Evening star., 1923-05-09
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

7 chase. indicates nothing significant
nor guiding,
K *&S
| The 69 per cent as indicated by tn 4
| Department of Agriculture. is whai
| the purchasing power of a definite
! unit or index OF standard crops will
buy in 1922, as compared with 10"
! in 1913. If the total value of the
| 1922 crops and stock will exchang-
| for 2l2 per cent moro in 1922 than
the total would in 1913. in spite o.
| the lowered value per unit In 1922.
! then the total quantity in 1922 mus
| have been very much greater than il
| 1?13-due to increased acreage and
| stock or Il shifting to more valuable
items. There is nothing contradictor!
! IN the two sets of figures: they sim
| ply deal with two different questions.
! For example, there were in 1913. So,
! lS4. 900 acres in wheat. and in 1922 thero
were in wheat, 56.770,000 acres. With
out trying to quote tho exact prices il
is easy to see that 100 bushels Of wheaf
might in 1922 be worth only SO per cent
| of what 100 bushels were worth IL,
| 1913. in exchange for merchandise and
machinery. even though the possibly
greater yield per acre and the excess
acreage of $3.50 900 acres, might maxi
the total ga per cent more in value
than was the crop of 1919. although
measured by d SO per cent unit.
|
| merce and Agriculture arc correct, and
! the government at Washington still
| lives. Neither set Of figures indicates
| In the most remote degree what arc the
net profits of the farmer after paying
| abor and other costs Of production.
That is an altogether different problem.
which was covered by an actual cost
| survey of over 5000 farms. as pub
| lished within the last month by the
! Department of Agriculture II showed
Y
| about came out even. after paying labp,'
and marketing, having left for his op7t
work only the food and shelter of him
self and family. with profits equaling
only the labor value of tho extra work
given by his women folks and chill
dren." And that counts no interest on
| his average investment of some $4,000
This does not refer 10 gentlemen OF
| the. cities who farm over MAHOGANY
desks and fertilize with checkbooks, re
plenished by Professional labors in tn,
cities. II means dirt farmers"
| 1t is said to have heen a favorite
confidence game in New York for the
bunco man to approach a comc-on
| stranger and offer to sell him the
Brooklyn bridge at bargain. be
cause tho seller needed the money
for some special emergency. Up TO
date. however, the bridge has not
been carried away by any purchaser
In Washington the case is reversed.
Since the completion of the million
dollar Key bridge. the old Aqueduct
down. under the act of Congress.
Along comes a reputable and re-
sponsible citizen, posting $1,000 az .
guaranty of good faith who wants
to buy the old bridge, but the gov
crnmcnt has no authority from Cons
gress to sell II or to do anything with
it but tear It dpwn-and no appro-
priation available for the cost of de-
tet
ernment say the piers are disinte-
grating. and that tho bridge is un-
| safe. The would be buyer, instead ur
detracttng from the value OF what
he wants to buy declares that tho
Washington Monument will crumble
and fall before those piers weaken.
for they show the best masonry IN
America Surely the world Is upside
down when the owner discounts his
property and the intending buyer de-
When the Department of Commerce
completes its survey Of retail busi-
ness and starts to standardize buS-
tness methods. let it take cognizance
Of the ethics OF retail bridge bar
gains.
! Before the design of Old Glory wad
adopted there was another desigl.
proposed. 1t represented rattle
sosah e9ed 6ent Teady for tread STRIFE e ana
Some recent indications suggest thar
that rattlesnake flag might fit tho
marines at QuaHtiee in their cam
paign against Fredericksburg. H.
view of the marines failure to bring:
| about the dismissal from the Fred
ericksburg police force of an officer
alleged TO have attacked and beaten
"A marine, the whole detachment or
marines at Quantico-some 1000 OF
them-swear to boycott Fredericks-
burg merchants and ignore the city
absolutely. officers who have been
renting homes in the city are build
ing houses at the camp, and they say
the supplies for the camp will be
bought elsewhere. In addition, the
marines have raised a fund of about
$500 with which to prosecute the
case of assault against the police
man. Gen. Butler, IN command, says,
THE marines never quit, just be-
cause their outposts are driven in
That's a slogan for the 'tdevii dogs"
equal to Paul Jones' we've just be-
gun to fight!''
/ Without expressing any judgment
in this particular case, il is well that
due respect for the American soldier
be enforced at all times when tho
man in uniform conducts himself az
soldier and gentleman
(Copyricht, 1923 by p Y Col1irs