The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-01-10

can pay the farmer hardly enough!
70 compensate him for the work
of butchering . lamb, should say
that he is also ready to fall N line
witt the general reduction. And.
,tf the retail -four dealer should
admit that he no longer wants as
his profit on a sack Of -four an
amount approximatng that which
goes to the farmer for raising ne
wheattand the miller for grinding
the -four and the railroad for
transporting It to market, And II
the ice Ean should say, notwith-
Standing ] enjoy a monopoly Of
this bushes, yet I am willing to
deliver ica at the price at which
1 could afford to sell It under COM
petition. And IL the milkman
should admit that grass has been
abundant all summer and feed Is
now cheap and he will no longer
insist upon the prizes Of eighteen
cents a quart, which Is prohibitive
for many undernourished children
along the route he t~raverses daily.
And IL the plumbert but why pro
long the list.
True 1t may be said that wool
and cotton and leather are not the
only elements or materials tdat
enter into the cost Of their respec-
tive commodities: and we M
admit further that some Of the
goods now on the shelves were
purchased at peak prices, andsdue
allowance should be made for
these factors, nevertheless is II
not about time for a beginning to
be made in the line Of rduction?
Il say that IL some such series Of
announcements should follow a CO.
Operative effort as / have indfcat-
ed, the beneficial results to the
community and to the individuals
who, to carry out their part, might
even make some sacrifice, would
be incalculable, and the returns
would be a hundred, yea a thou
sand fold.
In the matter Of making pre-
sentiments, you are not limited to
the schedule OF offenses listed in
the statutes, but under the proyi-
sion OF our Constitution those acts
which were denominated as off.a-
SEES at the common law are cognl-
Fable by you, except wherein they
Nave been repealed or modified by
act Of the legislature. Neyerthe-
less. however unfortunate our stu
alton by reason OF high prices, II
they are rendered so only by the
individual act Of the person making
the sale, there Is no relief through
criminal prosecution; I find that
the old common law offenscs Of
engrosslng. forestalling, rebattng
which had to do with preventing
unreasonable prices In the mar
kets, either by reason OF their
restricted definitions or their re.
peal by early English statues,
avail us nothing here. and that SO
long as a trader having comn.odt-
ties for sale is Influenced IA fixing
the price only by his own inltia-
tive. the reasonableness OF tho
price Is measured by the con-
science Of him who fixes Il.
There is. however, pertinent to
this inquiry a common law offense
that Is still enforceable; anil any
practices which are deceitful or in
fraud OF the rights Of others, or
any wilful device such as the use
of false measures, which Affects or
may affect the public in general,
constitute, under the rules Of the
law, a cheat, and may be
prosecuted as such; for instance,
IL a public service corporation en-
gagged in the business of FUR
lN1SHING NATURAL GAS FOR
DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION UN-
DER A CONTRACT WITH IT'S
iPATRoNs AT A STIPULATED
PRICE PER THOUSAND CUBIC
FEET. WITHOUT ANY MODIFI-
cation OF THAT CONTRACT
OR NOTICE TO ITS PATRONS
loR CHANGE IN THE sCHE-
IDULE OF PRICES, IT SHOULD
INTRODUCE INTO IT'S MAINS
so .rH.IaH 400 ~