The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-06-25

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Eggs, an increase of 80 per cent.
| Potatoes, per peck, 90 cents in 1914
and 80 cents in 1917, or an increase
of POI per cent. Even spaghetti
and macaroni increased from 65 to IS
per cent. in the city Of Washington.
| But that is not all, members of the
committee. l am not going to weary
you with this, but want you to get
| the picture. / want this house to
know the facts. / want you members
to realize what you are up against
and then put your conscience uD
against the price and the facts
against the finespun theory OF gov
ernmental power. 1t is a serious
proposition with me-
| l was not satisfied with that.
wanted to see If the prices were con-
tinuing to increase, and SO wrote
my friends. the Old Dutch market,
and asked them to give me the
| 1917. would have had them for
June. but / had hoped to have this
bill through before now. Now listen.
| Let us see what happens to sugar.
Sugar in January, 1917, sold at Z
cents a pound In Washington. In
May it sold for 10 cents per pound.
or 43 per cent. increase in three
months. Flour sold at $3.50 in Janu
airy this year, and in May 1t sold at
$500, or SO per cent. increase.
/ Baked beans were 10 cents in Janu-
airy and Is cents in May, or an in
crease of so per cent. Macaroni and
spaghetti show an increase Of 81 per
cent since January, 1917.
l could go down the line here and
show you that in a total of 70 items
on this list the average increase in
price from January, 1917. to May.
1917. was 81 per cent. And yet the
orator, who loves to hear his own
self long since that in him is CEN
tered all there is Of constitutional
knowledge and patriotism, loves to
stand up and squawk and scream
about the comforting of autocratic
power on somebody somewhere.
Whom do you think the people of
this country prefer to have this thing
go to for the purpose of regulating 1t
the food gambler, the manipulation,
the cormorant, the man of greed, or
the chosen head of 1O0,000,000 peo-
pie? That is the question, members
of the committee. So much for that.
Now, we can account for some Of
the rise in prices upon the theory of
the reduced purchasing power OF
money, owing to worldwide infla-
ton Of currency. But, my friends,
shall undertake to prove that while
these causes which I have mention
ed and described as normal causes
are important, they are not the only
prices. Some curious things that |
want to call to your attention have
| come to my attention in the study OF
| this problem.
| For example, while the paper cur
rency of England has increased 534
per cent. since the war began, and |
while England is many thousands Of |
miles from her bases of food sup
plies, with the dread submarine Turk
ing around her borders, sending food
ship after food ship to the bottom of
the sea; and while the increase Of
gold supply of the United States in
the same time has increased only 40
per cent, yet we find old potatoes,
Irish potatoes, white potatoes, sell
ing in New York of j date May IL,
1917, for SO to $3.50 per bushel, while
the same character of potatoes ex-
actIy were selling on the same date
at Liverpool, England, for $1.54 per
bushel.
You can not account for that diff
ference on the theory of an inflated
currency, because the currency of
Great Britain is many times more
largely inflated than Is the currency
of the United States;a and yet po-
tatoes are selling in England almost.i
at one-half the price that they are
selling for in the city Of New York
on the same day, and that day May
L., 1917.
That is not all. We find that bread |
on April 16 sold in Washington at z i
cents per pound. while in London and
liverpool it sold at 6 cents per |
pound-bread, as suggested by my
distinguished friend from Wisconsin, |
made out of wheat grown in this |
tation, insurance, and the dread Of
the submarine. These are curious
facts, are they not?
But that is not all. We find that |
bacon sold in New York at 81 cents !
per pound on May IL, and in Liver.
pool at % and 20 cents per puond, |
practically the same price-bacon |
that they bought from the farmers III |
the district Of my friend from Kan.
sas. my colleague on the committee
(Mr. Doolittle), paying the charge OF !
transportation half across the con-
tinent and 5000 miles across the At
lantic ocean, and then selling at a |
price equivalent practically to our
own. 1t is curious, is it not?
That is not all. We find that |
wheat, No. 2 hard winter, sold at
$40 to $2.45, and in Paris at $245 to |
$2.55 per bushel-our own wheat, in |
all probability. wheat that the farm.
arS nf the great northIvort nroJ,,,o,1
by their toll. We also find that but.
ter sold in New York and Liverpool |
at practically the same prices, while |
sugar sold at a somewhat lower |
price in New York. than in LIVERPOOL |
Listen. Even in Germany the price !
of bread has been held to a figure
that amounts to a little less than 5 |
cents per loaf as against our cents |
per loaf on May g. Think OF that. |