The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-02-28
II ELS | | II AL |, I I
TIGHTEN BELTS
No Hope Of Better Food Situa-
lion Seen by Food Con- HI
troler at Rome.
s1lll EATING War BREAD
otsileos and Rlots Are Bred BY stead
Ny Increasing Cost sf Everything Y,
oauslne Deep Anxiety 70
I NJ. Government. ...,,

st :. ..aFs " II /.
1oms.-laly's food situation d
worse nav than It has been since the
asmisdco and almost % bad as It
WAS during the dark days Of the war.
The feeling that an Il not well has
weighed upon housskeepers for weeks.
when lies prime necessities grew
raref ana dearer. But now the coun-
try has been told the bitter truth BY
Food Controller Nurialdi in asspeech
bafoee the chamber Of deputies. f..
This years harvest Of grain has
yielded 200O00O00 hundredweight
Len than last year; the government
must import $4,000. 900 hundred.
weight for bread, which is sold at 20
cents for two-pound loaf, and means
800. 100000 on hard grain alone; on
soft grain the loss equals another
$4Q0. O00. 900; on olive oil the state
loses several hundred million dollars.
Italy is tho only allied country.
whose Inhabitants must still eat war
bread. Its price, the government says,
must shortly be raised 8 or 10 cents
for two-pound Loaf, because the
budget cannot stand the loss Of $780,
100000 q year on grain alone. The
public must bear part Of the burden
In dearer bread. ..5s.5 ~. !
Rice II scarce, too; this years har-
vest shows shortage Of half q mil
lion hundredwsight; the oil harvest
u 20 poor the public has less than
.one.third tho quantity doled out last
year. There % less than half the
quantity Of cheese. lard, butter and
milk Of last year: there is q serious
sugar shortage too: y. = - !:
-, 81 No Prospect Of Relief.
And the food controller has no
remedy to suggest. Tho public blames
: him and his food ministry. he
blames the food ministry too, say.
Ing that such chaos reigned when he
took It over last summer that he has
been unable to straighten things out
and will resign as soon as possible.
BE told an astonished chamber that
he found his ministry buying cheese
at 80 cents pound, to resell to
Wholesale dealers, who. doled It out:
to the public at $50 q pound. He
added that one great trouble is the.
lack Of food experts to advise the
government In buying foods es-:
pecjally perishable kinds. And he
said he saw no hope for a better food
situation in the near future unless
people. eat less and pull their belts
tighter over empty stomachs. =
The perpetual upward flight of food
prices in italy causes deep anxiety to-
those responsible for the country's
good order. Recent strikes and civil
strife were almost wholly due to
discomfort caused by the still in.
creasing cost Of LIES prime neces-
stiles and more trouble is yet to come
tnless the upward trend is curbed.
5. S9:s' Sample Increases. 2,s
Cotton goods cost 800 per cent
moro than they did In 1915, wooden
goods S250 per. cent hats and shoes
200 per cent. shoddy clothes 250 per
cent, glass goods 800 per cent. Home
grown produce has increased more
kA0n 4VOV0 AAApVA SCu AAVA <1uSA1SNs
For instance; eggs are now Is per
cent dearer than three years ago. po-
tatoes $50 per, cent dearer, beans 426
per cent, fresh pork $40 per cent,
italian lard 2s8 per cent, beef 81
per cent, butter 279 per cent. cheese
$50 per cent, milk 800 per cent. wine
625 per cent. The food control Office
reports that wine growers made such
big profits this last year that they
paid for the land their wines are
grown on from the one years gain
alone. @ @a.
The ever.growing cost Of living in
Italy, once the cheapest country In
Europe, the paradise Of the poor man,
seems to be in a vicious circle.
Dear food and discomfort 60 hand-in.
hand, breeding strikes, riots, blood.
shed. They again react on local pro-
duction and cause prices to rise
higher than before. Then follow
fresh strikes and disorders: the screw
- turned yet again and the vicious
circle must be rounded once more.