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EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1918.
FIXING THE PRICE OF WHEAT
The pendency of bills in congress to ;
raise the guaranteed price of wheat is
said to have had the effect of checking j
'he movement of that cereal from the
'arms. The President has evidently
been persuaded that this is so; for, e.x
' rcising the authority given him by the
law which the pending bills are in
tended to amend, he has made the
price for this year’s crop the same as
that of last year’s crop. He is trying,
manifestly, to let loose the remainder
of last year’s crop by breaking down
the hope of a higher price which
serves as a dam to obstruct the flow
of wheat from the farms. The suc
cess of his effort must be contingent
in some degree on the disposition of
congress. If congress should show a
disposition to pass some one or the
bills providing for a higher guaranteed
price, the hope which the President
seeks to dispel would in some degree
persist and continue as an impedi
ment to the movement of wheat,
whereas if, by some decisive action,
< ongress should make it manifest that
none of those bills will be passed,
farmers would be under no induce
ment. to withhold from the market
whatever wheat thev mav stili have.
I
P.ut while it is of course possible that j
congress will enact a higher price
than that which the President has pro
claimed. it can hardly lie thought prob
1 hie. it may be regarded as practically
certain that tlie price paid for last
year’s crop is the price which this
year's crop will bring. The Presi
dent's action is virtually decisive.
Whether the President acted wisely
in leaving the guaranteed price un
changed is pretty certain to be the
subject of a good deal of controversy.
The question is complex enough to
admit of a variety of poinions. It pre
sents two general aspects—that of
equity and that of expedience. As to
the expedience of leaving the price
unchanged, there could not have been
much doubt in the mind of the Presi
dent, looking at the matter from the
standpoint which he is compelled to
occupy. The acreage in winter wheat
was determined long ago, and that in
spring wheat is pretty; nearly so. To
increase the price at this late day
would not, therefore, effect much if
any increase in acreage. The tfme to
use the stimulant of a higher price
passed some months ago. If it was
a mistake not to administer it then,
the consequences were not to be much
minimized by doing so now. It would
probably have resulted in adding more
millions of dollars to the price of
bread than bushels of wheat to this
year's harvest, and since the bread
bill is one of the chief items in the
cost of war. to have increased the
price would probably have added more
to the expenses of the allied govern
ments than to their available supplies
of breadstuffs.
The wheat growers will probably
make an outcry. Or. if not they, some
congressmen may be depended on to
picture their constituents as the vic
tims of injustice. They have a prima
facie case, and a prima facie case of
injustice done his constituents is all
a congressman needs to become indig
nant. If. for example, the guaranteed
price of $2 a bushel was fair at the
time that, price was fixed, it is less
than fair now. A bushel of wheat buys
less of everything that the wheat grow
er has to buy than it bought a year or
so ago. Again, while the guaranteed
price of wheat is more than twice the
pormal price of peace times, it is less
above the normal price of peace times
than is the current price of any one
of the several other agricultural pro
ducts which have been allowed to re
tain a free market. Tile current price
of corn, for example, is more abnormal
than is the guaranteed price of wheat,
and there is probably more profit in
corn-growing at present prices than
in wheat-growing.
And yet the argument to be made In
comparing the case of the wheat
grower with that of the corn grower
and of the cotton grower is less con
clusive than it is persuasive. If the
corn grower or the cotton grower is
profiting more in a free market than
the wheat grower does in a law-con
trolled one. he at least has no assur
ance that he will long continue to en
joy that greater profit. The wheat
grower’s profit, if less, is at least in
sured by the promise of the govern
ment. That is worth something; il
may be worth more, in the end, than
the profits which the corn grower or
the cotton grower will derive from
bis free market. If. as the President
observes in the statement accompany
ing his proclamation, the war should
end within a few months, or even this
year, the price of not only a part of
this year's wheat crop, but all of next
year's, would probably sink below $2
a bushel if loft unsupported by the
government’s guarantee. This is a cir
cumstance that must be taken into ac
count.
The tact probably is that while the
government’s intervention has kept
the price of wheat below what it
would be if there were a free market,
the wheat grower’s profit for the
whole of the three-year period for
which the government guarantees the
minimum price of $2 a bushel will not I
be much, if any, less than it would j
have been if his market had been left
free. The wheat grower may have a'
just grievance, but not one largo'
enough to call for much compassion in
such times as these. The war is cost
ing him nothing, whereas there are
many millions in other classes upon
whom it levies a heavy cosr.
-«
As their contribution toward de
fraying the expenses of the war, the
Gilbert islands forwarded $75 to the
British Chancellor of the Exchequer.
-♦
Making “swagger canes” is not nec
essary to the conduct of the war or
maintenance of the military forces.
An applicant before the Brighton Tri
bunal unsuccessfully urged that his
job of making canes was work of na
tional importance.
-+
One of the best arguments for state
hood yet advanced is the refusal of
Senator Key Pittman to endorse the
nomination of Thomas R. Riggs for
governor because he thought some
other man should have the job. So
long as Alaska is jockeyed out of her
officials and used as a money-maker
for profiteers living in the states, just
so long will her development be held
back. Alaska for the politicians and
to hell with her inhabitants has been
the rule at Washington for the past
few years.—Valdez Prospector.
PHILADELPHIA, March 29.--Fre
Quent passages of trains of United
States motor trucks through Pennsyl
vania to the Atlantic seaboard have
served to call attention to the exten
sive use which the federal govern
ment now is making or the state roads.
Runs over the Lincoln highway which
is the main “link” between Philadel
phia. New York and Pittsburgh, have
been pronounced so successful that
that the war department has asked the
state highway department to concen
trate its efforts on the maintenance
of this road.
In addition to the Lincoln highway
numerous other main avenues through
out I he state have assumed Importance
as strategic arteries to tidewater. One
of the most notable is that connecting
Philadelphia and Chester, Pa., over
which is transported a large per cent
uge of the output of the munitions
producing belt.
HUMS RESPONSIBLE
FOR iNCREHSED PRICES
PARIS, Feb. 20 (by mail).—Premier
Clenienceau’s paper, l’Homme Libre, to
day published a cartoon that deals
with the high cost of wine.
Two weatherbeaten French soldiers,
four stripes—one. for each year of
service-—adorning the sleeve of their
faded, mud-stained uniforms, are seen
engaged in an earnest discussion with
the proprietor of a wine shop as to the
purchase of a quart of red wine. Two
bottles alone are visible of the mer
chant’s stock and they bear price tags
of 120 and 100 francs as their value.
The legend reads thus:
“It is useless to insist,” s&ys the
merchant; “there is nothing here with,
in your means. I sell to Americans
exclusively now.”
--♦
The London Evening News prints
this: A journalist just back from the
front submitted an article about sol
diers’ graves by the roadsides, Into
which he worked Hoods quip;
“So they buried Ben in fotir cross
roads, .
,7
With a stake in his insider
When the article was returned the
quotation from Hood was deleted. The I
l
News suggests that the censer thought j
the food controller might npt approve j
of a whole “steak,” but would have
passed the regulation three ounces.
» A «* ***»«.«■***.** «. 4. « <
; Northwest
: Soda Works ;
* Manufacturers and *
* Bottlers «
* Soda Water. all Flavors, 4
» Gingerale, #
* Root Beer, ♦
* Coco Cola. *
* Mai! Orders Given Prompt ♦
4 Attention. 4
* Cordova, Alaska. «
* ♦
t Windsor Hotel ♦
♦ ♦
♦ L. Waln, Prop. ♦
♦ ►
♦ »
j* Where You Get *
J Comfort and Service J
♦ And the Rates Are Right. ♦
♦ ----- ■ ♦
♦ Cordova Alaska ♦
;♦ ♦
“We Are a Nation
of Economic Illiterates ’’
FRANK A VANDERLIP, THE HEAD OF
THE BIGGEST AMERICAN NATIONAL ,
BANK, SAID THAT. HOWEVER, THE FI
NANCIAL EFFORTS OF OUR GOVERN
MENT ARE PROVING THAT AS A NATION
WE ARE LEARNING.
THIS BANK ADVERTISES COMMERCIAL
ACCOUNTS, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND
CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT. BUT DO
YOU KNOW WHAT THESE ARE?
YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME AND ASK
US QUESTIONS WHETHER YOU DECIDE
TO PLACE YOUR MONEY WITH US OR
NOT. WE ARE AS COURTEOUS TO THOSE
WHO DO NO BUSINESS WITH US AS WE
I ARE TO THOSE WHO DO.
Bank of Alaska
Alaska’s Branch Banking System
LOCATED IN GOLDEN HOTEL
Dr. Homer A. Blyth, of the dental
firm of Drs. Daggett & Blyth with of
fices at Cordova, has equipped modern
offices at McCarthy, Alaska.
-♦
Times want ads brags results.
Patronize Home
Industry
Have your suits made to or
F? = 1
der in town by Harry Nelson,
. first class ladies' and men’s
tailor, on C. Street, next to
the Ideal Barber Shop. The
best of woolens on hand.
Two fittings to every suit.
First class workmanship
guaranteed.
i,. ■!.::ii.nl!,lJi.r,I,"'.. :
; FOR SALE
FOR SALF.:
Business and residence prop
erty.
FOR RENT:
Six room house on Lake St.
Hood building on Second St.
Office room in Adams’ building.
Several cabins.
FIRE and MARINE INSURANCE
FIDELITY and SURETY BONDS
CORDOVA ABSTRACT and
REALTY COMPANY
ROOM 1, ADAMS BUILDING.
rpi . ii lacninni—
0
II ^FOU can,t sharpen a knife agin a
U \ piece o’ cheese. You gotta get
a friction. An’ rub’oin’ up agin th’
world’s opposition is what
puts an edge onto a man’s
p character. If he needs a lit
Otle lubrication fer his fccl
in’s now an’ agin, let him
□ try a pipeload of VELVET.
.^Az*
VELVET, the Smoothest Smoking- Tobacco.
| Alaskan Hotel |
ROBERT GOTTSCHALK — Proprietors
?•: “The House of Comfort."
| THE BEST EQUIPPED HOTEL IN I
| ALASKA |
| BARBER SHOP IN CONNECTION.
| Hot and Cold Water, Electric Bells, |
| Electric Lights, Steam Heat, Suites £
| With Bath. |
§ CORDOVA.ALASKA
i |
.*.*......
| Good Printing
Is Essential to Good Business 1
Better Let Us Figure on your
Work and Save Money.
The Daily Times Job Dept. |
p—— _