The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-09
TEXT OF PRESIDENTS MESSAGE TO
 CONGRESS ON HIGH COST OF LIVING

and of textiles have been materially , affected by forms of concert and CO., operation among the producers and marketers of these and other univer- sally necessary commodities which 1t will be possible to redress.
 No watchful or energetic effort will be spared to accomplish this necessary result. l trust that there will not be l many cases in which prosecution will be necessary. Public opinion will no doubt cause many who have perhaps unwitting1y adopted illegal methods to abandon them promptly and of their own motion.
 And publicity can accomplish c,ceat deal. The purchaser can often , take care of himself if he knows the facts and influences he is dealing with; and purchasers are not disin- clined to do anything, either singly or collectively, that may be necessary for their self-protection. The Department of Commerce, the Department of Az riculture, the Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission can do great deal toward supplying the public, systematically and at short intervals, with informa tion re- garding the actual supply of particu- Jar commodities that is in existence and available, and with regard to sup 1 plies which are in existence but not available because of hoarding, and with regard to the methods of price l fixing which are being used by dealers in certain foodstuffs and other neces- saries.
 l There can be little doubt that re- 1 ta1lerS are in part-sOmetime in large | part - responsible for exorbitant ! prices; and it is quite practicable for l the Government through the agen- 1 cies I have mentioned, to supply the 1 public with full information as to the | prices at which retailers buy and as | to the costs of transportation they ] pay, in order that it may be known | just what margin of profit they are | demanding. Opinion and concerted action on the part of purchasers can | probably do the rest.
 That is, those agencies may per l form this indisp service pro- vided the Congress will supply them , with the necessary funds to prosecute l their inquiries and keep their price | lists up to date. Hitherto the ap l propriation committees of the houses | have not always, I fear, seen the full | value, of these inquiries, and the de- l partments and commissions have 1 been very much straitened for means l to render this service.
 
 | by appropriation for this purpose,
 and provided as promptly as possible, l is one of the means of greatly amel- | iorating the present distressing con- l ditions of livelihood that I have come 1 to urge, in this attempt to concert l with you the best ways to serve the 1 country in this emergency. It is one | of the absolutely necessary means,
 underlying many others, and can be | supplied at once.
 There are many other ways. Ex- l isting la,, is inadequate. There are | many perfectly legitimate methods by i which the government can exercise restraint and guidance.
 ! Let me urC", in the first place, that the present food control act should | be extended both as to the period of | time during which it shall remain in operation and as to the commodities to which it shall apply. Its provis- ions against hoarding should be made
 to apply not only to food but also to foodstuffs to fuel, to clothing, and to
 many other commodities which are
 indisputa ply necessaries of life.
 As it sands now it is limited in op-
 eration to the period of the war and becomes imperative upon the formal l proclamation of peace. But I should | judge that it was clearly within the
 constitutional power of the Congress
 to make similar permanent provisions and regulations with regard to all
 goods destined for interstate com
 merce and to exclude them from in l terstate shipment if the requirements ts
 of the law are not compiled with. Some such regulation is imperative ly necessary. The abuses that have grown up in the manipulation of
 prices by the withholding of food
 stuffs and other necessaries of life
 cannot otherwise be effectively pre- vented. There can be no doubt of
 either the necessity or the legitimacy | of such measures.
 | May I not call attention to the fact
 also that although the present act
 prohibits profiteering, the prohibition
 is accompanied by no penalty. It is 1 clearly in the public interest that a
 penalty should be provided which l will be persuasive.
 Il To the same end I earnestly rec
 ommen'ds in the second place, that the Congress pass a law regulati ting cold storage as it is regulated, for exam pie, by the laws of the State of New Jersey, which limit the time during which goods may be kept in storage, prescribe the method of disposing of them if kept beyond the permitted
 period, and require that goods re- leased from storage shall in all cases bear the date of their receipt.
 | It would materially adlt to the ser IviceaJbi1ity of the law, for the purpose we now have in view, if it were also prescribed that all goods relea sed from storage for interstate shipment should have plainly marked upon
 each package the selling or ma rket price at which they went into storage. By this means the purchaser would always be able to learn what profits stood between him and the producer or the wholesale dealer.
 It would serve as a useful example | to the other communities of the coun- try, as well as greatly relieve local distress if the Congress were to regu- | late all such matters very fully for l the District of Columbia, where it's legislative authority is without limit I would also recommend that it be | reuuired that all goods destined for