Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-25
HOOVER GIVES EIGHT
REASONS FOR H.C.L.
Blames Administration for Price
OF Sugar; Fixes IL Cents as
Enough.

New York, May 25.-After enumeratinl
eight reasons for the high cost of living
Herbert Hoover. candidate for the Re-
publican Presidential nomination, yester-
dav put the responsibility for the high
price of sugar squarely up to the Admins
tration. Testifying in the City Hall before
the Lusk Joint Legislative Committee,
investigating profiteerlng as cause OF
unrest. the former Food Controller
blamed the President, Attorney General
Palmer and others of the Cabinet for
failure to accept the Sugar Equalization
Boards recommendation that the Cuban
1920 crop be bought up.
Had this been done, said the witness,
when the crop was offered at 6l2 cents
a pound, sugar today would cost not
more than II cents, instead of more
than 100 per cent in excess Of that figure.
Several hours after MIR. Hoover had
made his direct assignment of blame,
Arnim w. Riley. Special Assistant to
Attorney General Palmer. announced
that the Government would seek to OBJ
tain q fair distribution of the country s
sugar supply through sweeping lnvestlga-
ton of sugar brokers who ignored condi-
tions of their Federal licenses. MIR. Riley s
statement was made at about the same
cent pound on sugar, the third increase
within n week, the American Sugar Re
hning Company basing its price advance
on ''the increasing cost to the company
OF raw sugar
What in Your opinion are the pre-
dominating causes of the high cost of
living. was Mr.. Bergcr's first question.
In reply Mr.. Hoover read prepared
statement. in which he said:
Il would list the predominating causes
Of the high cost Of living as.
Il. Shortage in commodities due to
the underproduction Of Europe and to
our participation there through the
drain upon us by exports.
- Imitation, more especially in ITS
expansion of credit facilities for the pur
pose of speculation and non-essential ln
dustrv. Perhaps that would be more
correctly stated not for the purpose, but
their use
IS. Profiteering and speculation aris-
ing from the combined opportunity IN
the two previous items.
II Matter of adjustment of taxation
particularly the excess profits tax.
-. Decrease in our productivity due
to RELAXATION of effort since the war, to
strikers and other causes.
"6. Increase in our own consumption
the waste of commodities and increase
in extravaganza.
- Deterioration Of our transport
system during the war.
IS. Expensive and wasteful distribu-
ton system and other .ess important
causes.
''Maladies of this order cannot be
solved by economic patent medicines nor
by extreme application OF any particular
remedy. They require definite co-ordinat-
ed policies of readjustment, going below
the surface Of things.
"Wc are participating in the European
shortage in production because Of the
drain upon rs through exports Pres
sure of !, larger demand than the avail
able supply has obviously given every
opportunity for large profits, speculation.
making up OF goods. etc.
We can look for relief from this
pressure. The production of Europe is
steadily increasing and there i = con
Sequent decrease IN export demands from
Us The last FIVE or SIX months have seen
the growth OF a great resolution to get
back to work over most Of Europe parti-
cularly in the allied countries, and their
production and exports are increasing
There is, no doubt, great conflict Of
argument as to how much initiation Is
the cause and how much il is the effects
of high prices 1t IS probably in part
both, but one OF its undoubted major
effects lies IN the expansion Of credits,
and thus the added facilities for specu-
lation and profteering in the midst Of
. world shortage.