The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-23
WAR BOOSTS EUROPE'S COST
 OF LIVING IN STARTLING WAY,
 UNITED STATES REPORT ASSERTS

the export of practically all food stuffs. France, Norway and Swcd17:- listed certain articles which must not
 be exported, and Hollend placed an embargo on butter and cheese
 Fixing maximum. prices, especially for food stuffs by some Government agency was a very common measure. To some extent it was used by every country included in the bureaus re port, although in Great Britain and
 Sweden so little of the sort was done that these countries might almost be excepted.
 t~rhe methods adopted for fixing prices differed considerably. In France, Germany, Greece Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and parts of Turkey the municipal authorities, either. alone or in cooperation with the central of military authorities, mihght. fix maxi
 mum rates if they thought best. In most cases this right was of long standing. In all of these countries the municipal authorities have very gen orally made use of this right. Tn Bull garia a special law was passed early in August authorizing local authort- ties with the participate of ftnan-
 cial authorities, to fix prices, both wholesale and retail. In Egypt a com mission was appointed by the central government with power to fix maxi mum prices. In Serbia the minister of the interior was charged with the duty of fixing maximum prices.
 Some governments, while allowing the local authorities to fix prices on most things issued decrees applicable to their whole territory concerning a
 few highly important articles. Thus, Austria and German both prescribed I the proportions of wheat or rye flour
 that should be used in making bread. Later both Austria and Germany fixed the wholesale price of cereals, and jSfr tion of flour and bread under strict control Turkey fixed prices for pe- tro1eum, sugar, and flour. In Italy salt, tobacco, and matches, are gov lernment monopolies.t so that their Iprfces were fixed by the central au-
 zerland limited themselves to control Hing the most important breadstuff of
 each country.
 l The importance and full sigpifi-
 canoe in the increase in prices which
 occurred would not be fairly present l ed without reference to the fact that
 the increased cost of living, and es-
 pecially the increase in food prices,
 has for several years been a question | of serious concern in practically all 1 of the European countries. The up- ward movement in prices-pri to the
 war had in fact been world wide An 1 inquiry of the British Board of Trade l in 1912 showed increases in food prices
 in various countries over prices>in 1900, ] ranging from 15 sper cent. in Great
 Britain and France to Is per cent. in
 Australia, to 30 per cent. in Germany,
 to 2per cent. in Belgium and 35 per cent in Austria. In Canada and in
 the United States the increase shown
 was even greater than the highest of
 these figures. Thus, 1t will be seen that the increased prices directly due
 to the war, coming as the culmination l of along period of increases are Ta1Icb h
 more serious tosthe masses Of the pop
 ulation than the mere fgures indicate.
 It is obvious, too, that the increases of the first four to six months represent l ed only the beginning of the wars ef- feet on the cost of living.''