Evening journal., 1922-01-30

metals and metal products; LUMBER
and building materials. drugs and
chemicals; house furnishing goods
and miscellaneous. There are 24S
commodities listed in the nine
groups. the wholesale price Of each /
being accurately kept for the pur-
pose OF ascertaining the tendency OF
prices to rise or fall. A chart is
kept which by means OF a curved
line graphically indicates the trend
of prices. AS your finger traverses
this line from 1873 to 1906 you find
prices constantly falling; from 1896
TO 1914 prices constantly rising With
a sharp upward trend through the
period of the war. AS / looked at
this chart the other day memories
of the hard-worked and poorly
paid farmer OF my boyhood flooded
back to me. II used to seem to me
that this man who did so much for
everyone else was able to do very
little for himself. / remembered
how almost impossible il was for
him to pay his loans and mortgages.
I remembered how the money lender
fiourished and / bgan TO see as
clearly as we see the sun at noon
day that during this period OF con-
stantly falling prices, which means
ever higher money. the man
who had commodities to sell
suffered and the man who had
money to sell fiourished as the
green bay tree. and as my finger
travelled up the curve OF high prices
frov,, fcQg rrr,or, korod bo,u tbo
man with the fxed income began to
suffer, the complaints, many OF them
/ just OF the wage Garner, that the
school teacher, the clerk. the Office
man. the salaried person OF every
/ type began TO feel the pinch and
eventually TO actually suffer from
! this condition and / saw pictured
/ in letters Of fre that the "wayfaring
/ man though he were a fool might
read and understand the fixed in
come OF these people becoming
cheap and the commodities they had
TO buy for their support and the
support OF their families corre-
spondingly high.
Some may say; What OF III
Where one person Is injured an
other is benefted'-but this Is not
the case From about 1879 until
1896 populism rose from small be-
ginnings chiefly in the great agri-
cultural areas OF the middle west,
the money lender and the bond
holder were hold up 10 every re-
proach and contumeiy the names OF
Russell Sage and Hetty Green were
thought OF as the name OF Shylock.
Discomfort, bad feeling and dihicult
financing reduced very muck eco
nomic output and eliminated In the
free silver campaign O. 1896.
shortly after the beginning OF
the rise OF 1896. that is, at about the
beginning OF this century. the rise in
prices began to spread the seeds Of
socialism among the worker and the
man with the fixed income, indus
trial unrest developed, labor unions
were formed and became powerful,
strikes common and many OF the
seeds Of the great war we're sown.
Nowhere throughout that part Of
the world using our monetary stand
ard was the rise in prices felt with
any more cruelty than among the
middle classes and the toilers In
p Germany, and this discomfort among
, the great bulk OF the people went 9
, long way toward creating the op'
r portunity and. in the minds OF SOM
! ossibly. the national necessity foi
; war.
: "A great teacher once said 10 hi
, students Divide the study OF an,
social situation INTO four questions
What is it9 why is IL? What Of
il? what are you going to do about
it?" Having given TO you men OF
the press this summary OF the first
three questions brief almost TO sup
preston because Of the very proper
and necessary limit placed upon the
time allotted me within which "a
speak, the question arises in your
mind. What are you going TO dc
about IL, that is, what is the rem
edy? II am not going into that
! phase Of the matter because / am
talking about this with you just "a
have talked about Il TO a grea'
many others for the urpose OF stim.
ulating its consideration. woulC
< not discuss Il at all, Of course. II &
I remedy, and, as matter of fact
r while / have thought for lonl
G while about Just what the evil wa
= and afterward just how to remed,
. IL. I never discussed II seriously un
tii Il seemed To me there was a rem
edy. but the chief thing with m
, is for the country 10 get the anawe
= regardless OF who finds Il and a suP
!, gested remedy, which may not
the real one, tends 70 retard rathe
than 10 stimulate thought
> II am going 10 suggest, howeve
10 as an ofshoot from this main col
s. sideration, 10 the Federal ReserN
-e Board and the bankers of the cour
ID try. and the great thinking publ
b whose sentiment will so largely cor
v troll the financial policy at this pc
Re iod Of reaction from war inhatio
IN that billions OF dollars OF war bon,
AZ Of the government were paid for
inflated, that is, cheap money, TIL
ia TO double the price OF the mon'
90 with which these bonds would hR'
Is TO be paid, as is being seriously di
on cussed as "A part OF a policy OF a
q. fation. will change the burden
the taxpayers Of this country fro
~ 25 billions 20 the approximately
\, so billions OF dollars, that is W
" double the burden; that numberle
rivate contracts were entered in
e. tically the actual contract pri
20 would be thus doubled; that m
OF lions OF dollars worth Of farm Ian