Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-04-02

government.
1t is the plan of the new food ad,
ADMINISTRATION to proceed against thi.
practice with all the severity the Law
permits. In the past this has not beer
possible. The Vienna public is e
tremely good natured and averse te
the role Of informer or police spy, q
fact which has been exploited by
those with means and the storekeep-
ers. But even the patience of the
small in Austria has a lin
1t, 1t seems. and court records of re-
cent weeks show that 81 greater mum
Der Of food law transgressions are be-
ing reported. In disposing of these
cases the courts have shown no mer-
by II an appeal has generally had
the surprising result Of punishmente
being Increased. Thus q dealer in
foodstuffs, sentenced to imprisonment
for three e and a fine of 200
crowns, augmented his punishment to
Imprisonment for three months and
Il fine of 1000 crowns by having his
case reviewed by the appeal senate,
which body found that the lower court
had been altogether too lenient.
Despite this. usury in food prices
continues, evidence of the fact tina
defyinE food Eel uiations is highly
profitable. SO great seems to be the
lure of making money of q general
misfortune that nothing suffices to
check it. as WAS shown already over
q century & when the French rev
o~lutionary government made usury in
food sales a capital crime and was
ablieed to execute q goodly number.
OF shop-keepers.
Much of the food bought at pri-
waite sales inc delivered clandestinely
is not intended for Immediate con-
sumption, 1t is stored. There are
thousands of families In Vienna who
have on hand, stored in cellar and
garnet. lockers and chests, food staples
for two years. For the sake Of APP
p4arances, and in order not to use up
their hoard, the same familiec meet
their present daily need in the open
market, increasing in this name the
daily general consumption to the ex-
tent in which they buy for boarding.
Only those with means enough oan af-
ford this, SO that the shortage due to
the practice falls altogether upon the
poorer classes.
Rapacious storekeepers favor this
course, because it nets them prices
often 200 per cent above the maxi
mum price set by the government.
Whether the store be large or small
makes no difference. Each has its
private buyers to whom food is sold
at n price and in any quantity, re-
SGi VI I'CfH. WILLIE tfjtlu-
sands y unable to get butter and fat
in the quantities prescribed by the
government cards, other thousands
buy as much as they want, The house
holds which as yet have been without
meat on a meatless day sre few in
deed, provided the family treasury
can bear the strain. While the bulk
OF the population eats g very poor sort
Of black bread. many enjoy fun wheat
bread oS Isfnra tIo NAV I,o,o,,., 49,,
nave the price II money still buys
anything in Austria. The sorekeeper
recognizes in the present situation a
flne opportunity to make money, and
Is not letting the chance &c by.
IN the end the retailer Is little more
than the agent of the wholesaler in
this mulcting Of a psr-worn public.
Not 70 long ego q shipment Of more
8 million Eggs spoiled In q, Wen
ma railroad yard because the prevail
Ing prices did not suit the owners To-
day it is impossible to get eggs at
even 80 hellers apiece. But this Is
merely one instance Of illicit price
promotion, as the practice is called
here.
There are a nuHber Of to
delay shipments and keep FOOD out Of
the larger centers. Always the war
is blamed. IT is the excuse for every
tactical move to cause artificial short
ases-situations which do not affect
maximum prices. but force up food at
the private sales. The immediate re-
suit OF such a shortage is tina the
cost Of living, which in reality moves
beyond the sphere of maximum prices
altogether, goes up another 10 or 20
per cent. The Austrian living in q
large population center either meets
his households food demands at q
private sale Or sticks to maximum
prices r"d goes hungry. While max
lmum prices allow an increase in the
cost OF living Of about 40 per cent,
living is about $50 per cent more *
than before the war.
IL is known h q the large Vienna
banks are not uninterested In this
practice. Much IF the capital needed
Of food possible Is supplied by them,
at a suitable rate, Of course. During
Warf hese banks have become al
most 0~rnnipotent for the reason that
government needs them. It is ss1d
General Hoefer will meet In
Them an antagonist worthy Of his hast
on the whole, food In Austria is
not scarce. Most of the rural districts
of m bill nf fare Is.
While bread, butter and fat cards
been Introduced everywhere, the
country population pays on the VIII -Ne
little attention to them.
The farmer also Is averse to selling
at maximum prices. He will hold
his products for an opportunity TO
make q private sale. He can afford
to do this, because il ultimately mart
Of his fhodstuffs he requisitioned Wv
The government he will get the max
mum price anyway. In certain dis
trints In Bohemia and the aalzbure
country f0od conditions are nearly
normal. though in adjacent noun
famous parts. which must import
Of their food, the situation re-
those In the cities and larrAr
towns.
A'.stris's food problems have been
aggravated by the attitude OF the