New-York tribune. [volume], February 18, 1920, Page 4, Image 4

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Plan Offered to
Keep Dollar
.Value Stable
Prof. Fisher Explains His
Method of Checking High
Cost of Living and Rem?
edying Many Injustices
Investments Show Drop
Difficulties of Foreign Ex?
change Are Laid Before
Meeting of Advertisers
Stabilizing the value of the dollar
by increasing or decreasing the weight
of gold bullion which it represents, ac
C4???iingly as its purchasing power
fluctuates, was urged by Professor
Irving Fisher, of the department of
political economy at Yale University,
before the Association of New York
Advertising Agencies yesterday at the
Hotel McAlpin. Professor Fisher con?
tended that some plan of keeping the
value of the dollar at its normal level
offered the only practical solution of
the high cost of living problem.
"It is an illusion to say that prices
of commodities have doubled," said
Professor Fisher. "The correct thing
to say is that the value of the dollar
has decreased one-half. To try to
boost prices or increase salaries to
keep pace with the rising dollar is
hopeless and confusing. It is fraught
with injustices. The only way to meet
the problem is to stabilize the dollar.
How is this to be done? The answer
is simple.
"We have now a means of determin?
ing scientifically the value of a dollar.
That value or purchasing power may
be determined at the end of any period,
?ay each month. This figure is called
the. index number. For example, sup
fiose the plan had been inaugurated
est month and the index number for
that month was selected for the par
or basic price level. Suppose the in?
dex number this month is 101, or 1
per cent above par. This would be the
signal and authorization for the Treas?
ury Department to increase by 1 per
cent the weight of bullion for which a
dollar certificate would be issued.
Par Will Be Reached Again
"If this increase In weight is suffi?
cient to compensate for the lost pur?
chasing power of the original weight
of the bullion dollar then the index
number of the next month will return
to par.
"If the adjustment Is not sufficient,
then the next month's index number,
remaining above par. will indicate the
need of further weighing of the dollar.
"Thus by varying continually the
weight of the dollar in accordance with
the ups and downs in its purchasing
power, we can keep it constant in th?
exchange value for goods.
"Of course we could not chip off or
add on gold to the coin dollar. We
eould not turn in all coins every month
to have them corrected. Neither could
we carry gold coin of various weights
in our pockets. But we do not carry
gold coin in our pockets anyway; we
carry paper certificates representing a
certain quantity of gold, which Is, by
definition, the dollar."
Professor Fisher gave various illus
tr?tions of the way in which he ?nid
injustices were dono by the fluctuating
dollar. An investment of S100,000
made twenty years ago, although
yielding 4 per cent, had really yielded
nothing, because the principal had
decreased in value one-half and the
Interest paid would have had to be
added to the original investment to
keen the initial value intact.
Henry C Emory, assistant manager
of tho foreign department of the Guar?
anty Trust Company, spoke on the
problems of foreign exchange in view
of present conditions in Europe. He
said there was "a wise and a reckless
way of giving help."
"A world which has indulged in a
long debauch of war cannot return to
normal except by hard labor, rigid
economy and severe taxation," be said.
"Fresh borrowings afford only tempo?
rary relief. Again, reckless help may
I only Increase disaster. The drowning
i man cries for a rope, but, if many are
i drowning and the rescuers are few,
the result of precipitate action may bo
to drag the rescuer soverobard as well.
"The American people should not
callously let Europe collapse, if Euro?
peans show a genuino desire for self
help and a will to sacrifice. Not only
humanity, but self-interest, demands it,
since America cannot maintain perma?
nent prosperity in a hopelessly bank?
rupt worla.
"Europe must realize that her great?
est hope lies in the continuance of a
I strong, solvent America, which can be
\ of assistance over a long period. If we
j 6hould give her loans now to an extent
to jeopardize our own continued
' strength, or furnish her money merely
for further extravagant expenditure,
iAe should not retard, but merely pre?
cipitate, the crisis. Our best service
to the world is to keep our strength
and resources intact for future needs."
Frank Little, of the George Batten
Company, was chairman.
Germany Must Pay for Ships
HAMBURG, Feb. 17.?The "Fremden?
blatt" eays to-day that the new Allied
note to GcTmany with regard to her
mercantile marine contends that under
the peace treaty the ships which are
still to be surrendered to tho Entente
powers have been their property from
j the date on which the treaty cam? into
j force. Therefore, the Allies declare,
j the freights earned between January
j 10 and March 10 are payable to the
1 Entente.
The AllieB also claim the right, th<
? newspaper asserts, to select the ships
: in such a way that the Entente will
receive vessels of average quality.
A London dispatch of February 14
quoted the Amsterdam correspondent
of the Exchange Telegraph as saying
that a message nad been received there
from Berlin, announcing the handing
of a note from the Allies demanding
the surrender of the remainder of Ger?
many's mercantile marine.
Court Bars Death Pictures
Mrs, Coyne's Injuries Laid to
Coughink by Defense
Dr. Karl Kennard, Bronx County
Medical Examiner, testified yesterday
j in the trial of Ernest Fritz, Tuckaho?
taxicab driver, for the alleged murder
of Mrs. Florence Coyne on March 23
last, that the woman's injuries could
have been caused by her coughing as
well as by the violence of another per?
son.
I The effort of District Attorney
I Martin to introduce in evidence photo
I graphs of Mrs. Coyne's body occasioned
a tilt between him and William J.
Fall?n, counsel for Fritz. Justice Davis
refused to admit the photographs.
The trial was adjourned early yes?
terday afternoon until this morning to
enable Mr. Fall?n to go to his mother,
who is gravely ill at Mamaroneck.
Wage Increase
In Mines Held
Tax on Public
Public Utilities Tell Sena?
tors the Advanced Price
Must Be Passed On by
Adding It to Their Rates
Rail Bureau Is Criticized
? ".
Seizure of Fuel in "High
Handed" Manner Said to
Have Inflated Expenses
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17.?The public
was pictured as tho victim of the
recent 14 pir cent increase in wages
given the coal miners, in testimony
to-day by representativos of public
utilities associations before tho Coal
?Strike Settlomo.nt Commission and the
Senate Commerce sub-committee in?
vestigating the fuel situation.
M. II. Aylesworth, executive manager
of the National Electric Light Associa?
tion, told the commission tho public
had been led to believe that the wage
increase would not bo passed on to con?
sumers, but when the operators added
the increase to tho price charged tho
public utilities it was inevitable that
the advance should be reflected in rates.
He declared the utilities, under state or
municipal regulation, were allowed so
narrow a margin of profit that they
could not absorb tho increase.
Summer Storage Suggested
Chairman Robinson indicated the
trend of the commission's efforts to
solve the fuel problem by asking if the
utilities would be willing to store coal
in tho summer months, so the miners
would have steady employment; Mr.
Aylesworth replied that they would if
the additional cost of double hand?
ling coal was offset in the price and in
lower freight rates during the good
weather.
The witness estimated that 50 per
cent of the operating expense of pub?
lic utilities was fuel.
Continuation of government control
of coal distribution was said by several
witnesses to be absolutely necessary
until restoration of normal conditions,
but they freely criticized the railroad
administration's exercise of this func?
tion. Confiscation of coal loaded for
utilities, they said, was being practiced
in a "high handed" fashion, forcing tho
p purchase of high priced spot coal. They
charged the administration with
, the "wasteful practice" of confiscating
gas coal for steam purposes.
Edward Chase, of the Berwind-White
' Coal Company, of Philadelphia, as?
serted the navy was commandeering
coal also, regardless of an operator's
contract requirement and in such a
way as to "demoralize" the industry.
Garfield to Testify To-day
Chairman Robinson announced that
he expected former Fuel Administratoi
Garfield to appear before the commis
' Bion to-morrow to explain the intenl
of the strike settlement proposal ai
accepted by the operators, with regare
to how the 14 per cent increase was
to be absorbed, after which the hear
ings will be closed.
Establishment of a government agency
with powers similar to those formerl;
exercised by the Fuel Administrato
j was urged by the same witnesses be
foro tho Senate Commerce Bub-com
mittee
"Millions of dollars would be saved
if problems involved in the coal situa?
tion were intelligently handled by
some government agency," declared
Charles Edgar, president of tho Bos?
ton Edison Compuny. He charged
that failuro of the railroad adminis?
tration to build enough cara bad re?
sulted in curtailment of sorvico by
Home utilities.
"Tho cost of coal," be continued, "is
bound to stay up for a number of
years as a result of this car shortage."
George W. Elliot, of Washington,
representing the national committee
on gas and electric service, announced
that gas, electric power and traction
companies would ask an upward revi?
sion of rates unless relief was afforded
from the fuel price increase
Rail Board Charged With
"Tyrannical System" of
Coal Car Discrimination
From The Tribune'? Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17.?In testi?
fying before the Bituminous Coal
Commission to-day, T. H. Wutkins, of
New York, who is associated with the
Pittsburgh Coal und Coke Company in
tho oporntion of soft coal mines in
central Pennsylvania, charged the
Railroad Administration had put into
effect a "tyrannical system" of coal
car distribution by which coal oper?
ators were deliberately discriminated
against.
Under this method, Mr. Watkins
said, open top cars were arbitrarily
offerod to operators by tho purchas?
ing department of the Railroad Ad?
ministration under an arrangement by
which operators would charge the
Railroad Administration a lower price
for coal than that offered the con?
sumer. Operators who accepted this
arrangement, he said, were able to get
three times the car allotment orig?
inally apportioned to them by the
Railioud Administration, while those
who declined to accept it suffered for
lack of cars, many of them not having
one-third of tho supply promised them.
Failure of adequate car supply, Mr.
Watkins said, was an important fac?
tor in the price of coal in the market.
Because of their inability to get cars
when needed, he pointed out, many
operators have been forced to run their
mines at huge cost, while not getting
coal to the market.
Irish Bill Urged Withdrawn
LONDON, Feb. 17.?The British La?
bor party delegation which visited Ire?
land recently has reported in favor of
withdrawing the government's Irish
bill and settling tho Irish question
from an entirely different standpoint,
it was stated to-day. The delegation is
said to have decided that the problem
is as much an industrial as political
one, and that it should be solved by
taking both these factors into consid?
eration.
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You can get milk at
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fi, m?k famine In twenty-four hour??tho prediction of nrilk distribu?
tors. Loaded milk trains caught in the grip of the storms that are sweep-.
ing the northern part of the state?stalled in impassable drifts. Milk
piling up at stations waiting for trains that are cancelled indefinitely.
A tight situation?worse, it is reported, than the famine that faced tho
city in the famous blizzard of '88.
But it is possible to have fluid milk if you h aro KRYSTALAK. Krys?
talak can meet this extreme emergency.
You can get Krystalak at your grocer's to-day?pure, fresh milk, in dry
crystal form. It is not a condensed milk, not a canned evaporated milk.
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You may use Krystalak for the first time to help you out in this crisis;
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Payne to Give
Senators Facts
On Ship Sale
Board to Defer Decision on
Disposal of Former Ger?
man Liners Until Situation
Is Laid Before Committee
Only One New Bid Made
Nineteen Vessels Are Put Up
Individually; $550,000
Is Offered for the Ot&ego
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17.?Recommen?
dations as to the futuro policy to be
followed by the Shipping Board in re?
gard to the Bale of the thirty German
passenger ships, which hua stirred up
B controversy involving several
branches of the government, will be
submitted to the .Senate Commerco
Committee to-morrow by Chairman
Payne.
A report on tho bids received for
the vessels is expected to be laid be?
fore the committee, together with esti?
mates of the amounts necessary for
refitting the ships for passenger service.
Chairman Payne stated to-night after
a meeting of the board that the matter
of the sale of tho craft would not be
considered until the situation had been
laid before the Senate committee.
The end of tho auction for receiving
bids on the vessels came quickly to?
day, with only one oifer made out of
a choice of nineteen ships. The larg?
est vessels of the fleet, including tho
Leviathan, George Washington, Aga?
memnon and Mount Vernon, were
passed over without arousing the in?
terest of the shipping men, who yester?
day bid millions for tho liners in
groups.
The single offer made was a bid of
$550,000 by tho Acme Operating Cor?
poration for the 4,500-ton steamer
Otsego. When the list of ships offered
individually had failed to bring fur?
ther bids, Commissioner Scott called
for further offers by groups and, there
being none forthcoming, announced the
auction closed.
Under the announcement at the
opening of the auction, no action will
be taken on the bids without the sanc
c__ , ?-..-??
tion of the Senate Commerce Com?
mittee and the Uouge Merchant Marine
Committee, and pending the decision
of tho injunction proceedings brought
by William Rardolph Hearst, a? tax?
payer, to prevent the sal? of any of
tho vessels.
Officials of tho board to-day ex?
pressed disappointment at tho light
bidding at both sessions of tho auc?
tion. Sealed bide for the thirty ships
opened on January 20, offered a total
of more than $.'52,000,000 for the fleet.
Allowing lor the various groupi '
which included the same vessels at tno
auction, the total offering represents
only S21,Kf>0,000 for fifteen ships, which
includes a bid of $13,100,000 for a group
of :ix ships and an aggregate of $8,
750,000 for nino vessels individually.
Opposition to the sale continued in
tho Senate to-day, chairman Jones of
the Commerce Committee introducing
a resolution to forbid sale of the ves?
sels and requiring tho Shipping Board
to refit the liners with tho earnings of
its other craft.
Shipping Board officials, however,
declare that, with the expense of re?
conditioning the fleet estimated atf'lO,
000,000, tho government would bear a
burden from which the operators to
whom the ships are allocated for serv?
ier- would reap the benefits.
President Wilson to-day worked on
his reply to the Senate resolution call?
ing for information as to whether a
secret agreement exists between the
Shipping Hoard and Great Britain over
the disposal of the German -ships. It
will be an emphatic denii/, It ?a under?
stood.
A plea for the development, of a mer?
chant marine which would provide ade?
quate transportation facilities under
the American flag for the island pos?
sessions was made before the Senate
Commerce Committee to-day by Gov?
ernor McCarty of Hawaii.
ALBANY, Feb. 17.?A resolution urg?
ing President Wilson to defer the sale
of German ships seized by the United
States during the war was adopted by
tho Assembly to-day. It was intro
! duced by Ralph Hulpern, Republican,
i of Queens.
Japan Pou_rs_ Men in Siberia
All Parties at Vladivostok Are
Stirred hv Its Course
VLADIVOSTOK^ Feb. 9 (Delayed).
.All parties here are antagonized by
the continual arrival of Japanese
troops, but. M. Matsudaira, the Jan
;,..,.,?? member of the international
mission, has assured M. Medvedieff,
nead of the revolutionary government
in this city, that the Japanese will
support any government freely elected
by the people.
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Qninn Calls on
Mayor Hylan to
Oust MacStay
Continu??! from pair? 1
investigation of the department by tl?
board.
"Is there any commissioner in the
? city, outside of the commissioners of
! deeds, whom tho minority doe^ not
S want brought here for investigation
?and attack?" ask?d Alderman Haubert.
'"Mr. Hirshfteld, Commissioner of Ac
| counts, is now conducting an investi
I gation of the Department of MarketB,
: and he will furnish all information the
i board desires about the $300,000 eur
! plus. It is not the province of this
? board to interfere with the investiga
I tion of the legally constituted investi
I gating officiai of the city."
Alderman Valdeck declared that to
ask Commissioner Hirshfield to investi
I gat? Commissioner O'Malley, of the
| Department of Markets, was like ask?
ing William R. Hearst to investigate
Mayor Hylan. The Republican alder?
men joined with the Socialist? in their
demand for an investigation.
Alderman Bruce M. Falconer, con?
ceding that he agreed with the Socialist
members for once, declared that the
Department of Markets was "a disgrace
to the city."
Tho resolution introduced by the So
l cialists, calling for the appearance of
| Police Commissioner Enright before the
board to explain the purpose of the so
called "Riot Regiment," to be organ?
ized in the Police Department, caused a
warm discussion, but did not have the
support of the Republican members and
was defeated. In speaking upon the
resolution Alderman Abraham Becker
man, Socialist, declared that it was
proper under a Police Commissioner
whose administration had experienced
more crime than ever known before
that the Commissioner should explain
why he needed a machine gun s^uad.
He declared he didn't believe in "keep?
ing the Police Commissioner under a
glass case." Republican aldermen re?
torted that the Socialists must know
from their actions in the city why a
"riot regiment" was necessary.
The majority also voted down a reso?
lution ca'.ling for an investigation of
the value of the transit properties by
the Board of Aldermen. The point was
raised that the Aldermen should not in?
terfere at this time with the traction
investigation being conducted by the
Board of Estimate.
No Chance for Ch??^
aothes, Say8 Dealer
Price? of Material Going (In f J
Next Season and Higher
Wage Scale Forecast
Special Di* patch >y, 'fhf fr?^
CINCINNATI, Feb. 17._lt *?
misleading tha public to ,a? ?j
price? are going down ^n j*l
palpably are going up, aecordin '*'
Fred Levy, of Louisville, Ky, pre *.''
of the National Asgociation of 2*
Clothiers, in hi? addres? to the ?*
convention of the Ohio ?t?te om' "'
tion here to-day. ^"*
"Serges that cost 90 cents a mi.
fore the war and sold for $2.62 th L.
season, sold at the opening in ^ ;,
week before last at $4."?0 a --^.j -, *
said. "Other standard serg?,' ?
which we paid $3.85 this season ?p?r'j
for next season at fl.80. Beside? t?,
will be a meeting of labor ttprttnEi
tives in June to formulate 4 Be?2
higher wage scale. ?n t?,c ?*?%
these facts, why mislead the ?L.
j with fabe hopes that prices a?
down."
* I
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Note: L'hevinne Recital at
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