It is characteristic of the American temperament to swing from one extreme to the other, and this is shown in a marked degree in the economy wave which is now sweeping over the country, says the Washington correspondent of the "Morning Post." A few months ago every shopkeeper appeared to be engaged in the fiercest compecition with his rivals to see who could charge the highest prices, the excuse being that no one would buy anything cheap, and the more expensive an article was the more eagerly it was sought. To-day: he operation is reversed. Price cutting began with a 20 per cent. reduction, and enterprising rivals went 5 per cent. better, and now some shops are boldly advertising reductions f 80 per cent. The careless public is slowly coming to its senses and recovering from the orgy of high prices. It hopes that a good time is coming when prices will be veduced 100 per cent. and a paradise on earth will come when some shone keeper more audacious than his fellows offers a bonus to anyone who will be kind enough to carry goods away from his shop.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.