The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-08-13
THE HOGS OF WAR.

AOE (lA0 A0ckA A0AA0 SAAcsAA VII SA~Sve 49,
Teutons have for each other.
THE HOGS OF WAR.
They're working overtime these
days: not, as might be expected,
among the scenes of strife and horror
on the bao0d-stained battlefields OF
Europe and in the. territory Of the
belliserents. No. tndeed!7 Iron hands
rule there. Even in England emer-
gency.. legislation already has been
enacted by parliament that forestalls
any possible activity In the line OF
cornering food products and thereby
bleeding the public with brilliant
prices for the necessities of life.
This country, thousands of miles
from the places Of conflict; this coun-
try. whose resources in many particu-
lars are more than enough to supply
most of the staples that its people
need-this Is the wallow Of the war
hogs. The newspapers Of each sue
ceeding day chronicle the results Of
their efforts. Material increases are
reported in the prices Of the necessa-
ries Of life. They're going up ION
account of the war" That's the ex-
cuse that IL being given on all Sides
But the public. this time. is surely not
gullible enough to swallow 1t. 1t
isn't even one OF those poor excuses
that is better than none. It 10 a sham
and a pretense used by the gluttons
for gold who are taking advantage Of
an opportunity to fatten their purses
at tho expense Of the multitudes. And
there doesn't seem to be either power
or law in the land to say them nay.
Congress, it. is true, is threatening
them with an investigation. But what
will it amount to? What relief will 1t
afford? The war may be over be-
fore it Is concluded.
It is a fact, no doubt, that some Of
tho things in the foodstuff line used
extensively in this country como for
the most part from other lands. such
as tea and coffee. and most Of the raw
sugar. Much Of 1t has been carried
here in ships Of foreign register. 1t 10
natural that the war should interfere
with this traflic until the supremacy
Of the seas among the belligerents is
decided. This means shortage in
INC Supply VI tACSC GA I4SAOo anu . SOAA|
sequent raising Of tho prices for them.
But does anyone suppose for a mo-
ment, that at this early stage in the
war, and before conditions have
changed very much. there IL sufficient
reason, for instance, for tho most un-
usual jumps in the price that@.efined
sugar has taken in the past week !?
Assertions to that end arc ridiculous
on their face. +
But it is in regard to the foodstufkS
that are produced at homo and In suf-
fcient quantities, and their increasing
prices, that the audacious avarice Of
the war hogs il shown. Take Hour, a.
an example. A material increase in
to the public is threatened. Before
there were prospects of q bumper
wheat crop for this season. wheat sold
as high as $1.05 per bushel. AZ soon
as the bumper crop was sighted tho
price of wheat began to drop. When
the crop arrived, the price to the
farmer fell to 81 and So cents q BUSH
ell. Millions Of bushels Of wheat were
sold at that figure. It il In ware
houses and elevators. Tho war has
made it impossible that It be exported
on the usual scale. The country is
fairly glutted with wheat. and cheap
vancing for future delivery. But It
hasn't yet touched the $1.05 mark
that 1t sold at months ago. During
the drop in wheat from $1.o5 q bushel
to around the 60-cent mark, was there
q corresponding reduction in the price
of flour to the retailers, and the con-
sumers? There was not. The price
Of flour remained stationary. And
now. with wheat to burn and before
it has even attained the $1.05 mark,
the flour merchants sec the necessity
for increasing tho price Of their
wares, because OF the war" What
rot!
Similar is the situation in respect to
lard, the price Of which il also booked
for raise. although it did take q
tumble just few days before the war
was declared, but which tumble the
war suddenly halted. This country IN
dependent ON no other land in the
whole world for a pound Of lard its peo-
pie may have occasion tc use. Indeed.
much American lard has been exported
Of late years to foreign lands. More
over. it IL a fact that the cold storage
houses Throughout the country are lit
orally bursting with lard. 30 much Of 1t
has been rendered Of late in excess of
the demand. And this enormous sur
plus q lard is probably responsible for
the tumble its price started to take be-
fore the war checked It. OF late years
the demand for lard has been material
ly cut down In this country because Of
the competition of the producta Of cot