The sun., 1916-08-31
TO FIX FOOD
COST DURING STRIKE.
Special Sessions Of Lcgisla-
turc and Aldermen Planned
to Protect City.
AND BOATS TO AID
Shortage Of Coal May Bring
Ocean Trade to Standstill
No Milk Danger.

Extraordinary sessions Of the Legis-
lature and The Board Of Aldermen are TO
be called for the enactment OF protective
effects Of the railroad strike-so far as
law may do 30. The first request to be
made Of the lawmakers will be for a
price fixing commission to establish
standard prices for food products during
the period Of the railroad strike. In the
drafts OF the legislation prepared yes
terday under the direction OF Police Com
missioner Woods and Joseph Hartigan,
Commissioner of Weights and Measures.
provision is made for the fixing Of heavy
Of the proposed laws.
As 1t Is conceded now that the supply
and distribution of food and fuel will
be almost completely under the direction
of State and municipal authorities. these
agencies are To he empowered to deal
out punishment to greedy retailers or
wholesalers. At the present time there
Is nothing in law that permits any gov
erntnental officer to fix prices OF food
there Is nothing outside the conspiracy
enthusiastically hard to prove-for
the punishment of price boosters.
woOds 10 Offer Aid.
The initial step is to DO taken to-day
when Commissioner Hartigan will submit
to Acting Mayor bowling a plan for the
establishment OF n commission on prices.
simultaneously Police COMMISSIONS
Woods will submit statistics concerning
supplies on hand and foods that will be
available from sources other than the
railroads. The Police Commissioner will
offer to obtain through his force of II 900
policemen retail and wholesale figures
on food for purposes OF st~andardizing
prices. Two years ago policemen gath
cred facts OF this kind in the city within
forty-cieht hours. The Police Commis-
sioner believes they can repeat that per-
forfnance.
Gov. Whitman has been kept In touch
with the food situation Of New York
city through his COMMISSIONS OF Foods
and Markets. John j. Dillon. II is under
stood he Is in full sympathy with any
project TO keep New Workers. from ex-
tortion AT the hands OF rapacious deal
ers. The Legislature Is not now In scs-
sion. but local legislators said yesterday
they would rcspond within twelve hours
to any call of the Governo. for relief In
a crisis.
Hourly new meanA OF adding to New
Works suppl: n che even. 90 Z strike are
being devised. Food COMMISSIONS Dill
lon came forward yesterday with a pro-
posai for the use OF his department az a
distributing agency for the city.
Plenty Of Fish AZ Door.
sNs.,, NA,ty 10. 1T " 49,
large part OF New Jersey and a trac.
fifty miles wide on zach side OF the Hud-
son from which to draw" he said
Steamboat service and motor truck SER
vice would bring foods to the city BY
the ton and AZ only a slight increase
above the present prices. Then. too, we
have fresh fish at our door. We nay
about 20 cents IL pound for fish that
costs the dealer who stores IL about I
cents. II We used fish more We would lie
able TO cut down one-tenth or the meat
We consume,
at would be difficult 10 get meat here.
although the parcel post could bring IL
In IN comparatively small packages. This
would he one solution, as | understand
the mail trains will be permitted to run.
Dressed chickens. fruits ard green vege-
tables coul! he sent here by mail.
"My Idea IL 10 have food Transported
from sections adjacent to the city bv
boat and automobile and delivered TO
this department. We could establish
distributing centres III various parts Of
the city, say about a mile apart. The
food could be sold at a reasonable figure
and give the producer a profit"
Distinct from that plan. and Vet Ike
II IN some details. j. that now being
worked out by city officers. Two Years
ago when the war broke out. city mar
lAta A.BA - al .tAl a. ,,.,..a -.A
throughout the city and here the produce
brought in by farmers was sold. Thes.
markets did much to relieve the food
pressure felt AT that time. The pro-
posa! now Is to establish more OF these
ina rkcts and to send automobile trucks.
under city direction. into the country
TO gather supplies. With n Iirice liking
commission at work the public would be
certain not to be overcharged.
Ma MIX Danger.
So much for the general plans to feed
New York As to specific plans, ms THE
SrN told yesterday. the prospect OF "A
milk famine is a negligible one. In
the first place. every railroad that has
imposed an embargo has made an excep-
ton for milk, and in each railroad orice
It WAS announced Yesterday that above
all others, milk cars will have the pref
erence. 20 WIN the trains bringing In
supplies, with boats carrying In nun
dreds Of gallons, and more coming from
the davies In motor trucks. milk will
be the city's most plentiful commodity.
Flour enough for a month IL within
reach Of the town and tho cold storage
plants contain Eggs and butter sufficient
for three months Meat IL likely to be
scare, Most Of the meat used here comes
from west OF the Mississippi. No mat
ter what efforts are made by the roads
there can lie no hope OF getting iu'morc
than half the present supply.
AS necessary as food IL coal. Here
are the figures OF New York's annual
hard coal consumption--the CONSUMPTION
whi,E begins to set IN with full force
tomorrow.
Tons.
Tor municipal institutions. ,,,,,.,...., 4ii. N1
Private houses ami small stores .,,.... ~, 01
Hats and apartment houses. ,........... !, $50 Nl