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Show FOOD PROFITEERS ARE DENOUNCED BY I PRESIDENT WILSON I Comprehensive. Extension of tho I Present Food Control Act I ( Is Recommended. 8ITUATI0N CRITICAL A(JD DIFFI- CULT AND MUST BE IvIET WITH ' COURAGE AND RESOURCE. Calm and Deliberate Consideration Rather Than Hasty Action Is Called For by the Present Sltua. tlon of the Country. Wnshlnston. KxtciiRlon of tlm pros- ent food control net. both ns to Its pt- Hod of operation nnd to Include nil commodities Indisputably necessaries of life, roRulatlon of cold storago to define the limits within which food- stuffs can bo held; marking of' nl Roods destined for Interstate- com- mcrce with tho prlco nt' which they left tho bands of tbo producer; fed- crnl licenses for nil corporations and persons ensoRed In Interstato com- mcrce, which will provldo for com- petltlvo selllnR, nnd passaRo of the pondlns hill Riving tho capital Issues committee control of security Issues, nro tho remedies proposed by Prosl- dent Wilson, In bis nddress to con Kress to meet tho existing high cost of living. Tbo president snld In part: H 'Gentlemen of tho Congress: I havo sought Dili opportunity to ad-BJ ad-BJ dress you because It Is clearly try duty to call your nttentlon to tho present cost -of living nnd to urge upon you with nil the persunslvo forco of which I nm capablo the leglslatlvoimcasurcs which would bo most ctTtctlva In controlling It nnd bring- lnr It down. Tho prices tho people of this country nro paying for everything that It Is necessary for them to usa In ordor to live are not Justified by n shortago In supply, either present or prospective, nnd nro In many cases artificially nnd deliberately cronted 'by vicious practices which ought Immo- -dlatcly to be checked by law. Pronteera Lawbreakers. 8ome of the methods by which these prices nro produced nro already lltegnl, some of them criminal, and those who mploy them will be inergetlcnlly pro. ceeded ngalnst. Hut others have not yet been brought under tho law, and should be dealt with at onco by legislation. With the Increase In tho prices of the necessaries of llfo come demands for In-. In-. creases In wages-demands which nro justified If there ha no other moans of enabling men to live. Upon tho Increase of wages there follows fol-lows close nn Incrense In the price of the products whose producers havo been accorded ac-corded the Increase not n proportionate , . Increase, for the manufacturer does not r content himself with that, but an Incrense In-crense considerably greater 'than the added wage cost nnd for which the ndded wago cost Is oftentimes hardly mora than an excuse. The laborers who do not get an Incrense In pny when thoy demand It nro likely to strike, nnd the strike only makes matters mat-ters worse. It checks production; If It nfTects tho rnllwnys It prevents distribution nnd strips the markets; so that there Is presently pres-ently nothing to buy, nnd there Is another excessive addition to prices resulting from the scnrrlty. Conditions Not "Natural." These are facts nnd forces with which we have become only too familiar; but we are not Justified because of our familiarity famil-iarity with them or because of any hasty and shallow conclusion that they nro "natural" and Inevitable, In sitting Inactively Inac-tively by and lotting them work their fatal fa-tal results If there Is anything that we can do to check, correct or rnveiso them. Wo must, I think, frankly ndmlt that there Is no complete Immcdlato remedy to be had from legislation and executive nctlon. Tho free prucesses of supply and demand will not operate of themselves, nd no legislative or executive action enn forco them Into full and natural operation until thero Is peace. Must Know Terms of Peace. Thero can bo no confidence In Industry, Indus-try, no calculable basis fur credits, no confident buylmr of systemntlo soiling, no certain prospect of employment, no normal restoration of business, no hopeful attempt nt reconstruction or n proper reassembling of tho dislocated elements of enterprise until peace has br n established, and. so far as may be. Ruurnnteed. Our national life has no doubt been less radically disturbed nnd dismembered than the national llfo of , other peoples whom thu war more di rectly affected, with all Its terrible ravaging and destructive force, but It -has been nevertheless profoundly affected af-fected and disarranged, and our Indus-trios, Indus-trios, our credits, our productive capacity, ca-pacity, our economic processes aro Inextricably In-extricably Interwoven with thofe of other nations nnd peoples most Intl- mntely of nil with the nations nnd poo-' poo-' pies upon whom, tho chief burden and confusion of the war fell and who are now most dependent upon the cooperative co-operative notion of the world. Exports Greatest In History. We are just now shipping more goods ' ', out of our porta to foreign markets than - we ever shipped before not foodstuffs merely, but stuffs and materials of every sort; but this Is no Index of what our foreign sales will continue to be or of the effect the volume of our exports will have on supplies and prices. It Is Impossible yet to predict how far or how long foreign purchasers will be V able to And the money or the credit to ,' 1 pay for or sustain such purchases on such a scale; how soon or to what extent foreign manufacturers can resume their former production, foreign farmers get their accustomed crops from theirtown .''elds; foreign mines resume their former output, foreign merchants set up again their old machinery of trade with the ends of the earth. All these things must ' remain mice! tain until pence Is estab- llshod and the nations of tho world have i ',- .. . . concerted the mothods by which normal life and Industry ore to bo restored. All that we shall do In tho mean-Jjfuo mean-Jjfuo to restrain profiteering and put the llfo of our peoplo upon a tolerable fpotlntc will bo makeshift nnd provisional. provi-sional. Thero can be no settled condl-tlon condl-tlon hero or slsowhere intll tho treaty of penco Is out of tho way and tho work of liquidating tho war hn bo-eomo bo-eomo the chief concern of our government govern-ment nnd of tho other governments of the world. "Kuropo will not, cannot recoup her capital or put her restless, distracted pooples to work until she knows exact-ly exact-ly where she stands In respect to penco; and what we will do Is for her tho chief question upon which her quietude qui-etude of mind nnd confidence of purpose pur-pose depends. While there Is any pos-anility pos-anility thnt the peace terms may be ohnnged or may bo held long In nbey-nno?; nbey-nno?; ,or, ""Or not bo enforced bocnuso or divisions nf opinion among; the powers pow-ers associated ngnlnst Germany. It Is uie to look for permanent relief. Immediate Relief Measures. Wn;v.of, lmm"Ilate relief, surplus f1"??" uf.,both ,00'1 anu" clothing In the nanus of tho government will bo sold and of rourse eold nt prices nt which thero is no profit. And by wny of a more permanent per-manent correction of prices surpluR slocks In prlvnto hnnds will be drown out or storngo nnd put upon tho market. Fortunately For-tunately under the terms of tho food-con-trol act tho hoarding of foodstuffs ran do checked and provontcd, and they will be. with tho grcntest onergy. Foodstuffs can bo drawn out of atorngo nnd sold by ttC,,?n. w.h,ch ,m deportment of Justlc will Institute wherover necessary! ?iw"t"?.n n.ll,e """i""" Is systemntl- m I V otlen havo ,0 b0 resorted to. S i j V" "cumulating of stocks has ln.il t fen,dUo 10 11,0 aort ' la Ion which always results from uncertainty. uncer-tainty. Would Have Prices Plainly Marked. I would also recommend that It be required that all goods destined for Interstate In-terstate commorco should In every case where their form or puckago mnltcs It posslblo be plainly marked with the prlco at which they left the hands of tho producer. Such a requirement would bear a closo analogy to certain provisions ,of tho puro food act, by which It Is required that certain detailed Information In-formation bo given on the labols of packages of foods and drugs. And It docs not seem to mo that wo o.,u!d confine ourselves to dotallcd measures of this kind, If It Is Indeed our purposo to assumo national control of the processes of 'distribution. I take It for granted that that Is our purposo and our duty. Nothing less will sufllco. Wo need not hcsltnto to handle, n national question In n national na-tional way. Wo should gu boyond tho measures I havo suggested. Wo should formulnto n law requiring a federal license of all corporations engaged In Interstato commerce nnd embodying In tho license, or In tho conditions under which It Is to bo Issued, spcclflo regulations regu-lations designed to secure competitive soiling and prevent unconscionable profits In the motllod of marketing. Law Would Do' Much. H'ich n nw would afford n welcome op-poftunlty op-poftunlty to effect other much-needed re-forms re-forms In the busloos of Interstate shipment ship-ment nnd In the mothods of corporations which ure engaged In It; but for the moment mo-ment I confine my recommendations to the object Immediately In hand, which Is to lower the cost of living. We are denting; gentlemon of the .on-grca, .on-grca, i need hardly say, with very critical and very difficult matters. We should go forward with confidence along the road we see. but wo should also seek to comprehend com-prehend the whole of tho scene amidst which wd net. There Is no ground for some of the fearful forecasts I hear uttered ut-tered about me. but the condition of the world Is unquestionably very grave and we should fuco It comprehending. The situation of our own country Is exceptionally excep-tionally fortunate. Wo of nil peoples can nfford to keep our heads nnd to determine de-termine upon moderate nnd sensible courses of nctlon which will Insure us ngnlnst the passions nnd distempers which aio working such deep unhapplncs for some of tho distressed nations on the other side of the sea. Ilut wo may be Involved In their dls-tresres dls-tresres unless wo help, and help with onergy on-ergy and Intelligence. Disregarding tho surplus stock In the hnnds of the government, there was a greater supply of foodstuffs In this country coun-try on Juno 1 of this year than nt tho snmo dnto last year. In the combined to. tal of u number of the most Important foods In dry nnd cold storage the excess Is qulto ID per cent. And yot prices have risen. Law Department Active. The attorney general has been making n careful study of tho situation as n whole nnd of the laws that can be ap plied to better It and Is convinced that, under tho stimulation nnd temptation of exceptional circumstances, combinations of producers nnd combinations of traders have been formed for tho control of sup-piles sup-piles nnd of prices which ure clearly In restraint of trade, nnd against these prot-ecutlons prot-ecutlons will ho promptly Instituted nnd netlvely pushed which will In ull llkel -hood have a prompt correctlvo effect. There Is reason to bellevo thnt tho prices of leather, of coal, of lumber nnd of textiles tex-tiles have been materially affected by forms of concert nnd co-opemtlon among the producers and marketers of these and other universally necessary commodities, which It will be poclble to redress. No watchful or energetic effort will be spared to accomplish this necessary result. re-sult. I trust that there will not be many cases In which prosecution will be neces. sary. Publlo nctlon will no doubt cause many who have perhaps unwittingly adopted Illegal methods to abandon them promptly and of their own motion. Retailers In Part to Dlame. There can bo little doubt that retailers retail-ers nre In part sometimes In large part responsible for exorbitant prices; and It Is quite practicable for the government gov-ernment through the agencies I have mentioned, to supply the publlo 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 mar-gin of profit they aro demanding. Opinion Opin-ion nnd concerted action nn the part of purchasers can probably do the rest. Let me urge. In the first place, that the present foodstuff control act should he extended both as to the period of time, during which It shall remain In operation and ns to the commodities to which It shall apply. Its provision against hoarding should bo made to apply not only to food but also to feed stuffs, to fuel, to clothing, nnd to many other commodities which are Indisputably In-disputably necessaries of life. As It stands now ,lt Is limited in operation to tho period of the war una becomes Inoperative In-operative upon tho formal pioclnmatlon of peace. IlUt I should judge thnt It was clearly within the constitutional power of tho congress to make similar permanent provisions and regulations with regard to all -goods destined for Interstate commerce com-merce and to exclude them from Interstate Inter-state shipment If the requirements of the law. aro not compiled with. fc'omo such regulation Is Imperatively necessary. It would materially ndd to the serviceability serv-iceability of tho law, for tho purposo we now havo In view. If It were ulo prescribed pre-scribed that nil goods reloascd from storage stor-age for Interstate shipment should have plainly marked upon each package the selling or market price at which they went Into storage. Ily this means the purchaser would alwnys bo nble to learn what profits stood between him nnd. tho producer or the wholesale dealor. The world must pay for the appalling destruction wrought by the great war, and wo uro part of tho world. We must pay our share. For five years now the Ini dustry of all Kurope has been slack and disordered. The normal crops hnvo not been produced; the normal quantity of manufactured goods has not been turned out. Not until there nro the usual crops and tho usual production of manufactured goods on the other sldo of tho Atlantlo can Kurope return to tho former conditions; condi-tions; nnd It was upon tho former conditions, condi-tions, not the present, that pur cconomlo relations with Kuropo wero built, up. We must faco tho fact that unless we help Kuropo to got back to her normal life nnd production n chaos will ensue thero which will Inevitably be communicated communi-cated to this country. For the present. It Is manifest, wo must quicken, not slacken, our own production. U. S. Must Hold World Steady. We, and wo almost alone, now bold the world steady. Upon our steadfastness and self-possession depend the affairs of nations na-tions everywhere. It Is In this supreme crlsis-thls crisis for nil mnnklnd-thnt American must provo her mettle. In tho presence of a world confused, distracted, dis-tracted, she must show herself self-possessed, self-contained, capable of sober ami cficctlvo action. 8he saved Kurope by her action In arms; she must now save It by her nctlon In pence. In saving Kuropo sho will save herself,, ns she did upon tho battlefields of the' war. Tho calmness nnd capacity with which she deals with nnd masters the problems of peaco will be the final test and proof of her pla among tho peoples of the world. And. If only In our own Interest, we must help tho people overseas. Kurope Is our btggost customer. We must keep her going or thousands of our shops and scoros of our mines must close. Thero Is no such thing ns lotting her go to ruin without ourselves sharing In the disaster. In such clrcumstnnces, face to face with such tests, passion must be discarded. discard-ed. Passion nnd a dlsregnrd for the rights of others hnvo no plnce In tho counsels of n freo people. We need light, not bent. In three solemn times of self-exnmlnntlon self-exnmlnntlon nnd saving nctlon. Everyone who Is In real touch with the silent masses of our great people knows that the old strong fiber and steady self-control self-control nro still there, firm against violence vio-lence or any distempered nctlon that would throw their nffalrs Into confusion. I nm serenely conndont that thoy will readily find themselves, no matter what tho circumstances, nnd thnt they will address ad-dress themselves to the tnsks of peace with tho same devotion and the same stalwart preference for what Is right that they displayed to the admiration of the whole world In tho midst of war. .Sinister Influences at Work. And I enter another conltdent hope. T havo spoken today chiefly of measures of Imperutlve regulation and legal compulsion, com-pulsion, of prosecutions nnd the sharp correction of selfish processes; and these no doubt are necessary, Ilut there are other forces that wa may count on besides thoso resident In the department of Justice. Wo havo Just fully awakened to what has been going on nnd to the Influences, many of them very selfish and sinister, that have been producing high prices and Imposing an Intolerable burdon on the mass of our people. To havo brought It all Into tho open will accomplish the greater part of the result wo seek. I appeal with entire cnnlldenro to our producers, our middlemen und our merchants to deal fairly with the people. peo-ple. It Is their opportunity to show that they comprehend, that thoy Intend In-tend to net Justly, and thnt thoy have thu publlo Interest sincerely nt heart. Labor Must Consider. I believe, too. thnt tho more extreme ex-treme leaders of organized labor will prrsontly yield to a sober second thought, and like the great muss of their associates, think nnd net like trua Amorlcuns. They will see thut strikes undertaken at this critical time are certain to make matters wrse. not better worso for them and fur everybody elso. The worst thing, the most fatnl thing that can bo done now Is to sfip or Interrupt prnductlpn, or to Interfere with the distribution of goods by thu railways and the shipping of the country. Thora nre many things thnt might to be corrected In the relations between be-tween capital and labor, In e-spect of wages nnd conditions of labor and other things even more far-reaching, und I, for one, am ready to go Into conference about theso matter with nny group of my fallow countrymen who know what they are talking about and aro willing to remedy oxlstlng conditions by frank counsel rather than by violent contest General Interest First. No remedy Is posslblo while men are In a temper, and there can bo no settlement set-tlement which does not have as Its motlvo and standard the general Interest, In-terest, Must All Work Together, Threats and undue Insistence upon tho Interest of a single class, mako settlement set-tlement Impossible. I believe, as I have hitherto had occasion to say to the congress, that the Industry and life of our people and of the world will suffer' Irreparable damage If employers and workmen nre to go on In n perpetual perpet-ual contest, ns nntagonlsts. They must, on one plan or another, be effectively effec-tively associated. Havo we not steadiness stead-iness nnd self-possession and business sense enough to work out that result? In the meantime now and In the days of readjustment and recuperation that nro ahead of us let us resort more and more to frank nnd Intimate counsel und make ourselves n great nnd triumphal nation, making our-Belves our-Belves a united force In the life of the world. It will not then have looked to us for leadership In vain. |
