Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-03-11

London, Jan. S.-(By mail)-There
was a margarine queue in Kings Road
as | came downtown this morning. The
snow of last night had become slush,
the sidewalks we're wet and some of
those in the queue, crowded off the
sidewalk, stood in the slush of the
street. An icy wind was blowing.
The poon editions of the afternoon
newspapers reported margarine and
meat queues in many other parts of
the city, in most every part, in fact,
where there was margarine ON sale.
A short time ago the prime minister,
speaking on the food situation, remark
ed significantly, "There are no food
queues outside the cooperative stores,
So L went down into Aldersgate this
afternoon to ask the co-operators why.
In the depot Of the Cooperative Whole
sale societies-as big a wholesale house
as I'd ever seen in America was re-
.ferred to B. Williams, head of the
Cooperative I'll on, whose office ha |
been ,rowded ny the growth of bust
mes into one of the overflow buildings
in a nearby street. .
ffThe trouble said b. Williams,
SIS that the government has not yet
realized that we are at war, or 1T has
not carried the realization into our
commercial life. The plain fact is that
the function of controlling the peoples
food never should have been put into
the hands of any man whose life train
ing has been profit making. His ex-
perience in life has been such as to
totally unfit him for such a post
Several months ago when Lord Dew
onport, himself a commission merchant,
was retiring from the job of food con-
~troller, Williams was suggested as a.
possible successor. The suggestion ap-
p~arently did not get very far. Trying
to visualize him in the role l fell to
wondering why he looked so familiar
and where [ could have seen him be-
fore. Suddenly it came to me that 1t
any single person he reminded
me of, but a sort of composite person.
He had the look about him of those
various clerks in different stores that
my mothers always used to ask for
when she, wanted to be sure of what
she was getting. He looked reliable and
the impression pf wishing to
serve, rather han to sell.
He would look quite at homo today
dthe counter of one of my
mother's favorite stores and yet here
he is head of the Cooperative Union.
To make this mean something, 1t
might be mentioned that the coopera-
tors have the largest flour mills IN.
the world and one of the largest shoe
factories; that there are 100000 OF
them; that the immense building
around the corner is only one of many
and not by any means the largest; that
sheir own bank in the last quarter did
a business of $375,000,0 00.
t'The control of food supplies said
Williams, "should have been entrust-
ed to a board, who have had experience
in cooperation. All the talk just now
is of unity and coordination, but they
don It apply it to the crying need OF
the food situation. Such a board OF
control should have. had~wide admins
trative and executive powers. Its sole
for existence should have been
TO see that all available foodstuffs
were bought at the most reasonable
prices and equitably distributed at the
most economical cost.
"'The trouble from which the people
have suffered most during the last
three and a half years has been in the
impossibility of getting Mr.. Lloyd
George and his fantastic caravan OF
assorted antiques to realize the nation
is at war. Before the food situation
grows too serious for salvation there
ought to be a bold and peremptory de-
mand for the dismissal of the present