The current talk of a popular boycott against the trusts as a protest against the rising cost of living has something pitiful about it, not to say ridiculous. But some good may come of it if those concerned can see the handwriting on the wall and act accordingly. This time it amounts to more than vague rumors and newspaper gossip, and practical results of the boycott can already be observed.

It is, however, a grave reflection on the organization of our society, and a humiliating sight to behold, when millions of supposedly free citizens, with a supposedly free government, find it necessary to sacrifice their personal comfort and well-being as a protest against abuses perpetrated by trusts and individuals, who by every imaginable means are conniving to exploit these same citizens.

Is it not these people themselves who have granted the corporations the right to exist, with the understanding that they shall be operated for the benefit of all? If these corporations are now being conducted in such a manner that the nation is being victimized instead of benefited, citizens certainly have at their disposal effective means by which the perpetrators may be brought to terms. It should not be necessary to subject the people to the indignities and discomfort inherent in such a general boycott as is now being advocated. At best, it can only be of short duration and is, therefore, not likely to have a lasting effect.