Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-12-02

in those products have been fairly
successful.
The Fuel and Food Administrations
have had their hands full providing
for the demands of war. Their rules
for the regulation of prices to domes-
tic consumers, while generally fol-
lowed have not been rigidly adhered
to. The result has been that the
practice of extortion in even those
materials which had no war value has
been universal.
The licenses of many dealers in
coal and food have been taken from
them. Othe RS have been fined NOM
inal sums, a few have beer compelled
to refund their ill-gotten gains, and
here and there profiteer more mer-
CHESS than the average of his fellows
has been sent to Jail. But on the
whole the profiteer in an almost end
less variety of materials has escaped
unscathed.
Several hundred persons caught
boarding foodstuffs have been fined.
The governments regulations, while
reasonable and comprehensive, have
left many loopholes for the ayaricious,
who. conspiring with the more for
tunate of his customers. has profited
to an unholy extent through eXpens-
ively bought favoritism
The shoe and clothing dealer es-
capped wholly unscathed until few
weeks ago, when the War Industries
Board fixed prices to apply to shoes.
There is absolutely no supervision of
clothing. The manufacturer of cloth
ing fabrics, the wholesale dealer and
jobber in mems, women's and chill
dren's clothes and, finally. the retail
er, have charged what the market
would stand"
Aside from the general laws apply
ing to eXtortion. obtaining money I'M
der false pretenses, swlndliug aad
grand and petty larceny, provided by
the federal statutes and penal laws
Of the various states, there IS no gov
eminent agency authorize to deal di-
rectly with the clothing problem, nor
has any attempt been made by the de-
partment of justice. the war indus
tries board the federal trade commits
sion nor any other government agency
empowered to investigate and fix the
prices
Congress has passed but one bill re-
laiing to profiteering, though there
e~AS INV PSiLNAtiS WV vi tihi " AAAStAo7
rres relating to this problem. The
only law actually written into the sta
tutes of the United States applied to
profiteering in rents in Washington,
ID. c. The war demands of the gov
eminent attracted to the national cap
ital probably 100000 persons. To
house and care for these was prob
lem that the government is just be-
ginning to solve,
Until it embarked upon the bust
ness Of constructing living quarters
for its tremendously swollen popula-
ton, persons who either volunteered
or were drafted into the public serv-
ice there were the victims of most
outrageous extortion practised by
house owners and lessees of apart
ments.
The one law directed against prof
iteering, therefore, sought in a meas
ure to protect people of this sort.
President Wilson sounded the first
note of warning to profiteers in a
appeal to the citizens of the
country on April Is, 1917. nine days
after the United States entered the
war against Germany. Appealing to
the producing element to observe eX-
efforts to increase the
output of all commodities TO meet the
demands of war. he said:
'The course of trade shall be as
as it is possible to make
it, and there shall be no unwarranted
OF the nations food
supply by those who handle It on its
way to the consumer. Let me say to
the middlemen of every sort whether
they are handling our foodstuffs or
our, war materials of manufacture or
the product of our mills and factories.
The eyes of the country will be es-
pecially upon you. This is your oppor-
tunity for signal service. efficient and
The country expects
you, as it expects all others, to forego
profits, to organize and expe-
dite shipments of supplies of every
kind, but especially of food, with an
eye to the service you are rendering
and in the spirit of those who enlist in
the ranks, for their people, not for
themselves. | shall confidently expect
you to deserve and win the confidence
Of the people of every sort and sta
ion"
Following the presidents declara-
lion the functions of various govern
ment agencies We're employed to pre-
vent profiteering of any kind. The
national council of defense, the fed |
sral trade commission, the food and |
'uel administrations and finally the |