The Washington times., 1918-03-15
By w. v. BYARS.

Every day at the Capitol ques-
tions are presented which cannot be
answered in Washington at all. The
best intentions are powerless before
them. They belong to the country
litself-to the whole country. It
must answer for itself and act for
itself. If it is ''topsy turvy," as
two witnesses insist, it must right
itself. The attempt to transfer the
responsibility of doing so to Wash
ington is a failure-now manifest
and complete.
The country does not need to go
beyond a single item to get at the
meaning Of its responsibility for de-
Gliding its own welfare. The item
of what to eat and how to get it
serves to illustrate all the rest. No
day passes unless question after
question about it is urged on the
Senate or on the House Always
they can be condensed into the sin
gle question which was again pre-
sented yesterday before the Senate
Committee on Agriculture. It is
the question Of too much food In one
place and unsatis6ed stomschs in
another.
E. L. Burke, q cattle feeder from
Omaha, testified to the general situ-
alton. Summed from his evidence
and that of other witnesses, the
acts are these:
With mutton or beef as the case
in point, or corn or potatoes or
canned goods, there is a record
breaking supply Of food in the coun-
try. Under the conditions Of money,
of distribution, and other average
conditions of, say, 1910, as the last
census year, there would be abund-
ance Of all staples Of food and the
usual luxuries for all in cities and
towns, with enough remaining for
export to supply all we can possi-
bly, send the allies and all others
who will take it at our prices.
Food ought to be more abundant
in Washington, in New York, in
every other city now, in spite of
"war conditions than IN 1910.
Why then is the price Of food alone
so far out of proportion to the
average income" that thousands in
cities must be satisfied with less
than enough every day Of the week?
lin one form or another this was
the question in debates at the Capt.
tol in both houses yesterday.
Putting disconnected facts and
arguments together as nearly as it
can be done, we have first of all
this fact of paramount Importance.
The great amount of food that
would be wealth in the markets
where the lack Of it threatens suf-
fering and increases poverty, re-
mains still largely at the places
where it was produced, there, un-
less the country itself finds its own
way out, it must be charged of to
profit and loss.
| This is because the usual meth
lods of supplying those who need the
necessaries of life established ma
tionally and confirmed by law, are
''out of joint" There is a greater
'tdislocation" in transportation and
in everything that belongs to the
ordinary routine Of marketing, than
has ever occurred before. The an
swers, when the uestion Of "why"
Is asked, are beginning to be given.
That most frequently given now/is
arbitrary interference" by Of
ficials, with the best intentions, who
are not subject to what has been
recognized heretofore from coast to
coast as "the law Of the land" We
'1ay down the law" instead of de-
claring it. No one now knows what
the claw Of the land" means as an
assurance of the future. And with
all personal sympathy for those
who have been put into positions
where they think safety for all de-
pends on their orders, It must be
said that they are a proven failure.
Conditions 30 far beyond their con-
troll that 1t is idle to expect helm
from them. Write "Tekel" for their
system Of debating" It is an ab-
surd impossibility.
Beyond this, the answer given by
the accumulating evidence depends
on considering these main points.
1. Powerful combinations of ex-
perts with the Know How" last year
TO control the prices Of all necessar-
les OF life, and all that is most neces-
sary for war. 2. The coIncident in
crease In the supply Of paper money
beyond all precedents Of this genera
ton in America as 1t involves prof
iteering." first by those who under
stand its opportunities and then by
"aIl concerned" Where only experts
can "profiteer" at first. everybody