The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-06-25
SOARING PRICES Of FOODSTUFFS.
CONGRESSMAN Lever Gives


Congressional Record: MT. Lever
Now, Mr.. Chairman, ! desire TO can
attention to statement appearing IN
series of articles written for the
New York Evening Post by Miss =.
Miller King, very remarkable young
student of political economy. She
has made first hand study OF prices
in the great city of New YORK, anu
this is one excerpt bearing direct!y
upon this proposition that ] think is
worth while. 1t is headlined, The
Wifes Account Book"
II do not suppose you would print
some Of the totals from James ae-
count book. They talk. Here they
are" II
This is first hand information
Living expenses (food) for the
month Of April, 1910, $40.43; 1911,
s52.63; 1912, sSo.13; 1917. $1,000
That is for one month. She sum-
marizes it by years. Let me give
you those:
Totals for food expenses for the
years from 1910 to 1916 tell the whole
story: Nineteen hundred and ten,
s567.36; 1911, $6Os.9O; 1912. $7S5.s2;
1913, $S5151; 1914, $950.29; 1915.
$1,OO5.94; 1916, s1,051.17."
Mr. Sims-The same size family
Mr.. Lever-Of course, the same
size family; family of five.
Mr.. Sims-The family might have
increased in that time, did not know.
Mr.. Lever-Mr Chairman and men,
bers of the committee, when you think
that the wages of the average man OF
America today is less than $1,000 a
year, you get some little comprehen-
sion of the problem that Is before
this country with prices rising every
day. I am standing heretoday in no
spirit of demagogy at all, but with all
the earnestness Of my soul, because !
come from line of people pleading
for this congress to give the ma
chinery and intrust to the president
o. the United States the machinery
by which the mothers, the wives,
the widows, and the babies of this
country may at least be fed during
the coming war. [Applause.l But
that is not all, members OF the COM
mittee. What I have read you Just
now was written by young lady
You may attack her facts, because
she may not be an accredited author
ity on political economy. / propose to
submit to you now a statement from
man who is known the world over
as one of the great economists Of
America, Prof. Irving Fisher, of Yale
university Nobody will dispute that
he is capable Of stating the facts and
drawing conclusions therefrom. Pro
fessor Fisher says that by April last
prices had risen in Russia since the
war began by 165 per cent; in Ger
many, III per cent; in France, 81
per cent; in England, 66 per cent;
and even in neutral Sweden, 46 per
cent.
The price level in the United States
had at that time, risen only 10 per
cent, but it Is now 40 per cent. high
er than before the war. That is a
statement by well recognized polit-
ical economist My friends, / have
great difficulty in giving proper
weight to figures. It took me ten
long years to learn how to work long
division, but when you talk in terms
of dollars and cents and bushels and
things of that sort, while 1 have had
some bushels but not many dollars,
can understand. l want to give
you some figures now of what took
place in the interior Of the United
States. want to bring to your at
tention conditions that are prevail
ing in the city of Washington, not
last year, not last December, but
now, in the way of prices for things
that men and women must eat. You
have heard of the Old Dutch market.
which runs chain Of stores all over
this country, / understand, and is a
reliable concern. This is a statement
which shows the comparison of re-
tail prices of food during April, 1914,
before the war. and April, 1917, which
comparison will show the prices and
comparison Of figures. / am going
to read you few and then print the
others. Sugar is one of the neces-
saries Of life, and ! may pause to
say that the best authority in this
country, tells me that unless there is
some adequate control of the sugar
situation this country in six months
will be facing a sugar famine. The
price Of sugar In 1914 in the city Of
Washington was four cents per pound.
April 1917, 1t was nine cents per
pound, or an increase of 125 per cent.
Flour Is undoubtedly a necessity.
Bread is the staff Of life. and in 1914
flour sold in the city OF Washington
at 1925 per barrel, and in April,
1917, that same barrel Of flour sold
at S14 per barrel, or an increase OF
93 per cent.
Milk, the food OF the babies OF
America, in April, 1914. sold at 8
cents per can. In April, 1917, it sold
at Is cents per can, or 81 per cent.
increase. Members of the committee,
that is in the city of Washington.
Corn, staple article of food, in
April, 1914, sold at cents a pound.
In 1917, it sold for IS cents per
pound, or an increase of IS per cent.
in those few years. Baked beans
sold at 8 cents per pound in 1914,
as against 10 cents per pound in
1917, or a 65 per cent. increase
Rice-now listen, members Of the
committee, because there is no reas-
on on earth, except that manipulate
ors are controlling it, why the price
of rice should increase, because the
crop is good and the supply is plent;-
ful-rice in 1914 sold in the city of
Washington at cents a pound, and
is now selling at 9 cents pound, or
an increase of ~ per cent-not SO