The Washington herald., 1917-01-07

4
FRANCE.
Prices of food in France have also
scared during the past few months, but
as In Russia the difficulties of railway
transport, rather than a real lack Of food
In tha country. are most blamed, and
| the present political crisis in Paris has
been partly caused by charges and
counter-charges regarding profits and
transport abuses. The lack of tonnage
resulting from submarine successes and
army and navy requisitions. influences
the French situation, but not so much
as in England, because France Is not
| normally dependent upon imported food
Among the measures put into foxce
by NJ Joseph Thierry, the new French
food dictator. whose powers are almost
as great as those of Herr Won Batocki
In Germany. are these:
Suppression of fancy bread and the
substitution OF a standard war loaf
much more palatable and nutritious
however, than the war bread in Ger
many.
Prohibition OF perishable pastry; none
can be baked that will not last more
| than four days.
Maximum prices for sugar, which can
no longer be manufactured, excepting in
crystalized form.
Two meatless days a week.
VIII Release 5000 Women,
! The new order regarding the manufsc-
ture OF sugar will release 5000 women
from sugar refneries to work in NUM-
ton plan.s NJ. Thierry has also pledged
himself to stop the INSCRIPTIONS tricks
Of food dealers who take advantage Of
the agony Of the nation to enrich them
selves. Dealers are to be severely pun
lshed II they sell sugar or butter above
the maximum prices. Hitherto when a
price was fixed for the pound many
stores have refused to sell by the pound
and have doled out sugar and butter by
the half-pound at a higher price than
half the fixed rate for the pound. Whole
sale butter dealers, 1t was recently shown
In Parliament have been paying graft
to butter dealers who have supplied
them with false invoices giving a higher
price for butter than was actually paid.
and with these invoices they have per-
suaded government officials to nx a max
imum price for butter that allowed them
an exhorbitant profit.
| There would be food enough In the
country. however. to feed everyone with
out distress were It not for the military
traffic on the railways. Potatoes rot be-
\ cause there Is no way to get them from
the farms to the cities. Ports and rail-
ways all over France are overcrowded
with freight trains which cannot be
moved, while 1t was recently announced
that within fifty miles of Paris there were
more than 1000 freight cars filled with
Steel wood. sulphuric acid, copper. lead
| alcohol for explosives and petrol for
motor cars, all waiting to be unloaded
many Of them laden with British coal.
which is urgently needed,
About to Clear Up Muddle.
1t Is this situation which the reor-
ganized government Is about to clear up,
and optimists think the whole economic
crisis. so far as foodstuns are concerned,
will disappear when the transport muddle
| Is solved The ministeries of war, of
marine, Of agriculture, of the interior and
l OF public works have hitherto all pos
1 sessed power over railway transport
the demands Of the army and navy of
course taking precedence. The conflict
ing acquisitions and orders issued by
these departments are responsible for
much OF the muddling that has taken
place, and NJ. Thierry has been given
power to take such measures as may
be necessary to centralize control of
transport and provide labor to unload
ships and trains A high government Of
hcial, explaining the transport difficult
ties, said recently:
i THE British. Belgian and French
IL
/ Everything must go to them before the
civilians can be considered. You must
I not forget that the whole Of the rolling
! stock used by the armies comes from the
railways of France. and this fact alone
Is enough to cause a transport crisis
Z But the solution of the crisis-which
/ will. in my opinion, solve the food crisis
is easy compared with the effort Great
! Britain and France had to make to over
\ come the munitions difficulty II is only
a matter OF the allies pulling together
| their union should be closer than It is
now. England has only been able to
send US one-third of the coal she had
promised US, and this has also caused
difficulties which I hope will soon be
| overcome.
I The cost OF living in France, according
to comparative figures, taking into ac-
| count only staples, has increased by 30
per cent during the war and this repre-
sents a far greater weight of hardship
and suffering than does the increase of
prices in Britain, because wages in
France have not advanced as they have
here.
RUSSIA.
| The Russian empire is normally en-
tirely self-supporting, but the transport
crisls there Is more severe than in
| France. Until the Duma recently took
hold Of things, unscrlpulous prohting
went unchecked, and the distress among
the people, caused not only by high
prices, but by a lack Of necessities to
De obtained at any price, has probably
been greater than In any other entente
country. So serious had the food situa-
ton become a month ago that the au-
thorities feared serious disturbances in
| the cities, and travellers arriving here
from Russia declare 1t was the food
crisis which led to the victory of the
Duma over the bureaucrats. Hearty CO.
operation between the government and
the local governing bodies in regard to
the railways and prices must be under
taken before there can be any substantial
Improvement; and the jealousy between
the reactionary officials and the associa-
! tions Of business men who have been
/ forced to take matters into their own
hands to prevent famine, has until re-
Gently tied the hands of the latter.
Percentage Increases.
The percentage increases in the prices
OF various staples in Odessa since the
outbreak Of war were recently ascer-
tanned by a careful investigation and are
as follows: Beef. 200: pork, 175; mutton,
a6s; bread, 50; wheat flour, IS; rioe, 100;
Irr,tr N. 49,