THIRTY CENT BREAD 79 



in this singular manner, did not know how accurately 

 it hit the bull's-eye. 



On the proper solution of the problems of just 

 prices and fair wages depends far more than the 

 mere material prosperity of a nation. 



Extortionate prices and unfair wages form to- 

 gether one of the most serious social and moral 

 perils of the age. 



§ 56 — COMMieRCIAL I^HICS 



The ethics of modern commercialism a.re not the 

 ethics of justice. "Demand for your product the 

 highest returns you can prudently hope to gain," is 

 one way of putting it in the trade. "We all want 

 all we can get for anything provided we can get it 

 without indictment," is another way of saying the 

 same thing. 



Justice, the meaning of which is now absorbing 

 the attention of all the people of Europe and Amer- 

 ica, permits a margin of profits which will enable 

 commerce to flourish in a healthy state and allow the 

 life blood of trade to circulate freely through the 

 veins and arteries of the social body for the com- 

 mon good. 



Justice forbids excessive charges, a source of 

 wealth to a few and a cause of hunger to many. 



The transactions of Mercantile Exchanges in but- 

 ter, eggs, poultry, fruits, produce and provisions 

 are all based on the theory that there is no decalogue 

 in trade. 



The golden rule on which these transactions are 

 based reads something like this, "Keep within the 

 bounds of the law and do not exasperate the people 



