THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Wednesday, March 23, 1910. THE AMERICAN ANTI-TRUST' CRUSADE.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12750, 23 March 1910, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Wednesday, March 23, 1910. THE AMERICAN ANTI-TRUST' CRUSADE.

The cost of living has been a burning question in the United States for a long, time, and has been- a . subject of enquiry by various Federal Commissions and jDongressional Committees. Despairing of relief by these, means,, and exasperated. :by. a further marked, rise, a 'section of the community in Cleveland, Ohio,, a few weeks ago instituted a boycott of the Beef Trust, which" spread -with extraordinary rapidity. Originating^ in Cleveland through, the action oi labour., unions, { the .boycott; 'extended throughout; the, Mississippi Valley, embracing St.. Louis,;, Omaha, " Kansas. City, Des Moiiies and,.Pittsburg.,,B.elievipg that the : shortage of cattle} in the stockr raising States was. not; wholly responsible for dear beef,, ,11,000, heads of families in- Cleveland .signed, a pledge not, to eat moat for 60 days, and this attack on the Beef Trust was quickly taken up in other cities. In Cleveland, indeed, the -.price • of meat promptly, fell,, but the grocers hreatehed to, raise their, prices owing, to the extra 1 demand;) for,, provisions. Ho.weverj the boycotters were so pleased by their success that they exhorted people to refuse to. pay more than 30c. a dozen, for- eggs, on the ground that the price is kept up by the withholding of supplies in cold storage. By January 25th, it was estimated that two million people had enlisted in the boycott, which had then definitely assumed tho character of an anti-trust crusade. Hence its extraordinary popularity 7 While experts refuse to attribute the high .price of beef to any one cause, the people .appear to have made up their minds; that tihe-- packers of Chicago are solely to blameV They can, at any rate, claim the;; support of the Secretary of Agriculture, who gave testimony before ■& Congressional :Cpmmittee which is inquiring into the subject of the cost of living in the district of Columbia.: Mr Wilson said: __:"i am gathering proof now which ..111 demonstrate that-.t^ie food products of the American;; farm are being sold in foreigu countries cheaper than in the United^States. This is not due to excess of production over consumption ; it is d|ie ito trusts, just to trusts." In the niidst of the boycott of meat, came the "announcement that the Government~intended to prosecute the beef pabkers for alleged violation of the Antitrust Law. The firms mentioned were. Messrs Swift, Messrs Morris, and Messrs Armour, which through the National Packing Company are said to control the price of beef; According to the Department Agriculture these four firms kill 73 per cent of the cattle east of the Rocky Mountains which are inspected by that Department. A suit against the packers 3pr alleged violatioa of the State Anti-Trust Law has also been instituted:in Missouri. The NeV 'York correspondent of "The Times' ' remarked in a; recent despaatch that the high, .cost of living ■has, indeed, beeom© a political ques-

tion of the first importance in America. Economists have attributed it to the world's increasing gold production, the partial exhaustion of natural resources, the exactions of trusts, the protective tariff, the manipulation of speculators, the habitual extravagance of the community as a whole, and the demands of labour. Whatever be the causes, it is the occasion of much discontent, aud both the President and Congress are exercised over the question.