The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-23
FOOD PRICES IN LONDON CAUSING DRASTIC ACTION
Commission Probes to Prevent Abuses In Various
 Trades.

London, Aug. 23.-Pensions and | "proiteering" constitute the most stinging whip with which the Govern | ment is being lashed just now by those organs of public opinion which have ] undertaken the self-imposed task of keeping Premier AsQuith and his col | leagues up to the mark. As usual, there is a good deal of eXaggeration | in the charges that are made of Gov ernmental dilatoriness, and regard | both to pensions of discharged sol- diers and to excess war profits depart mental machinery is at work.
 | The action taken by the Govern ufent under the Defense of the Realm Saturday, in particular, was drastic enough to satisfy the most clamorous demands, Under this action the Board I of Trade was empowered to inquire whether the amount of goods held by traders was in excess of normal re- quirements of trade. and in cases where the board was of the opinion that withholding of the goods was pre- | judicial to national interest, to re- auire the owner to dispose of them in | such a manner and within such a pe- riod as might be specified.
 1 This step is the direct outcome of an agitation which has been going on | for months in view of the continually | increasing prices of fods. The Gov ernment's first step was to appoint a e commission, headed by J. M. Robert 1 on, M F., an economist of repute, who | Is one of the strongest opponents of the proposals made to wage an eco- homie war upon Germany after the 1 war. This commission was to in- ouire into the causes of the increased .cost of living. With bread costing IS cents a quarter loaf and milk II l cents a quart in some districts of Lon- | don, and the price of meat up as
 much as 65 per cent. since the war be- gan, there was room for an inquiry: l The seriousness of the situation was | emphasized by the demand of the
 National of Union Railway Men for an
 increase of $40 in their weekly wage.
 The speculative advances in Chica-
 go and stories of the packers exploi-
 ation of the meat situation were utiliz-
 d to fan the popular feeling. Re-
 ports of British "profteering' were
 equally emphatic and widespread.
 l
 a campaign against certain combina- tion of London dairymen who charged 12 cents a quart for milk, whereas it
 was claimed that 10 cents gave their
 competitors an adequate profit. In
 Clapham and Totting meetings of pro-
 test were held, but throughout the
 country generally there have been few demonstrations of dissatisfaction, r. Ia~ kivzrr ~
 railway men in support of their de-
 mand for higher wages imply an ina
 bility to meet current expenses of liv-
 ing on their present wages.
 While from this economic point of lrview the food situation in England fndmittedly requires serious considera- ton, the authorities are satisfied that
 there is not the slightest need to ap-
 prehend any such shortage of food
 stuffs as is suggested by the talk of the
 country being reduced to black bread
 and meatless days.
 That is all dream.' said an ofi-
 cial when told that such stories had
 been cabled to America In addition
 to large stocks of wheat which are
 being held here for the Government,
 possibly 100000 quarters. the latest
 monthly returns snow that there were E2,7SO,000 quarters of wheat in the
 United Kingdom, which is equal to one months supply, and 1,s00.oo0 quarters
 or nearly three weeks supply, in tram sit to this country. This is only a trf1e below the normal quantities.
 !. With regard to meat. it is asserted that there exist more than ample SUD-
 plies for the country's normal needs.
 and that the possibility of anything
 like shortage will be obviated by the |, powers given to the Board of Trade to
 dispose of any stocks that are being
 unreasonably held. One newspaper . says that this step will break the grip
 of the Beef Trust. which. among oth- CT things, is charged by The Liverpool Daily Post with having accumulated
 enormous stocks of bacon in Liverpool. , While the Board of Trade action is
 generally welcomed as pretending the
 end of ."prof1teering" in food. there
 has been no anxiety in responsible
 quarters as to the maintenance of SUD- plies adequate to the nations needs.