The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 PRICE CONTROL AND VALLEY FORGE 83unfit for duty, because they arebarefoot and otherwise naked.....I am now convinced beyond adoubt, that, unless some great andcapital change suddenly takesplace, this army must inevitablybe reduced to one or other of thesethree things: starve, dissolve, ordisperse in order to obtain subsistencein the best manner theycan."Lesson LearnedThe severity of the situation increased.Our ragged regimentalswere dispersing. In February,1778, the Pennsylvania Assembly"passed a law appointing commissionersin every city of the statewith full power to purchase or toseize, at stated prices, all provisionsnecessary for the army."But, appeals to patriotism, accompaniedby force and threats ofmore force, failed to bring out thenecessary provisions. The farmersjust would not trade the fruit oftheir hard labors for paper moneywhich bought less and less as theweeks passed by.On April 21, 1778, GeorgeWashington wrote a delegate inCongress, "Men may speculate asthey will; they may talk of patriotism;they may draw a few examplesfrom ancient history, ofgreat achievements performed byits influence; but whoever buildsupon them, as a sufficient basis forconducting a long and bloody war,will find themselves deceived inthe end. We must take the passionsof men as nature has giventhem, and those principles as aguide, which are generally therule of action. 1 do not mean toexclude altogether the idea ofpatriotism. I know it exists, andI know it has done much in thepresent contest. But I will ventureto assert, that a great and lastingwar can never be supported onthis principle alone. It must beaided by a prospect of interest, orsome reward. For a time it may,of itself, push men to action, tobear much, to encounter difficulties;but it will not. endure unassistedby interest."Valley Forge taught GeorgeWashington and the Pennsylvaniaadvocates of price control a verycostly lesson. They had hoped forplenty at low prices. Instead theygot scarcity and indescribablemisery. Anne Bezanson's valuablebook, Prices and Inflation duringthe Americam Revolution, tells us,"By June 1, 1778, the act of regulatingthe several articles on theprice lists was wholly suspended."Price control· had failed.Army Better fedThis same book informs us thatafter this date the commissaryagents were instructed, "to givethe current price ... let it be what