Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-08-08
MAYOR Of BOSTON
CALLS A STRIKE
Aims It at the Beef Trust-1nvites
Public to Join in Aban-
doning Meat.

Boston, Aug. 4.-Mayor Fitzgerald, the
maintenance Of whose home costs him
annually from 81, 900 to &15. 900, issued an
invitation yesterday to the general pub
lie to Join with him in doing away with
meat eating until the dealers come down
to what Is reasonable In the price. He Is
especially DESTROYS that beef be eliminat-
ed. belle wing, he asserts, that most Of the
prices paid by the consumers go into the
pockets Of the beef trust.
The American people Of to-day. the
mayor thinks, cat altogether too much
meat. If the American housewife was
as thrifty as the average housewife in
France, the cost of living In America
would be substantially reduced. he be-
lieves.
Watch the table, is the advice Of the
mayor. If any particular article OF food
goes high. find a substitute until the
price comes down to what Is reasonable.
The mayors invitation to the general
public to Join with him In an open war
against the high cost of living follows:
II hope that the people of Boston,
I'm fact, people generally throughout the
country. will eat as little meat as pos
sible for the next few months. to see
what effect It will have upon the price
OF beef, which has already reached a
prohibitive figure In most homes.
while It is undoubtedly true that there
are fewer cattle in the country per capita
of population than there were u few years
ago, there is no question In my mind but
what altogether too large a proportion Of
the price paid by consumers goes into the
pockets Of the beef trust. People should
| use more vegetables. A good meal can be
! made from canned goods and preserves
The American people to-day eat alto
| gether too much meat. A comparison Of
| the health statistics will show hat the
Europeans. who use much less meat than
the Americans, enjoy better health. Plenty
| of substitutes can be found for meat. and
It is one way OF solving the high cost OF
living. I realize, of course, that my ad-
| vice, II taken. may be a hardship on some
small dealers engaged In the meat trade,
but they can make up in other directions
by encouraging their customers to buy
| fish and vegetables end other substitutes
for beef.
III the average American family would
| reduct meat purchases q per cent. and
this can be done, in my Judgment. without
| detriment to their health, It would mean
a big cut in the price Of beef in a very
short time.
Then, again. the average American
home Is very wasteful. If the Ameri-
can housewife was as thrifty as the
average housewife in France. the cos
Of living in America would he substan'
TALLY reduced. A large proportion OF
what we consider waste is used to goot
advantage in the average French
household. This was brought to my
mind very clearly in Montreal a veal
ago when I was investigating the dis
position of garbage. The superiEtend'
ent of the sanitary division gave Com
missioner Rourke and me the figureI
OF the output in Montreal. and IT wa!
a great deal less than in Boston.
when we asked him how he eX
planned it, he said: We have a YER!
large French population In fact. h
was French himself. and he went on t
say: We put to good use a grea
many things that you waste in tn
American home II this increased
price of meat has the effect OF making
the American housewife more careful
and also encouraging the girls grow
ing up in the American homes t
watch the cost of the table. with
view to acquiring some knowledge o
housekeeping, learning something o
the methods adopted in the Frencl
household. and gaining information s
, that, when any particular article goe
too high. a substitute can be found
, perhaps some good may come out O
III all"