New Britain herald., 1919-08-09
WILSON URGES CONGRESS TO EXTEND CONTROL ACT TO REDUCE H. c. OF L.
President Wants Provisions Against Hoardng Be Made to Apply Not Only to Foodstus, But to Fuel Cloth
 ing, Etc-Law to Regulate Cold Storage


 continue to be or of the effect the volume of our exports will have on supplies and prices. It is impossible yet to predict how far or how long foreign purchasers will be able to find the money or the credit to pay for or sustain such purchases on such a scale; how soon or to what extent for elgn manufacturers can resume thelr former production, foreign farmers get their accustomed crops from their own fields, foreign mines resume their for mer output, foreign merchants set up again their old machinery of trade with the ends of the earth All these things must remain uncertain until peace is established and the nations Of the world have concerted the methods by which normal life and industry are to be restored. All that we shall do, in the meantime, to restrain profiteer- ing and put the life of our people upon a tOlerable footing will be make shift and provisional. There can be no settled conditions here or else where until the treaty of peace is out of the way and the work of llqu1datlng the war has become the chief concern of our government and of the other governments of the world. Until then business will inevitably remain specu- lative and sway now this way and again that, with heavy losses or heavy gains as it may chance, and the con- sumer must take care of both the gains and the losses. There can be no peace prices so long as our whole financial and economic system is on a war basis. Europe will not cannot re- coup her capital or put her restless, 6iStra ctaG nnnn1pS work until she knows exactly where she stands in respect of peace: and what we will do is for her the chief question upon which her quietude of mind and con- fidence of purpose depend. While there is any possibility that the peace terms may be changed or may be held long in abeyance or may not be en- forced because of divisions of opinion among the powers associated against Germany it is idle to look for perma- nent relief.
 Must Act At Once.
 But what we can do we should do, and should do at once And there is a great deal that we can do, provisional though it may be. Wheat shipments and credits to facilitate the purchase of our wheat can and will be limited and con- trolled in such a way as not to raise but rather to lower the price of flour here. The government has the power, within certain limits, to reg ulate that. We cannot deny wheat to foreign peoples. who are in dire need of it, and we do not wish to do so; but, fortunately, though the wheat crop is not what we hoped it would be, it is abundant if handled with provident care. The price of wheat is lower in the United States than in Europe, and can with proper management be kept so.
 By way of immediate relief, sur- plus socks of both food and cloth ing in the hands of the government will be sold, and of course, sold at prices at which there is no profit And by way of a more permanent correction of prices surplus stocks in private hands will be drawn out of storage and put upon the mar ket. Fortunately, under the terms of the food control act the hoarding of foodstuffs can be checked and pre- vented; and they will be, with the greatest energy. FOOdstuffs can be drawn out of storage and sold by legal action which the department of justice will institute wherever necessary, but soon as the situation is systematically dealt with it is not likely that the courts will often have to be resorted to. Much of the accumulating of stocks has no doubt been due to the sort of speculation which always results from uncer- falntN Great Sllrn1nSoS cumulated because it was impossible to forsee what the market would disclose and dealers were determined to be ready for whatever might ham, pen, as well as eager to reap the full advantage of rising prices. They will now see the disadvantage as we'll as the danger of holding off from the new process of distribu- ton.
 Stock on Hand.
 Some very interesting and sig nificant facts with regard to stocks on hand the rise of prices in the face of abundance have been disclosed by the inquiries of the department of agriculture, the departmen of labor and the federal trade commission. They seem to justify the statement that in the case of many necessary commodities effective means have been found to prevent the normal operation of the law to supply and demand. Dsregarding the surplus stocks in the hands of the goyern- ment, there was a greater supply of foodstuffs in this country on June 1st of this year than at tho same date last year. In the com bined total of a number of the most inn portant foods in dry and cold stor- age the excess is quite 19 per cent And yet prices have risen. The SUD- ply of fresh eggs on hand in June of this year, for example was greater by nearly 10 per cent. than the SUD- fllI At, q lG 1,.a