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Show OUR FOOD CRISIS. When the Chicago board of trade Is willing to back a proposal that the president of the United States take the, car shortage problem out of the hands vt'. the railroads and the interstate commerce com-merce commission and establish a dictatorial dicta-torial control, the people of the country coun-try begin to appreciate the gravity of ' the crisis. It is essential to relieve the food and fuel scarcity in all parts of the country and thus to reduce prices, but how this may be done effectively is a question that can be solved' only by - concentrating the brains of the nation promptly upon the subject. Undoubtedly transportation difficul-. difficul-. ties have much to do with the crisis, but car shortages are a result rather than a cause. The war in Europe, the submarine developments, the holding up i-f ships in American ports, all are having hav-ing their effect on the internal situation. situa-tion. A baffling freight blockade has held up the transport of sufficient quan- ' tities of fuel and food. No matter how much food there may be in the country, a famine and famine prices will result iu certain centers if the food cannot be transported in requisite quantities to those centers and at the right times. The distress in New York is due to juices beyond the reach of the very ! poor, and the prices are due to a short- ' r.ge caused in part at least by the freight blockade. Prices are high ' everywhere and are e-oino- higher. No ! doubt there is a shortage of food, but the car shortage and the freight con gestion accentuate the scarcity. There j are other causes unnecessary to discuss ; here. It may very well be that indi- iduals and trusts are holding goods for 1 higher prices. If so, the government should take steps to break that kind of a blockade. We know, however, that oven if all traders were acting honestly by the public, that is to say, putting their goojJs on the market without an attempt to cause a scarcity and raise prices, there would be, aside from this, sufficient causes to account for the J amine and the famine prices. We are experiencing in this country some of the very ills that war has pro-uiced pro-uiced in belligerent countries. Our prices are even higher on some commodities commodi-ties than in Great Britain, France and Oermany, where goods must be sold at maximum prices. We might adopt maximum prices in this country as well as freight embargoes, but we probably prob-ably would collide with the same obstacles ob-stacles wlii'h have obstructed the belligerent bel-ligerent governments. Maximum prices for food have the ef-jcct ef-jcct of distributing the foodstuffs rap-i'lly rap-i'lly among the consumers. On the ether hand, they discourage the producers pro-ducers and prevent stocks from being icpJenishcd. In Great Britain, for example, ex-ample, the farmers find that they can make a profit on potatoes only when the tubers are raised in very ri'-h soil. The maximum I'riec has cheeked ihn 1'roductioii of potatoes. Germany fixed Maximum prices on butter early in the j var, and discovered some months latpr that large quantities of butter were 1 bring shipped to Sweden for sale at j higher prb-cs. These are merely a few hints of the ! difficulties that s-taud in the way of ' s-olving a tremendous problem. But that is no reason why tho government should ; not attempt to solve it. j The belligerent nations of "Europe i have been short of fuod for the pa:-t ear or two, and the situation is br-"oining br-"oining more acute day by day. Lt h.-'S been found impossible to produce normal nor-mal crops with millions of ith'ii on the firing lino or engaged in the making of munitions or preforming some otii-r service incident to the war. The world's food supply has t herefore Imm-u i i m i m-i-hed on this account. In addition, the J!(i crops in almost all the njuutiif-, neutral as well as belligerent, failed to measure up to the standard, anil extremely ex-tremely high prices are the natural rc- suit. ' Millions of the people of Kurope are enduring the pangs of hunger, with ! htarvation staring them in the fa-p, and the pinch is being felt in the United States. Wut how bad the sit-! sit-! nation will become before the year's crop fan he harw.-ded it i, impiilile to foretell, hid. as we flr" "fill in the depths of winter if i y.t.o to he bad enough. Cnfortunntely this year':-; i c runs, under the mo -1 la vui a Ide lumii- ' tions, will net suffice to feed the world any great length of time if the estimates esti-mates of the International Agricultural Agricul-tural institute at Koine be correct, and next winter, even if the war should end in the fall, will find us worse off than we are now, so far as food is concerned. con-cerned. This is not a very cheerful outlook for those who arc spending all they can rake and scrape to supply food for their families in a land where peace and plenty are supposed to prevail, but there are very good reasons for accepting as true the estimates of the International Agricultural institute at Koine, which receives and tabulates crop reports from all over the world. Part of our present trouble is due to enormous exportations of foodstuffs, and if prices continue to soar there will be a loud and insistent demand for an embargo, which very few j of the business men of the country favor and which the administration desires de-sires to avoid if possible. The critical period of the war between the great nations of Europe has arrived, ami the world at large is sharing the burdens. Knch day the load will become be-come heavier and the distress of the people greater. There is no escape from it. G reat wealth is coming to those engaged in certain lines of business in the United States, but the rank and file are spending their little all for food and fuel. There are rumblings of discontent dis-content which will grow into a mighty roar if prices continue to advance by leaps and bounds as they have been doing here of late. The food problem is before the responsible re-sponsible officials of the federal government. gov-ernment. It is also before the authorities authori-ties of the states and municipalities, and every step that can pos&ibl.v relieve re-lieve the situation must be taken at once. There should be investigations without number and without limit, and if there are any conspiracies to grind the faces of the poor, let tie heavy hand 0 the law fall upon the conspirators. But we suspect that the war, directly or indirectly, is chiefly responsible for the food shortage and consequent high prices, and we do not see much chance for 'relief until peace is declared and normal conditions return. An embargo might do more harm than good, and is not to be thought of except as a last and desperate remedy. The only thing that can be done effectively is to waste less and live more economically. Many are compelled by force of circumstances to do this very thing, but there are many others who never give the morrow mor-row a thought or care, and pay whatever what-ever prices are Asked. If this class will shorten their sails and spend les money for food, such action will have a beneficial effect 011 prices. A glance at the Salt Lake quotations will show what articles should not be purchased. |
