The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1919. WORLD’S PATIENCE EXHAUSTED.

Taihape Daily Times, 12 July 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1919. WORLD’S PATIENCE EXHAUSTED.

With which its incorporated “The Taihape Poss‘ and Waimarind News-A 1

‘There is no question that ‘is causing so much concern to the masses of the people as that" of the st.ill increasing I cost of living. The "people are sending [up a. continuously growing volume of l demand to know when the supernormal l conditions will end, but the only reply is, “higher prices and still higher prices. The exasperated masses are demanding that t.he chief source of their one great trouble shall be sought out by the Parliament they have elected -to 10-ok after their‘ interests, but nothing comes in reply, except notifications that the Board of Trade has sanctioned ;a rise of price in some other most unsuspected quarter. They nare told that ievery increase of prices is caused by operations of the law «of supply and demand, and yet they see stated by ’such an authority as the Journal of 3 the Royal Statistical Society that sup‘ply and demand in this connection have ‘become meaningless terms. ’ ’j=That journal asks, “How does -it come that supply is sometiines -in, excess of ‘the demand, and that at othe_rs,thc quantities -of goods oiferedfor sale are in excess of-the World’s ability to buy ‘tliem‘l"’ Then, why does th_c Board of Trade still, persistin trying to hoodxrink, cozen, and cajole. the people witlr this meaningless, nonsense‘? Is it not a fact_that.t.he more huge the stocks of meat under the hands of ‘the :Meat. Trusts,,who now control l.’llo,\\'ol‘ld’S ineat supply, the higher the ‘price. of meat becomes? And does not this apply to all necessary articles of food,’ as Well as of clothing‘? Trusts have proved themselves superior to-alllaws of supply and demand t-0 such an extent that the most authorataive statistical journal in he" world says they have become absurdly; ‘_‘ meaningless ’terlns.”A The idea of exploitation of the_yvorld.’s food -was signalised by 'wha:t is’ known as the advent of coniniercialism, which understandably _interp_reted_ means a criminal exaggeration of’ the precept uttered by John Stuart Mill, “Buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dcarest.’_’ The devotees of coinmereialisme-ould not find, in Stheir greed, markets that were cheap enough, or markets that were dear "enough, and so they combined .forces tofind and exploit methods ofmaking markets to comply with their-,gr-ced and nefariousness.‘ We havcto-day an unsurpassed ‘object-.lesson of. what happens in the meat business of the World. The commercialists WC call thei’ Meat Trust first engineered to have the Imperial Gcvernment commaudcer all meat not under their control at so low a price that must render their own meat immune from Government interference; and when New Zealand and Australian meat was safely and securely out of the way, at fourand a-half-pence per pound, they took possession of the open B’:-itish market, deprived of Australasian supplies, and refused to let their huge stores of meat go to the stal'ving‘ people under eighteenpencc, and up to thirty-pence per pound. How contemptibly dishonest it is for Boards of Trade, or anybody else. to indulge in such slippery di.s'sembling. This" explains precisely What is taking place in the markctiilg of all other commodities, with only slight variations. For the last century war has signalled great increases in cost. of living; vulture eoinmercialists ha.ve on every available -opportunl'ty seized 1117011 the people’s, the natien’s, direc_t misfortunes, their general helplessness, lo pouncg down with a -zzuupaigrl of criminal extorti-ons, and the war just ended has proved that it is not only [the greatest fight in history, but also that it‘ has been conlm~el‘cialism’s supreme, most comprehensive. most contemptible, and criminal campaign of ,exploitation of the helpless T 335505 in i all countries. Menipulatiorrs disastrous ‘to humanity are not confined to c-om-modities; they are equally Procwling ‘in connection with the very land from which commodities come, and also in the money with which commoditics are bought. When these commercial hogs of the earth have gathered in easy money by their extortion, they set about making money diflicult for the masses to get; and when they have Ongineered land booms. and land has been bought at prices beyond what it can averagely earn interest. on, down come prices, and the boom bursts, and many of the present genernation know

only too Well what that means.