Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 107, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1919 — FOOD PRICE IS GOING TO DROP [ARTICLE]

FOOD PRICE IS GOING TO DROP

So Says George N. Peek. Chairman of the New Industrial Board. HOW STEEL PRICE WAS CUT Chiefs of Industry Called in by Peek and Matter Is Finally Settled— No Government Control, but Purely a Voluntary Arrangement. Washington—-There is every reason to expect lower food prices in the relatively near future.” So speaks George N. Peek, chairman of the new industrial board of the department ofOommerge. Peek describes the industrial board as "the doctor to American business." LHe. believes the patient should be ■well on the way td’recovery wlthTlT sixty to ninety days. "And after six months of convnlescing. American business should be healthier and more prosperous than ever.” he asserts. "Doctor” Peek is now diagnosing the ailments of the industries which produce the basic necessities, such as steel, coal, lumber, brick and building materials. Already he and his assistants have brought about a reduction of 10 to 15 per cent in the prices of steel. When the prices of these commodities have been brought down, then the board will go after food prices. How the System Works. There's no government control about It; it's purely a voluntary arrangement. ' . Here's about, the way it works—not so informally perhaps, but along these general lines: Down in the wood-and-paper building where the council of national defense has given quarters to the industrial boartT sh e re's a commit tee rdotuT with a long, plain table and a few plain chairs. Into this room Chairman Peek calls Judge Gary of the United States Steel corporation, Charles H. Schwab of Bethlehem Steel and other steel magnates. They all come willingly. “Now, judge,” says Chairman Peek. "You know darn well steel prices are too high. Nobody's buying any steel because they can't affonl it. Now it seems to me it would pay you to cut the price, even if you do lose a little hy It. so that people would buy. What do you say?" “Sure.'’ says Judge Gary, flicking

Ute ashes off his cigar. "I’m willing. I'll < ut prices lb per cent, if that suits the rest of you.” “That’s all right,” says Charlie Schwab. "But I think some things could be cut 15 per cent.” “That's too much,” says some other magnate. “I think 12 per cent would be better.” So they agree on 12 per cent. Then they take a pad of paper and a pencil and figure out just what they'll charge for various commodities. This schedule is put into shape, and they all sign an agreement not to charge more than it says they’ll charge —and there you are' One of the best things about this flew and novel method of price fixing is that labor is perfectly protected. The Industrial board looks after that. It will permit no cut in prices that will give the employers a .chance to cut wages. So long as the._.cost_ of living remains high, wages must remain high, the board \holds, so that the living standard shall not be lowered. Business to Bear Shock. The theory underlying the whole arrangement is that big business, still holding its profits made during the war. is in a far better position to stand the first shock of readjustment

than is the American workingman. “No one dares buy until prices fall, and even then everybody will wait to see how far they fall,” says Peek. “Individual action in lowering selling prices is therefore long drawn out and unscientific. , It renders the market unstable and dangerous. “By sane and temperate action all this can be avoided.”