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The Gommoner
SEPTEMBER, 1919
Punish the Profiteers
rrho orntcor alioiiitf exposed and punished.
Th b is a duty the . gp(veftimen t owes itself.
very manufacturer,, every contractor who
? to do with war contracts should have his
rmints thoroughly examined and it it appears
fS ho has swindled ttio government his indict-
nnt trial and conviction should follow. If this
Svpqticatioh cannot he made within the period
not covered hy the statute of limitations the"
statute of limitations should be extended.
It should be made known that no man can
defraud the government and .escape behnd tech
nicality; that so long as he lives he will be
under the shadow of exposure, disgrace and
PUIt should be understood that "no influence can
protect him, no refuge or Immunity be given
To discover and punish every person who has
crafted on the government or profiteered is an
obligation owing to the 50,000" American dead
sleeping in France.
It is an obligation to the thousands of
wounded soldiers.
It is an obligation to the hundreds of thou
sands of American youths who shouldered arms.
It is an 'obligation to the fathers and mothers
of these soldiers living and dead.
It is an obligation to the millions of American
people who made sacrifice to sustain American
arms.
When the land was seething and surging with
, the struggle and sacrifice of war whs no time
for men to conspire and scheme for easy profits.'
They had no right in that hour of travail to
deliberately coin dividends out of the blood of
wounded and dying American soldiers. If they
aro shameless enough to have done"it they
should he sought out by the: government -and
made to pay the penalty that their traitorous
conduct so richly merits. " ' ' '
The plundering profiteer is & skulker Of .the
lowest and most vicious type. Oregon JTournal.
A NEW STANDARD OF VALUE
Prof. Irving JFisherj of Yale- university?, is on
i quest for an Ideal dollar, one that will not
fluctuate to such an extent as gold has done in
the past' few years. "The gold dollar,' he says,
"is now fixed In weight and is therefore variable
in purchasing power. What we need' Is a gold
dollar fixed in purchasing power and therefore
variable in gold." To bring about this 'laudable
purpose is not so' easy as to make such a glib
Baying. Like all other plans for a "composite"
or really stable dollar we should firsthave to
have an official tabulation of current prices for
certain staple commodities and their average
from time to time. The scheme is" n6t: unlike,
that favored by the populists of the fearly' nine
ties. They proposed to have money issued
against the products of the soil held in sub
treasuries. The plan was not as Visionary as
then dubbed. If a man who tiad a dollar could
always buy the same proportion of certain fun
aamental foods and. metals, we might liaVe a
less fluctuating standard of value. -;
tt. U5 to, 1873 our .country was on a bimetallic
Bianuafd. The ratio between gold and silver was
?ii a 6 to 1 lIn t"at year silver was prac
i cauy demonetized. Great Britain and the" prin
cipal countries of the world had'gbne on a' gold
.(i)j)00Q0S)Q
JOHNSOX ON PROFITEERING
In discussing mothods of curbing tho
profiteers, Senator Ed. B. Johnson of
bouth Dakota suggests tho following:
We aro already limiting the bankers
profit and no one over stops to question
the authority of tho government to do
this," he said. "Why can't wo do tho
Same thing in other lines of business?
We did it to tho bankers because every
body was against the big' money lender
and now the same feeling fo growing
-against the dealers In food and' clothing.
No ono can complain 1'nt tho banker Is
injured because he is limited to reason
able interest and no business man could
object to being limited to a fair profit -on
Ills wares."
0000
.
basis. From1' 1873 to 189 G the discoveries of
silver and its increased production, In connec
tion with its demonetization, had Increased tho
rates between silver and gold to 30 to 1. Tho
bimetallists were, therefore, faced with a difll
. cult situation. It was not bellovod that the re
monettzatlon of silver would restore tho former
ratio. The democrats of 1896, under Mr. Bryan,
contended that wo needed a larger circulating
medium; that debts were growing harder to pay
through tho increasing value of gold, and that
the remedy was to niako money of silver again.
They were defeated, but a remarkable thing oc
curred. Very soon after the discoveries of gold
fn the Klondyke and in South Africa, gavo tho
world almost as much additional money metal
as it would have obtained through the use of
silver. Now silver and gold are almost at tho
old ratio of 16 to 1. At the same time through
the increase in paper money, credit, bond issues,
higher wages, the cost of the war and many
other causes, prices have gone skyward.
But unquestionably the s'tuatlon offers an
-. .opportunity to establish bimcJ.qJJ.l3m, or a. cur
rency based not only, omOn prnrlou. metals, ;but
perhaps on many standard article of value.
Chattanooga News.
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-T-virashJiieton Star.
A NEW DANIEL
" . ' '
A Washington special to The New York Times,
dated August 25, says: State Department offi
cials are interested in a statement by General
Salvador Alvarado, one of Carrahza's' strongest
supporters, Governor of Yucatan, in the fteraldo
of Mexico City, which he recently 'established to .
be the mouthpiece of the Carranza government,
and which has been highly commended by tho
government and by Ambassador Bellas, as be
ing the newspaper that .would tell .the truth
about Mexico. ,
This statement, which Alvarado. calls "the
balance sheet of the revolution", criticises the '
Mexican authorities, declaring that not the least
of the evils that beset the government is the
fact that jailbirds released by the revolution are
now wearing the insignia of Generals of divi
sions. He adds: 4
"Tho great social movement which the revolu
tion was supposed to inaugurate lias degenerated
Into the satisfying of the lowest passions of men
of the most questionable' character, crooks who,
instead Of being made governors of states and
,put at the head of military operations, should
be: behind the bars of prisons."
The statement, received here today, Is divided
Into sections, and reads, in part, as follows:
"Pacification. The pacification of tho country
has been Impossible because of tho lack of ap
preciation of their duties by the chiefs of opera
tions a deficient military organization, and
"buses Sf their authority by the military chiefs.
"Delayed Weeding-Out Process. In spite of
the establishment of constitutional government
the wMdtagout process of the worst elements
of the WTOlution has not been carried out The
dreks of society, released from jails by the re
volutionists, have been permitted to remain ft
the government and the army, and same of them
are SSSS?the insignia of , generals of divisions
ArtfoKlM 1M especialfy need regulation
and tateMU -Won call for ability in en-
noting tho laws contemplated by tho constitution
thus far not shown by tho legislature l
"Administration of ;iuBtlco.Th4 aUnflnlatrL
tlon of juHtlco has never had a good name In
Mexico, but it cannot bo raoro prostituted than
it is at tho prosout time. A wave of Immorality,
opon and cynical, involves every act of tho court.
"Tho Petroleum Problem. This is easy of
sottlomont. Gonuinq national Interests ,arft ,not
incompatible with satisfying the legitimate de
mands of tho owners and lessees of oil Ifrnds.
"Banking. Tho progress ot tho cduntry 'ian
lioVcontlnuo without tho exlstonco of"trafnkd?Tho
prevailing economic Instability and unt&tyill
not disappear "Until the" banking question' haa
boon solvod:
"Moral Disintegration. Tfio most alarming
symptom Is that public opinion no longer rpaoU
whon It hoars of cases of bribery, graft, corrup
tion,, and thefts of all kinds. It seems as 'f a
wave of immorality has takon possession, of
everybody and everything In Mexico. Thlfr "rttato
of affairs has boon caused by the fact th'at'!tho
dregs of society aro now at largo and holding
high places in the councils of the nation.
"Urgency of .Bottling Problemfl.T-Thoro Is no
time to bo lost. Any frosh incldoht may Jot looso
tho storm that has been so long hanging over
us. Tho conviction exists abroad that wo aro
and will contlnuo to be a nuisance. On tho, other
hand, if wo can initio our affairs, millions, of
men and millions rf dollars will flow into our
country. But lot uj not do bo in any haste,, nor
bo actuated by fear, but as a sacred obligation.
If we aro unjustly attackod let us not give .our
selves up to useless tears like hysterical women;
if we hav6 not acquired the virtues to make, us
a strong people let us pay for tbo sjns of, our
ancestors without useless lamentations,"
General Alvarado concludes his statement
with an appeal to President .Carranza to support
hqnestly and sincerely tho formation of a polit
ical party which he has not done heretofore. ;Ho
also appeals to Gonoral Obrogon and .PabJoCon
zoles to settle their difference and to work; to
gether for tho public welfare
PRESBYTERIAN COUNSELLORS RESOLU
' TION INTRODUCED: AT THE LA8TJ PRKS
' B YTERL1N ASSEMBLY BY MR. BRYAN
Resolved, that this general assembly heroby
instructs Its executivo commission to take under
consideration the desirability of tho selection by
tho assembly of a limited number of ministers
of apprpyed experience and ability to serve as
councellors , or pastors at largo, in order that
through these leaders the messago of tho church
may be presbnte'd with greater effect.
2. That these councellors or pastors at largo
''shall not pxorclse either administrative or oxecu
' live authority biit render service similar o that
'performed by "our 'moderators in their tour of
tho church, and such other servi as the assem
bly may appoint'.
, 2. ., That- the executive commission b,o In
; styitted to report, on. this raatter.at the, assembly
'of,19.2rf with such recommendations as to plan,
yi "any, as U, may deem wise.
, i . .
Enthusiastic gentlemen who have embarked
in the business of making the entire world dry
say that it will cost 35 millions. Before getting
nil heated over this sum and wondering how it
could be expended, we might recall that a year
ago we were enthusiastically spending that much
every day in support of the war. If it was worth
that much per day to make tho world safe, lor
democracy to walk through it ought tq botworth
.that much per job to enable it to walk straight.
Milk producers are getting 5 and '6 cents
a quart for their product from the wholesalers
who retail It throtfgh wagons for 14 cents a
quart. If JL33 1-3 per cent gross profit can bo
defended on any ground, we hope the man cap-
able of putting up any argument on tho proposition-
will also explain why so many farmers
are- selling their dairy cows and no town dairy
has gone out of business in a decade for the
Teason that the farmers are quitting dairying.
Sometimes it is difficult to repress a tempta
tion. One. of the reporters who was covering a
recent food investigation in which it was -hpwfl'
wholesalers were making from 25 per cent, tip
on their investment wrote it robbers' profit' In
stead of jobbers' profit, and It took him fivft
minutes to decide that he had better nob depend
on the compositor or proof-reader to catch'tka
error
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