Douglas Island news., 1918-02-22
WAR TIME PRICES
 ARE EXPLAINED
Federal Food Administrator Gives Excellent Reasons for Exist
 ing Conditions

5 |They complain because some oi th'
 substitutes cost more than Che foo,
 they are asked to save for their as
 sociates on the other side of th' ocean.
 An right. suppose that we grant their complaint about prices. Bul
 then let us look at thc thing from another angle. Prices are high
 There is no way Co get around that War time prices have always been high. But if we ate only Che things ! We liked fully as we'll as the things
 We must save. and if we ate only the
 substitutes that were cheaper, how
 much Of sacrifice would we bc
 making iu order Co win this war?
 supposiug that the men who are
 supplying our ammunition said it
 was disgraccrul to pay such high prices for steel when wood was SO
 much cheaper. And then just sup-
 pose that they used Che wood to make our guns and our shells its much cheaper and could be painted and smoothcd down Go look about steel
 How long do you think our armies could stay in the trenches with wooden guns and wooden shells? They could stay just about as long as they could ir we made prices the excuse for taking food out Of their mouths
 Prices or no prices, we must eat to win this war. Those people need beef. pork and mutton. wheat sugar and fats. IT We fal Co save in or der that they may have them, we could just as well close down our steel plants and send them shells ] made Of wood
 Where there Is war. food can not be produced A steel plow helps production. but steel is not a good culuyator when 10 breaks the land ln thc form of a shell That has been shown in France. Italy, Bol- gium and an of Che other countries shattered by battle But nation can be at war and suu maintain production. if Che battle lines do not encroach on the farms. That has been shown In Germany and Is be- ing shown in the United States We have been charged with the tromcnd- ous task Of feeding our associates in this war. of maintaining production on scale that will meet our actual needs and still leave enough Co dn the gap between Europo's produc- tiou and consumption. The only solution is Co reduce our own use of Che foods most needed abroad. ! We must employ substitutes for beef. pork and mutton, wheat, sugar and fats. This war is as much ours |as it is Europo's and there is mo rco- son why we should ask Europe Go bear an Of thc sacrifices and dcprivo- tious.
 Did you ever stop to wonder why food prices are high in war time? Or have you just complained about the fact that they are high. and then wondered why in the world the government hasn't stepped in and brought them back Co the ante bcllum level?
 Tho next time you complain about prices. stop and think of tho farmer who grew the things you are buy ling Do you know that he is pay ! ing S2 or S2.5O a day for labor that he could get before the war for Sl or S1.25-and that he is having a mighty hard time getting anybody at an? Do you know that every railroad in the country is cougcsted
 and that it is much more difficult
 to get farm products to market than 10 was a year ago? Do you know that the man who buys food from the
 farmers and then attributes it Co
 the wholesale dealers. has Co pay
 much more for his labor than he did
 before the war? And do you know
 that an of his necessary expenses have been on the ascendant? Do
 you know that tho wholesale dealer is paying wages and salaries that Inc
 could scarcely have dreamed of a
 few years ago? and that thc same thing is true of the retailers?
 And then. on the other hand when you consider why the govern. mcnt hasn't taken a hand, have you stopped to consider that prices have risen on a much lower scale than has ruled in other wars?
 Have you thought when you paid nine and ten cents for sugar, witl the country going through an ac tual sugar famine, that it would have gone much higher had not th, government, through the Unite, States Food Administration, taket , measures to stabilize the market Have you stopped to wonder whl the wholesale prices Of -four i8 lcs /, than S11 a barrel, when it went a high as S15 last summer and threat ened Co keep mounting? Have yoI remembered that the farmer is get ting more money out of $1O or $1.