To the Editor of the '"Nontu-CuiNa Dox News."
Sm—Such replies as the oil trusts have condescended to make to the letters which have appeared in your columns regarding the retail prices of their wares are feeble in the extreme; and I for one do not believe for a moment that they can ing the last 12 months, has increas-in retail selling price by more than 100 per cent; the price of] petrol has increased by leaps and. bounds; and, as has definitely been oil is sold to the individual consumer at a price which seemingly bears no reasonable relation to its landed cost, Petrol, which is sold to the: motorist. at considerably more: than a dollar a gallon, costs in all about 50° cents a gallon to land in What (the actual land.
and isthe profit on both petrol and Kerosene no more. than Equitable? Ina cage ike this, aggres that tel maintain what T stated letter which started the present forrespondence—that the consumer fae to pay whether he likes it oF net, and that retail prices are fixed fn'a dividend-paying. basis regard-fess of economy and all other eon erations.
Concerns which cam dictate rotal People must have, and which can ices of a commodity which the
frente a monopoly of that commodity, foster trade only to their own uses for the commodities which her
purpose of having a medium of ex-copie buy and sel.
The whole
change or barter is defeated if such medium is, ject to violent fluetua-Iver has proved, in re-inadequacy in' this ther the world adopts silver, other commodity to be the medium of exchange our recent experiences would seem to point to the necessity for adopting the same standard for all countries, A dual standard appears to be impossible as there seems to be no satisfactory method of maintaining the equilibbrium between the value of the two commodities—say, gold and sil owing to the fact that there common measure govern respective costs of production Certain American interests have recently proposed a silver loan China, the purpose of which is the assistance of China to develop her and at the same time silver market by bringing into employment a large quantity of the surplus silver which is depressing ithe market, "At the same time America is holding. lar stocks of gold which it is said she unable to use to full advantage. Might not a compromise be come to, whereby some of this surplus gold be released and replaced the silver, making a gold credit available to China for the purpose, Bratly, of putting, her currency on is similar to other na-ly, for the pure ise of materi ete, for the development of the country's resources, The advantage to trade which would result from the stabilization of her currency would assist China, Uhyough the custome returns and in other ways, probably more than any. direct silver Joan could ever do, and at the same time the surplus silver would be removed from the market, It would undoubtedly be more satisfactory if an International loan could be arranged and it is, T think, generally admitted that the resucitation of China's import and export trades would assist in turning the tide of world. depression which exists at present, Tt is not necessary to find out who caused the fall in silver and our rates, We: want constructive suggestions towards improving con ditions and utilizing the resturees Which we have to the best possible
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.