New-York tribune., 1917-07-03
The Consumers Hope

The Consumers Hope
For the previous increase in retail milk
prices here the milk companies had the ex-
cuse of an increase in the price to them by
the combination of dairy farmers in the
territory which supplies this city. For the
present raise in rates there is no such eX-
cuse. The only one given is "extraordi-
nary conditions" which are alleged to pre-
vail-presumably labor costs, the price Of
bottles and the like. The companies might
just as well have said they wanted the
extra money, and let it 90 at that
The unfortunate consumers will kick,
hut they will pay-they have nothing else
to do Milk is about as essential food as
ANYTHING can be. Fer households with chill
dren, especially in summer, 1t IS indis-
pensable. Therefore, the customers will
continue to buy it, whatever it costs, and
il will continue to cost whatever the COM
panies choose to charge because there IS
TO official agency which will or can reduce
the charges The state food legislation
about which such a splurge was made last
winter ended in nothing of value. Its teeth
were drawn. The Foods and Markets
Commissioner has talked much about re-
ducing milk prices, by competition and
otherwise, but hasn't yet taken cent
bottle off the rates the companies impose.
With milk, as with all the other foodstuffs,
the consumer is at the mercy Of the dis
tributers.
Relief must come-and undoubtedly will
come before many months-as war
measure. This country is wofully behind
the rest of the world in its organization of
the food industry in all branches. The
farmer does not receive what he deserves
in the way of governmental help and gov
crnmental protection, and, being the weak
est link in the chain commercially, he does
not make what he is entitled to on his prod
uce when prevailing market rates are
taken into consideration. AS result
farming fails to attract and hold the sons
of farmers against the call of commerce IN
the cities. This state, once one of the
leaders in sheep raising, has practically
lost that important branch of the industry.
It's vast dairy interests are threatened.
More than that, foodstuffs are gambled in;
speculators take advantage of storage
facilities and extort their toll. There is
vast wastage in distribution owing to in
efficient and inadequate shipping and mar
keting conditions.
All this will have to be changed if the
United States is to do its part in the
world war; for one Of its most important
contributions must be the feeding of our
troops and our allies troops and our work
ers and their workers Attacking kitchen
and hotel waste is all right enough. as
far as it goes, but it isn't the big phase of
the food problem by any means. The big
phase is to prevent the wastage of crops
on farms because it doesn't pay the farmer
to gather them and send them to the COM
mission man at the price he gets, when at
that same time the city consumer must
pay an exorbitant rate for the very article
so plentiful at the farm that it lies ungath-
cred. This applies, now, as it has applied
for years, to fruits and vegetables. 1t
applies to fish, which can be obtained all
along the New Jersey coast at nominal
prices, but here cost much money in the
markets, and in restaurants are charged
for as high as meat dishes.
The country has embarked on food con-
troll. The first steps will be tentative, but
these first steps will show the necessity for
further ones. From them, not because food
handlers and food spectators want it, but
because the nation must have It, there
must come a new system of production, of
distribution, of marketing, which will pre-
vent food wastage and keep prices within
the reach of slim purses.