SUGARLESS MONDAY

Federal publicity on the Beef Trust and La Follette diatribes against the Standard Oil Company have been silenced for the moment by the clamor about sugar. Wicked men, it would seem, are holding up the price of the consumer's dearest luxury, it is merely necessary to find the wicked men. But the search goes on from producer to jobber and from broker to consumer, each solemnly shaking his head and pointing to his neighbor. The last man in line with some consternation raises his eyes in significant reverence to an economic law. New committees set out on the quest every day with no success. In vulgar circles this game goes by the name of "passing the buck."

The first accusing finger was pointed, out of habit, at Wall Street. A false report on the Cuban sugar crop, appearing last February, put the production so far below normal that feverish speculation ensued. Denials, contradictions, and corrections only added to the confusion and at last Mr. Daugherty took up the cudgels, armed with an injunction. But the court refused to grant the injunction, and now Mr. Hylan has entered the breach, heedless of the aphorism that "fools rush in where angels fear to tread". In a proclamation on Saturday the Mayor declared that "the government has failed to help us. Let us help ourselves", and called "on all good citizens in their homes to observe Monday of each week as 'Sugarless Monday.'"

It is doubtful whether Monday morning coffee without sugar will prove attractive for more than one week. But, whatever may be the success of Mayor Hylan's scheme, his proclamation is very significant in one respect. It marks an appeal to the consumers rather than to the government. Twenty years ago a writ of injunction, under appeal to a superior court, would have quieted the public. Now the country has lost confidence in the effectiveness of governmental regulation of monopoly and is looking rather to the action of the consumer who controls the factor of Demand. It is futile to speculate as to what the future will bring, but it seems likely that either the government must increase the power of such bodies as the Federal Trade Commission or that Democracy will find a new channel for the control of industry in the "consumers strike."