The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-13
WILSON ORDERS QUIZ
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tcontinued from Page 10 With the price of foodst tuffs advanc- ing in every section of the country. and no apparent reason for the general increase, than the advantage given large interests to speculate, investi- gation is being begun by the govern
 ment, state and municipal authorities
 of all wide awake cities.
 Bridgeport has felt the heavy hand of increase fall upon the necessities, yet as in New York city, where Dis l trict Attorney whitman has begun an l investigation to ascertain why deal- I CTS are charging such exorbitant prices
 when the market quotations to them are much lower, the local merchants l do not seem to have conspired to raise prices unnecessarily The respons1- bility rather seems to lie with the big fger wholesalers in the west. and large
 eastern cities.
 1 Prosecutors and public officials today I declare there is no necessity for local investigation as no complaints have been lodged against dealers in this city Ibyf housewives and from what can be ascertained they are taking but mod
 crate margin of profit to cover their. T business operations.
 The most marked attempt at secur- 1 ing advantage Of the present wheat market is said to have been tai ken
 by the bakers shipping bread into Con necticut and some of the smaller bak- l cries supplying east and west side pa l tronage in the crowded districts. This is the shortening of the weight and size of bread loaves. With flour ST l per barrel some bakers have decidedly
 1essened the size of the loaves they are selling. Although Massachusetts, 1 New york and many other states have laws regulating the 1oaves by weight, l no such measure has ever passed the Legislature of Connecticut and conse- quent1y as stated by Sealer of Weights I and Measures Dennis Kelly today, he 1 has no Jurisdiction over the sale of bread which may run from an ounce to a pound to the loaf. according to l the pleasure of the baker. That un- I scrupulous baking interests outside of I IConnecticuts who make one size loaf 1 for Massachusetts or New York and | another for Connecticut have long tsought trade in this state for the added i profit is well known
 Mrs Julian Heath, president Of the i Housewives league of New York. has s Issued an appeal to all women in the I United State2 asking them to heartily i nal and away from the speculatorss
 grasp.
 A most rigid investigation in New
 York has been begun by Mayor Mitch ell, District Attorney Whitman and Borough President Marks. It is likely
 that dealers will be brought into court I underi John Doe procedure to tell what 1 they know of attempts of various in- I terests to boost prices. This condition I is said not to exist here as large butch iers and groeryrnen interviewed today lstate that their prices are based upon the daily purchases from New York and other centers. They, however, be- fIieve that the consumer has been great 'l ly taken advantage over by the mid
 dlemen and producers who may regu- : Hate the price in other states.
 I It is known that in an effort to in- vestigate this practice and curb the tendency champ Clark speaker or the
 House in Washington will introduce a
 bill to begin congressional inquiry as ] to whether there has been. any con- spiracy among the wholesale produce interests to raise the price of food stuffs. He said last night in New :. York city:
 "Men found guilty of eonspiring to raise the prices of foods and other necessities of life. on the pretext that the European war is responsible for 4 these advances. ought to be put in the Il penitentiary,' said Speaker Clark. 4eThe police power of the state ought to be used to bring them to justice
 I've are already assured that our wheat crop is going to be the biggest } in our history. and with another V eek : of rain and good wea ther conditions otherwise we are assured of another
 bumper corn crop. At present wheat ,I and corn and all our other exports ! are being piled up at home by tne
 European troubles. and conditions are likely to be unchanged for some time Unless shipping is opened up within a few weeks this country will simply !. be swanped with food products. There , is no reason in the world why an i'm mense surplus should create higher prices. That's contrary to every law , of economy.
 'sThe public can help to put an end , to the practice of increasing food prices