The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-05-08

Regulation of Exports.
THE HAGUE April Is. = GORE
spondence of The Associated Press. III
Holland is now suffering from high
food prices, the result of various
causes, chief of which was the rush of
Dutch producers at the beginning of
the war to take advantage of the in
creased demand from abroad and the
consequently augmented rates offered
by foreign buyers.
Retail prices of number of articles
of consumption have risen in ever-in-
creasing ratio ever since the outbreak
of hostiities. Statistics covering q ar
ticles have been compiled and these
show that, figuring the average cost at
100 during the past 20 years, the prices
have now risen by 80 per cent. Prices.
however, had started going up some
time before the war In fact. since
1907 they have been rising steadily two
or three points a year until July. 1914.
when they stood at 1I3. From August
| to December last year they jumped
suddenly to 121, in January this year
they had mounted to 129, in February
to $50 and they are still going up.
Meat, especially pork, has gone up
considerably in price. Part of this in
crease is due TO the rise in fodder. hav
| and oilcake, but much of it has been
brought about by the passing over the
frontier into Germany of live animals,
whose further export, however, has
Ibeen forbidden. Meat also has been
! exported IN large quantities, Germany
taking in February this year alone
about S,750,000 pounds of pork and
Great Britain $4,000 pounds from
Holland. The price of first quality
beef, hveweight wholesale. has gone
up since August last from an average
of 10 cents TO is cents a pound, while
the retail price has increased from %
to 26 cents a pound. Pork, liveweight.
wholesale, which cost in August eight
and one-half cents a pound, now
brings Is IL cents a pound, while the
retail butcher s price has raised in the
same time from an average of about
10 cents to about IS cents a pound.
/ Potatoes form one of the products
Iof which Holland always possesses a
surplus, and the question OF their prof
litable export is an important considera-
tion. A large part of the cultivated
land in Holland is planted with them,
the total extent being about 400. 900
Iacres, most of it in the four northern
provinces. The quantity of the crop
Iproduced annually is about 2.400, 900
tons, valued at about $28, 100000.
: About 720,00 tons of his quantity is
: ground into potato -four, for which
since the war began there has been an
enormous demand from Germany. There
was also a greater demand for potatoes
in Holland itself owing to the presence
of so many Belgian refugees and also
5 Ito the use of potatoes for cattle feed
instead of oilcake, which had become
high in price. At one time there was
danger OF a shortage of potatoes in
this country in consequence of the in
creased exports and the minister OF
! agriculture for a time prohibited their
5 export as a precautionary measure in
order to keep sufficient of them in
! stock for emergencies. Several of the
larger cities bought up stocks at the
same time, but the municipalities arc
: now finding they made mistake, fol
the potatoes are still on their hands
and some of them are rotting The ex
ports in the first seven months of the
o war reached a total of 100000 tons OF
only $4,000 tons less than in the en-
tire year of 1913, while the export OF
, potato flour amounted from November
: 1914, till March, 1915, to about $4,000
g tons, or nearly $4,000 tons in excess
r of the export in the same period OF
nj 1913-1914. The high prices paid by
Germany made the local price mount
and the government found itself com
lpelled to fix a maximum price for re
tail selling, as the working classes had
: begun to feel the pinch.
Cabbages and other green vegeta-
o bles have also become more expensive
: since Germany has been calling for
more and more imports of truck gar
I den produce The truck gardeners
l. are naturally making good profits an6
{ the Dutch consumers find themselves
n compelled to pay more for their vege
tables. The truck farmers, however
: are making strong opposition to a pro
h posal to regulate or prohibit exports
e of these products, which they declare
/ would ruin their business. They argue
r that the sale by them of their produc,
/ to foreigners brings money into Hol
h land which otherwise would not reael
g this country and which helps the PEG
pie to tide over the hard times brough
0 about by the war. Meantime tn,
Dutch housewife is compelled TO pa
more for her food and sees no benef
e. coming to her from the increased 'ex