CHAPTER VI 



DISCUSSION ON CAUSES OF HIGH PRICES, WITH RESULTS 



It had not passed Joseph Keeler's acute observation unno- 

 ticed, that the old town of Brighton seemed to breathe an an- 

 cient air; that the age of the houses, the appearance of the stores, 

 the old hostelry, the absence of proper attention to the streets, 

 even the movements of the people, all seemed to tell of a life, 

 which had once been vigorous, energetic and hopeful, but which 

 now appeared to have been lived and was old. Similarly, the 

 f armsteadings and the farms, with their wealth of spring verdure 

 and the rare beauty of the scenery of the hills skirting the Bay, 

 seemed often to give evidence of a lack of agricultural progress; 

 while large fields of rough pasture land and wet, undrained areas, 

 seemed to indicate a something lacking to the eyes of an ener- 

 getic city man, always intent upon keeping buildings and ware- 

 houses as up-to-date as possible. Just what the matter was, Mr. 

 Keeler's inexperience of rural affairs prevented him from fully 

 comprehending; but the casual notices in the daily papers re- 

 garding a stationary or even lessening rural population came to 

 his mind; while the possible relationship between these state- 

 ments and certain unsatisfactory, and, indeed, unpleasant 

 conditions during a number of years past, in the increasing ex- 

 pense of doing business in selling goods throughout Ontario, with 

 lessening sales in the smaller towns and less profits, came to 

 assume an importance, which was to result in directing his 

 thoughts and actions a long way aside from the pathway which, 

 during a long and busy lifetime, he had followed with satisfac- 

 tion. 



Just at the moment when these matters were fresh in his mind 

 Mr. Keeler happened to be dining with a small company amongst 

 whom was the University Professor of Social Economics. The 

 table-talk passed from the general high cost of living to the cause 

 of the great increase in the cost of food products. The usually 

 ascribed causes were discussed, amongst which were the high 



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