The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1919-08-14
WOULD EXTEND
FOOD CONTROL
PRESIDENT SAYS HIGH PRICES
NOT JUSTIFIED BY SHORT
AGE OF FOOD PRODUCTS

President Wilson on last Friday
laid several specific proposals before
Congress for checking the high cost
OF living, but at the same time de
clared permanent results could not
be expected until peace times could
be fully established after the ratifi-
cation of the peace treaty. High
piices, the President told Congress:
were not justified Dy shortage OF
supply. either present or prospective,
but were created in many cases "ar-
tifcially and deliberately" by "vlc-
ious practices" Retailers, he said,
were responsible in large part for
extortionate prices.
illegal and criminal were the
words used in characterlzlng the
methods by which some present day
prices have been brought about:
Present laws, he said, would be en-
ergetically employed to the limit TO
force out food boards and meet the
situation so far as possible, but to
supplement the existing statutes he
specifically urged the following:
Licensing of all corporations en-
gagged in interstate commerce, with
specific regulations designed to Sc
cure competitive selling and prevent
"unconscionable profits in the meth
cd of marketing.
Extension of the food control act
to peace times and the application OF
it's provision against boarding OF
fuel, clothing and other necessities
of life as well as food.
A penalty in the food control set
for profiteering.
A law regulating cold storage,
limiting the time during which goods
may be held; prescribing a method
of disposing C. them If held beyond
the permitted yeIiod and requiring
that when released, goods bear the
date of storage.
Laws requiring that goods released
from storage for interstate commerce
bear the selling prices at which they
went into storage and requiring that
all goods destined for interstate
commerce carry the prices at which
they left the hands Of the producer.
Enactment of the pending bill for
the control of security issues.
Additional appropriations for gov
ernment agencies which can supply
the public with full information as to
prices at which retailers buy.
Early ratification Of the peace.
treaty so that the "free processes OF
supply and demand" can operate.
Immediate steps by executive
agencies of the government promised
bV the President included:
Limiting and controlling wheat
shipments and credits, to faciliS ite
the purchase of wheat shipments to
credits, to facilitate the purchase
of wheat in such way as not to raise:
but rather to lower the. price OF
flour at home.
Sale of surplus stocks Of food and
clothing in the hands OF the govern
ment.
The forced withdrawal from stor-
age and sale of surplus stocks IN
.riva'e hands.
General recommendations, includ-
ed:
Increase of production.
Careful buying by housewives.
Fair dealing with the people on
the part of producers, middlemen
and merchants.
That there be no threats and un-
due insistence upon the interest OF a
single class. -, -
Correction of "many things" in
relation between capital and labor IN
respect to wages and conditions OF
labor
plea for deliberate intelligent action,
reminding Congress that an unbal-
anced world was looking to the Unit
ed States. go,
eve. and we alone" he said, "now
hold the world steady. Upon our
steadfastness and self possession de-
pend the affairs of nations every
where. 1t is the supreme crisis-this
crisis for all mankind-that Amerl-
ca must prove her mettle."