The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1921-04-07
ARTIFICIAL RESPIRA-
TION WON'T SAVE

(This article contributed by the Ore
gon Lumber Coz
A frantic attempt is being made il
every town, county, city and state tC
enliven the business situation by meth.
DDS that so closely resemble artificial
respiration as to deserve the name.
Optimism inspiring parades are be-
ing held, the public press is being
freely used tostell the public how abso-
lutely essential to the we'll being OF
the country it is that people should
buy now and buy all you can. In a
thousand different ways the public is
being urged to terminate the buying
strike, and we are told over and over
again that unless we do loosen up on
our money and hasten from store to
store distributing our shopping favors,
prosperity will sink to discouraging
level in this country. We have heard
this so much that we have made an
honest effort to become enthused over
it, but somehow or other it won't
work, and the reasons why it won't
work is because it is purely artificial
and because it is not on the square.
1t is not artificial respiration that
the business of the country needs, and
these efforts to get people to buy now
only make thinking people tighten the
grip on their purse strings. 1t is
about time to learn that the people of
this country do no buy simply for the
good of the cause. Buying is an econ
omic proposition with them individual
ly and nationally and they have not
been buying for many months for the
reason that they think their dollars are
more valuable than those things they
are being offered in exchange for
them. That is the reason and the only
reason why we have a buyers strike,
but it is not hard-headed strike as
many would have us believe.
The people of the country went wild
in their spending until their money ran
low. Their vision became adjusted
and they found they were being
charged fabulous prices for everything
simply because they had been willing
to pay such prices. They began look
ing with more respect upon their mon
ey, and as their respect increased their
buying decreased. Then values went
to pot.
Today we find lot of things selling
for reasonable prices, but the majority
of things for which we have to trade
our cash are selling entirely and un-
reasonably too high, so we hang onto
our money until they drop. That is
the whole story in nut shell. and all
the talk on earth about buying normal
ly is not going to make people loosen
up on their cash until they are satisfied
with the amount of stuff they get in
exchange for it. If they yielded to
the entreaties and began turning loose
their money it would simply work a
hardship on the commodities that have
come down to earth.
You hear lot about the way prices
have come down, but when you start
out to buy something you really need
you find it still takes an enormous
number of dollars to buy suit of
clothes, a pair of shoes, dress. hat
or a beefsteak. That is what the
country is kicking about and that is
why they hang on to their coin. They
are not going to be shaken loose from
that position and there is just one an
swer: "Get on the Line.
Only the fool turns his back to the
truth, but the truth is that there are
many basic industries that are going
to have happen to them just what hap
pened to lumber last year and what
has happened to many other indus
tries already this year, before the ma
tion quits its buying strike.
The frantic efforts that some are
making to hold their peak prices and
at the same time to induce the public
to buy their goods for the good of the
cause is absolutely pitiable. 1t cannot
be and will not be.
Let no man say that lumber is not
down. 1t has reached a point below
the cost of production, even under
present reduced costs, and it must be
admitted that lumber is cheap, and the
public knows it. The man or commun-
ity that fails to take advantage of ex-
listing prices fof lumber is making
serious mistake. and whenever living
commodities generally strike the same
level that lumber prices occupy. things
will turn back up the hill.