Milford chronicle., 1948-12-03
FOUNDER OF MOTHERS DAY

The prevalent notion that individual eff
fort counts for little and that any movement,
however worthy, must depend for success
on large membership, committees, directors
and all the paraphernalia of organization
finds it's answer in the life of Anna M. Jarvis
founder of Mothers Day, who died at ripe
old age last week.
Miss Jarvis brought to the task of pro-
noting reverence for mothers the only
qualities which were essential-utter devO-
tiOn to the cause and bOundless energy to
work, write, and speak in it's behalf.
By her own efforts she swept away the
brittle cynicism of an age which, sometimes
to it's own loss, turns it's back on a display of
sentimentality. She demonstrated that the
love which mothers lavish on their children
has a counterpart in the abiding affection
for their mothers which lies deep in the
hearts of sons and daughters of every age.
Her sound conviction that the finest quail
tiles entrusted to men Ond wOmen-unsel-
fishness, love and devOtiOn-are the essen
tials of mothers love met an amazing re-
spOnse and today Mothers Day is observed,
ever. increasingly, in more than 40 countries.
Without benefit of an elaborate Organiza-
tiOn, Miss Jarvis showed the way for millions
of men and women to offer proper tribute to
their mothers and, in doing so, to honor
motherhood in the brOadest sense.
FACTS OF LIFE
A good many people seem to believe that
next year something resembling the old OPA
will be brought back from the dead, and
prices will Immediately drop.
This is one of those illusions that should
be scOtched as soon as possible. For, regard
less of what the law may or may not attempt
to do, there are certain economic principles
involved which are as inevitable as the move
ment of the planets.
FirstsOf all, no one will produce anything
at loss. We could pass law, for instance,
saying that dozen eggs shall be sold for
twenty-five cents, and a good suit of clothes
sold for twenty dollars. But no farmer would
produce those eggs and no manufacturer
would make the suit-fOr the simple reason
that bankruptcy would follow.
Secondly, we cannot make any merchant
handle goods at loss. Today, for instance
typical retail stores, including both the big
chain systems and many independent stores,
earn a smaller profit on each dollar of sales
than they did under OPA. That profit, gen.
orally, runs from one or two per cent to about
six cents on volume of trade, depending on
the kind of goods handled. There certainly is
no room in this field to make any dent in the
prices paid by the consumer.
Thirdly, price fixing by fiat is the best
friend the black market has. It makes for
scarcity in the legitimate, law-abiding chan
nels of trade. And it makes for abundance in
undercOver dealings, where the price charg-
ed is all the traffic will bear-right down to
the last penny. The racketeer and his custom
ers get the gOOds-the responsible merchant
and the masses of people go without.
TOday's prices are the result of record
wages, enormous government spending, full
employment, high taxes, and other such for
ces Competition keeps them as low as pOss-
ible. Government meddling would be the
worst possible way to attack the issue.