The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-02-19
Price Rule Planned to Prevent Initiation

he will get 1t. II he works for an
employer with fewer than eight en-
ployees, he can get an earned raise.
But, by and large, raises in pay
for doing the same job with the same
skills and the same output will not
be allowed.
Salaries Limited.
Salaries, too, are limited. No man
may draw more than $25, 1000 year,
after deducting federal taxes,
measure designed to prevent any
body from profiteering on the war.
You see, even the boss cannot raise
his own salary when he wants to. So
much for wages. They had to be
stabilized to stabilize prices.
Then consider the necessity for
price sterilization.
It would be unfair to workers to
fix their wages If prices were not
also regulated. Accordingly, the gov
eminent began taking price stabili-
cation measures as far back as May,
1910. At present around 80 per cent
Of the things people have to buy are
under some form of price control.
Obviously, there may have been
some temporary injustices done to
producers, manufacturers, and dis
tributors of goods by the price con-
troll regulations. For that reason,
there will undoubtedly have to be
adjustments in some prices from
time to time. But-in the long run
prices will be maintained at rea-
sonable level where every man,
woman and child in the country will
be able to get all that is needed.
Why all the other curbs on infla-
ton?
More Money, Less Goods.
This year the total earnings of
all the people engaged in war and
civilian production will be about 100
billion. That much money will be
available to pay taxes, to spend, and
to save.
But we cannot possibly produce at
present price levels 1870 billion dol
lars worth of food, clothing, furni-
ture, household utensils. As result
the rest of the money will not be able
to buy any consumer goods. Fed
eral and state taxes will take an
other IS billion. The people will
save possibly as much as 80 billion,
including war bond purchases. But
that still leaves about IS billion dol
lars to bid for the purchase of not
more than n billion dollars worth of
things, at current prices that con-
sumers want. If price controls fail
to hold, people will resort to bidding
against each other for the avail
able goods on the market. If that
happens, there will be "black mar
kets," places where INSCRIPTIONS
persons sell goods at exorbitant
prices regardless of the laws.
Equal Distribution.
Rationing provides assurance that
everybody will get his fair share Of
the goods that are earned by such
programs. Otherwise, the person
with the most money would tend to
bid up the price and to secure an
unfair share of the available supply.
No one would deny that this must
not be allowed to happen.
The success of this anti-indation-
airy movement rests jointly on the
government, the law enforcing
bodies, and in the greatest measure,
upon the general public. Unless the
people in general realize that these
brakes on imitation are their only
guarantee Of stabilizing the cost of
living, it will be impossible to en-
force them.
Through 1913, and as long as the
war lasts, every man, woman, and
child in America must try his level
best to prevent the cost Of living from
rising. We can do it if we try. We
can refrain from trying to "beat the
ration" on scarce goods. We can get
along with reasonable stocks Of all
goods. We can aid in salvaging ev-
erything that will contribute toward
the winning of the war-rubber,
metals, grease, paper, and other
materials as they are needed. We
can also save every penny and every
dollar that we do not need for decent
living and put it into war bonds inn
mediately. And last, but not least,
we can do without many. things If
we have to.