Page:Earle, Does Price Fixing Destroy Liberty, 1920, 129.jpg

Rh that are sure to arise in the times of such advances that have taken place, for the failure or refusal of the foreign producer of the necessary raw materials to make delivery to purchasers who, upon the faith of their contracts, have, in turn, sold against such contracts? 8. What sums should be reserved to cover penalties, fines, or the expenses and costs of litigation of those who may have honestly differed with the government's enforcing officers. It cannot easily be ascertained how enormous these unknowable items have already been even in cases where those charged with a violation of the Act have been exonerated by the Court, or acquitted by the jury. 9. What sum must be calculated to cover the enormous variation in the value of money that has taken place, and which has really turned all business into a most dangerous gamble? 10. And what sum, under all these conditions, is a man fairly to be allowed for the fact that from his profit he must buy his living from others whose commodities have likewise enormously increased, if not in value, at least in price? Are some to be denied the equal protection of the law in this respect, and others given it? That must in such case be the inevitable effect! If justice is to be done, all these questions, and many more like them, must be answered, even thought it is beyond the power of the human intellect to do so. Of course, the difficulties enumerated are passed along the line. The manufacturer has to meet it; the wholesaler, in turn, is governed by what the manufacture has to guess at, before the retailer has his turn.

If this be called theory, let us turn to real facts, and reason that from what has happened we may form a fair conclusion as to what may happen. Let us continue with the sugar case, as that is the most discussed subject.