conside them and act accordingly. For tn present, that general statement of Mi Deniscn's is quoted simply to sho, how the evidence imprSSsrs one ma who has had opportunity to sift it.
 So far as we common folks wh york for a living on farms or else where are concerned the administra lions wastefulness ought not to h .aken for model and example. fought not" to be. But, alas! it to often has been and is thus taken.
 One of the biggest shoe manufac iurers iF1 the country maintains a re iail store in a city not far from m One day this past winter. tall1in frankly with business friend. h made the direct statement. that the were compelled to charge unduly hig prices for their shoes. simply becaus heir customers wouldn't, any Ionge lake them at fair prices. They Ina plenty of s4 and s5 and $S shoes. Bl when people came in and these wei Ihown them, they were prompt puEhed aside-not wanted. Haven .Fou anything better?" was the usu, comment. And experience soon taugl he salesmen that by better" ti1es buyers always meant more expensiv
 We have more call for s14 shoes. tha ior q ones." said this big manufae h1rer. who frankly deplored the ey trnvagance which, as a business ma, Ae was compelled to humor or To. hade.
 A M-... Va-L< .;8.. a.I =,