128 THE THIRD POWER 



such a degree that they not only got cheapness but 

 nastiness — low grade. Witness the volume of trade 

 to some catalogue houses, where the chief recom- 

 mendation was cheapness. The success of the Amer- 

 ican Society of Equity will benefit the home dealer 

 who will keep a high grade of goods and sell at 

 equitable prices. We look for a turning from the 

 cheap, low grades, to high grade goods at equitable 

 prices. 



We have seen how the price of farm products has 

 been influenced by this tendency, and also how manu- 

 facturers combine to resist the tendency. Every new 

 invention, every new process, every application of a 

 newly discovered force, and every improved applica- 

 tion of a well-known force, contribute to bring about 

 cheapness. The old force of competition works 

 toward the end. But recently we have had a great 

 advance of prices with no effective effort to resist the 

 advance. 



The farmers propose to take the field in a cam- 

 paign for lower prices on the things they buy where 

 lower prices should prevail, and they are going to 

 use a force the operation of which will be irresistible. 

 It is not so much a high price or a low price, but 

 an equitable price all around that is demanded. 

 The entrance of the Third Power through the 

 American Society of Equity into the economic prob- 

 lems of the world marks an epoch in the history of 

 the race. Although the last of the great powers to 

 be organized, it is yet the fundamental or first power 



