The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-03-20
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL,
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington. D. C
HUNGER GROWS IN EUROPE.
Washington. D. C


Washington. D. G, March 10
While the people of the United States
explode over their grocery bills, and
are only mildly thankful that eggs
have slumped to 81 cents dozen,
Frenchmen pay Is cents for a single
egg, and at that they get off COM
paratively easy. In Belgium eggs are
81 each. a pound of butter would
cost the average Belgian wage Garner
half a weeks salary.
The war, they tell us, is all over
except the final pen fiourishfng cere-
monies, but not country in Europe
has let down its restrictions on 1000.
over here, we revert to the old habit
of shoveling the contents of the sugar
| bowl into our breakfast cup, while alb
sorbed in the latest bon mot of the
peace conference. In England the
meat ration, and most of the other
meal time eXigencies OF war, continue
! in full force. A society leader back
from London reports that during her
entire stay there-at the Ritz-Carl-
/ ton hotel-she never had one square
meal. There just wasn't enough
| food
| At Christmas, England celebrated
the return of peace in prodigal reck-
lessness by permitting double ratlons
for ten days of the holiday season.
| The double ration" term is mislead-
| ing. 1t suggests our Chris mas custom
! of eating ourselves under the table.
| The English double ration was some
thing less than our usual meal After
| the days of comparative feasting, Eng
land returned to the old regime of a
/ slim menu with lots of conversation.
: Official England puzzles its head
over the problem of how to feed ma
| ton of hearty eaters on invalid ra-
tions. There are many hungry per-
, sons in Britain, but the worries of
the Empire sink into insfgnificance
beside the dilemma of the rest of
| Europe.
| There is a persistently popular i'm
preston in the United States that
| when the last gun stopped firing, the
| worlds troubles in getting food and
other necessities were over. Most
parts of Europe are slowly pulling
| themselves together, but there is little,
| if any, more food and clothing in Eu-
rope now than at the close of the war,
and prices are higher than ever.
/ The reason for the high cost of liy-
ing and the suffering in Europe is
| tWofold. First there is the lack of
| food and other necessities, and then
| there is the financial situation caused
! largely by the scarcity of commodities.
| Money has deteriorated in value so
| that in some countries it is worthless.
! The new Russian government intensi-
lied its financial difficulties when it
; issued paper money different from
| that of the monarchy. Germany had
| seized a large part of Russia's gold,
! and the Russian government is spend
ing the rest for expenses at the rate of
about fifteen rubles for every ruble
| coined. AS there is no gold or silver
to back it, the paper in circulation is
not acceptable to the people. The gov
eminent recently tried to revive the
confidence of the people by printing
i paper money of the discard denomi-
ne I4ic ierI1 - he
| toward more stable financial condi-
ton had not Germany anticipated the
| Russian move and prepared great
| numbers of similar counterfeit notes.
| When the Russian government re-
turned to the old monetary system,
the German counterfeit notes were
spread broadcast with disastrous re-
suits.
Thruout the continent there is one
big difficulty. There is not enough
| food, of course, but what food there
is cannot be distributed as it should
be. The worst trouble is in the cities.
| Everywhere the cities clamor for food,
| not eggs and butter and beefsteak but
| bread and potatoes. Vegeta bles and
grain are not in the market. The
trouble is farther back.
Out in the country the peasant
raises his crop of wheat and potatoes
grumbling at the meagerness of it and
the trouble to accomplish anything in
wartime. Ordinarily he would retain
a part of his harvest, and send the
rest to market. Now he boards every
vegetable as something precious, and
hides his store of food under the
ground like a squirrel. He is not to
blame. He cannot sell his produce in
| the city, for the dealers will give him
nothing for it except money and
money buys almost nothing, for there
is nothing to buy. If the farmer could,
he would eagerly trade his extra pro-
duce for pillow, cow, or some cloth
ing; but these things are as scarce as
food, and he would rather hoard his
little food supply for himself than sell
it for bits of paper.
{ The Ukraine lands raise twice the
amount of produce they. need for
home consumption. In other parts of
l Russia thousands of people are starry
lrg or i'll from undertaking. Russia
has seen her peasants eat vegeta BILE
seeds-the promise of the next crop
and bread mixed with straw because
5 there was nothing else
The United States is doing all it can
to get food to these people. England,
Switzerland and Canada also furnish
aid. Without this help, conditions in
. the greater part of Europe would be
too appalling to imagine.
In one great center of population
alone. Vienna, 100000 people do not
! know where next weeks, or even to-
/ days. bread is to come from Amer
lea is now distributing supplies in
Austria. When the first train load sof
flour from the United States was
s brought into Vienna. the American
D soldiers who unloaded the cars were
the main objects of interest in the
city. They were doubly welcome in
= that they brought flour to last the
city bakeries a few days
Bread in these countries of high
v prices has not usually commanded g
= price in keeping with charges fol
other commodities. In Russia, the
y financial situation keeps bread al
< $3.50 pound loaf. To prevent the
national chaos which would result
-. from such a figure on bread ir
L France. the French government for
bid that the price of bread should sc
| beyond a fixed rate. which is similar