Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-11-26
COST OF LIVING
ON STEADY RISE
AMONG GERMANS
Complaints of High Prices of
Food Are Heard All Over
Empirei Butter Has Reach
ed 80 Cents a Pound,

V.rlin oct 3l.-From every part ct
Germany come in increasing number
complaints of the ever-mounting cost
M living especially of eating-and
counted with them more and more
frequently the charge that the middle
man is 10 blame. and that speculation,
mot shortage of food. is responsible
for lacking mp prices to am unprcce-
dauted height
scarcely a day goes by but the food
,t4tustlon is aired i'm at least one Of
the newspapers The middleman re-
futrs the charge that he is az fault
..u.fe as regularly as il is made. with
tbc result as the Tagchlatt said, that
the more earnestly the true eXplana-
lion is sought, the more muddled be-
comes the whole subject
Butter has been the latest commod-
itv 90 go up. it had reached "a three
uark-a-pound (15 cents figure and
,yas advancing daily when the au-
thorltes stepped in and anchored the
price at marks, so pfennings, where
II etIU remains There is, further "a
strong agitation for the government
seizure of an butter Just as grain and
other things have been seized and
then dealt ont equally and system
aticaly one reason for this aeita
lion is seen in south Germany where
q physician reports that the largest
creamery in his district is paying the
farmers at the rate of 40 marks for
trp utcrs of milk that are necessary
for one pound of butter and is selling
the product wholesale at 2.30 in Sax
any. consequently the creamery re-
fused To sell any of its butter at home,
but for months had been sending all
il could make to the north, An addi-
tional profit came from the butter
milk
october is the rabbit season in Ger
many and it had been anticipated
this year particularly, as the people
were I'M need Of this usually ineXpen-
sIve. yet appeti2ng food. When the
season opened, however, it was found
that rabbits were scarce instead or
plentiful, and were to be had only
no pr0hibitive prices-rangine from
$3.50 to Z marks ($l37 TO SLED. It
was charged that the middemen had
been holding back the supply with
intent to increase the prices, but that
charge is met by the assertion that
the number Of rabbits this year is
smaller than ever before and the num-
Der of rabbits shot is correspondence
smaller. Hence by the law of supply
and demand, prices have gone up. II
is also pointed out that ammunition,
guns and equipment for the hunt are
dearer than ever.
The recent experience Of "A Berlin
banker indicates that there may be
some truthoin the charges against the
n1iddlemen, He purchased pullet In
a Rerlin game store at 3.7j marks a
pound, has protest being met with the
assertion that the farmers country
price was SO high that it was impos-
eible to retail the bird for less Yet
the next day he found he was able
TO buy a similar fowl in a suburb for
100 He took both birds TO the chef
Of big Berlin restaurant and was as
surcd that in weight, quality and every
other particular the two birds were
Identical
IN the mining country of western
Germany the four largest associations
Of miners. numbering thousands of
members, have felt it necessary TO pc
ttion the royal government to make
il impossible for the well-tO-do to buy
mn at prohibtive prices all the availa-
BILE meats and fats. Their petition
reads
Lately the quantity of meats and
fats offered for sale so far as the
great mass of the poorer people is
concerned has greatly decreased
Partly the war is responsible, but it Is
plain also that the food is being with
held for speculative purposes
with the decreasing quantity Of
fered, prices for the foods have risen
enormously. The poorer part of the
population can no longer allow them