The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1919-08-01
PROFITEERINC GETS
WORSE EACH MONTH
Hunger Made To Wiring Dollars Out
OF Food And Greed of Gain
Has No Limit

gresham John F. Fitzgerald:
''I wish to thank you for the splen-
did service that your newspaper is
doing in connection with the move
ment to decrease the cost of living.
Profteering is going on in every
branch of American industry to such
an extent that if it does not stop
in an orderly manner it will be
stopped by methods that will not be
pleasing to the American people.
"It seems to me, considering the
sacrifices that the world has made
for humanity's sake during the last
five years, that there are men en-
gagged in many lines of business who
will still insist on getting every dol
lar of profit out of business that the
public will stand.
''No matter what line of business
you look into, you find conditions
about the same. The meat industry
is the worst offender and it does not
hesitate to try to get control of the
government itself. Even today we
have the spectacle of the government
loaded with $50 million pounds of
canned meat products, bought at an
average price of Acc and over, when
put up for sale gets a figure from
the beef packers, who are the only
ones that bid, of 25 per cent to so
per cent less than what the govern
ment paid these very men a few
months ago. The strange part of it
to me is that when the goods which
lay in the storehouse were advertised
in one newspaper in a ten-line adj
vertisement and were sold in lots of
not less than 10000 pounds. The
public, who owned these lots, could
not get a very good chance to buy
them, and, of course, did not make
a bid
"Then again we have the spectacle
of the biggest banana crop in the
history of the world, with bananas
higher than ever in the history of
the world, retailing at from 40c to
Coo per dozen as against 15c and
25c a few years ago. The United
Fruit Company, which has monop-
oily of the banana trade, shows a
profit for the three months of the
present year of over $40 share, af-
ter huge amounts were set aside for
excess profits and other taxes.
"a few days ago Mr.. Barnes, the
food director, reported that there
were 4O,000,000 bushels of wheat in
stock as against 18,000,000 a year
ago, with the new wheat crop already
in from the extreme Southern and
Southwestern States. Thus we have
the spectacle of more than twice as
much wheat remaining at the end of
the season than a year ago, with
almost twice the average wheat crop
in sight; certainly 500,000,000 bush
els more than we can use. Yet flour
is retailing at SIG barrel, or twice
what it was before the war. Indeed,
if it was not for a visit that / paid
to Mr.. Barnes office a couple of
months ago and showed him some
figures which came into my posses
sion of where there was available
wheat not noted in the figures given
out by his department, according to
the newspapers at the time, flour
would have gone to SIS barrel. |,
therefore, hope you will keep up the
good work. The great big issue be-
fore the American people today is
how to reduce the high cost of living
and to stop profteering. When pro-
fiteering is made a crime like steal
ing, for which it is another name,
only then will the people get justice.
"John F. Fitzgerald"
Mr.. Fitzgerald brings out some in
teresting facts well known to the au-
thorities, but not so we'll known to
the public.
The Georgian told its readers the
other day that American flour was
being taken to England across 5000
miles of water and sold to the Eng
lish for half what the American peo-
pie are compelled to pay for it.
This week has witnessed memo
rable departure, we hope, in the
course of government action toward
food profteers. The Georgian has
always stated that there never was
any trouble with our laws concerning
the protection of the public against
these food brigands. The difficulty
has been in the administration of the
law. Somehow or other the man who
steals great sums of money always
steals enough to be able out of his
profits to secure his safety and thus
the cost of securing safety becomes
an ordinary part of the cost of the
business and is charged to the pub
lie.
In Massachusettes, this week, we
have seen the beginning of new
policy under the administration of