The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-07
DEFENCE COUNCIL WARNS NATI0NIT MUST PRODUCE Only by Team Action of Producer, Distributor and Consumer Gan H. c. l..
 Be Gut.
COUNTRY SLOWED
 UP SINCE ARMISTICE
Further Laws Needed to End Profteering and Hoarding- -Labor's
 Responsibility.

Washington, Oct. As the first e+eD in an educational campaign which the Council of National De fense has undertaken in connection with the high cost of living, the council recently issued a statement '.lc Eae pubHc'.' The statement gives the views of the council as to the causes of ln- creased prices and suggests remedies IL says:
 ..The United States Council of Ma tional Defense, composed of the sec retaries of War, Navy, Interlor' ASFl- culture, Com1erce and LaDof' haS made a careful investigation of the high -cost-of-Iiving prohIen' ana hhoS'
 That the nations productive pow CTS have not been fully utilized since the armistice.
 That too few goods, notably the necessities of life, have been produc- cd. and that even some of these goods have been withheld from the market, and therefore from the people.
 That the high cost of living IS due 4, mart to unavoidable war waste ana increase of money and credit.
 That there has been and is consid- ar,ahle urofiteering, intentional and unintentionaL
 The council believes that the rem edtes for the situation are:
 To produce more goods and to pro- duce them in proprotion to the needs of rhe people.
 To stamp out proffteering and stop unnecessary hoarding.
 To enforce vigorously present laws and promptly to enact such further laws as are necessary to prevent and ,r7rtsh profteering and needless hoarding.
 To bring about better cooperation and method in distributing and marketing goods.
 To keep both producer and con s1nler fully informed as to what goods are needed and as to what sup plies are available, so that production may anticipate the cOuntry's demands.
 Goods and not money are the means of life. Better standards Of living are impossible without pro- ducfng more goods. Man cannot consume what has not been produced.
 At the wars end our allies had Easnerate need of the essentials of life. We have had to share our re- sources with them, but this drain will gradually lessen. In so far as our shortage of goods is due to this cause we can well afford to be patient.
 ..Ir is just as essential that we have patience with the economic situation here at home. The process of pro auction requires time. If produc- ton is rapidly increased vastly inn proved conditions will prevail in America when the results of present and future labor begin to appear.
 Team work is imperative. It is just as essential between retailer, iS tween employer and employee. One group of producers cannot wait on another group. The manufacturer, the farmer, the distributor must each immediately assume his part of the burden and enter upon his task. The national cannot afford curtaI- 1lent of goods vital 10 the people.
 ''On American business rests a grave responsibility for efficient CO., operation in bringing about full and proportionate production. On Am erican labor rests an equally grave responsibility to attain maximum unit production and maintain unin- terrupted distribution of goods, if la bor itself is not to suffer from fur ther rises in the cost of living.
 The entire Nation-producer dis tributor and consumer alile-should return to the unity that won the war. Group interest and undue personal gain must give way to the good of the whole Nation if the situation is to ie sruarely met.
 "Our common duty now, fully as much as in the war, is to work and to save. In the words of the Presi- dent in his address to the country, on Aug. 25, 1919, only by increasing production and by rigid economy and ray-i,1p- Ou the mart of the people can we hope for large decreases in the burdensome cost of living which now weighs us down.
 work, save, cooperate, producer
 The statement is signed by all the Secretaries and by Grosvenor B. Clarkson, Director of the council.