Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-01-14

given power 10 take such measures as
may be necessary 10 central2e con-
| troll Of transport and provide labor 10
unload ships ana trains. A high gov
| crnment official explaining the trans
/ port difficulties. said recently:
THE British, Belgian and French
/ armies are our first conSid Grafton.
/ Everything must go 10 them before
| the civilians can be considered. You
must not forget that the whole of the
rolling stock used 10y the armies comes
/ from the railways Of France, and this
Z fact alone Is enough TO cause a trans
port crisis.
but the solution Of the crisis
which will. in my opinion. solve the
f. cd crlsis--is easy cpmpaied with
the effort Great Britain and France
had TO make TO overcome the munl-
tions difficulty. IT Is only a matter
Of the allies pulling together; their
Union should be closer than IT Is now.
England has only been able TO senl
us ouc-thrd Of the coal she hhd
promised u.s. and this has also caused
difficulties which hope will soon be
ONerCome.'
The cost Of living in France, ac-
cordlng TO comparative figures, taking
into account only staples has In
creased hv 30 per cent during the
war and this represents a far greater
weight of hardship and suffering than
Gees the increase of prices I'm Britain,
because wapes in France have not ad-
tGrced az thcv have here.
The Russian empire is normally
entirely sclf-suppOrting. but the trans
ort crisis there Is moro severe than
IL France Until the duma recently
took hold Of things interruptions
profitecr!ne went unchecked. and the
distress ?mong the people caused not
only bv high prices. but hy lack or
roCeesiuos to be obtained NJ any
price. has probably been greater thnn
in any other entente country. SO seri-
ous had the food situation become q
mcnth ago that the authorities feared
serious disturbances I'm the cities. and
travellers arriving here from Russia
declare It was the food crisis which
led TO the victory pf the dumo over
The hurcaucrats. Hearty cc-opern-
ton between the government md the
local governing bodies In regard to
;hs RAILWAYS and prices must be un-
dertaken before there can be any sub
stantlal imyrovement: and the teal-
ousr between the reqCtionary officials
and The associations Of business men
who have been forced 20 take mat
tcrs into their own hands to prevent
famine has until recently tied the
hcr ds Of tho latter.
The percentage Increase In the
prlces Of various staples In Odessa
since the outbreak OF war were re-
Gently asccrtoiped hy a careful inVes-
tigation. and are as follows: Beet
200: pork 17f: mutton 266; bread SO;
wheat flour 35: rice 100. onions 200;
cabbage 4S3: lard 700: butter lS0;
milk 100: sugar 45: Daraffiu oil 81
soap 300 coal $50: herrings 3S5.
The average increase In these COM
modlties worked at 1873 p"r cent. ap-
pro vimateiv twice NJ much as IN
France. where in turn prices are
somewhat higher than In England.
And in many Russian towns butter,
milk and sugar arc often unprocur-
able while the recent announcement
" a maximum price for bread,
learned made It impossible In many
places 10 buy even flour Peasants
are holding back their corn for higher
prices; II the government reuuist-
lions the corn Mt fixed prices d'sor-
doris sre feared. and sowing will be
discoura oed while n the price Of corn
"a advanced the plight of the workers
I'm the cities will made worse Inef-
flciencv and graft on the part Of rail-
wav officials Is RESPONSIBLE for some
Of the trouble: but the vast size OF the