The Seattle Star Newspaper, August 9, 1919, Page 4

Fatification of the pea ting out that economic disturb- rowing out of the war cannot | But ’ fever can be done to meet the! and done quick familia PAGE 4 PUNISH WASHINGTON, Aug United Pross.)}—President Wit fon proposed to congress yee terday the following definite Program of legislation to cope with the high cost of living, 1. Extension of the Lever food control act to peacetime and broadening Its anti-hoard- Ing provisions to cover food: stuffs, fuel, clothing and other lndisputable necessaries of life. 2. Knactment of a law reg wlating cold storage. 3. Federal licensing “unconscionable profits.” 4. Passage of the bill now Ing for control of security of al *. 3. Provision goed for government agencies enable them to give full pub of — adequate Melty to retailers’ costs and selling profits. 6. finite provision for « penalty for profiteering. 7. Provision for marking on the package the price paid to the, ved on of all goods to be shipped in interstate commerce. i for treaty He indirectly appeal fe calmed until there is peace. late situation, should be d and appeal to the not to strike or resort WASHINGTON, Aug ‘as follows: Gentiemen of the Congress: Denouncing some of the methods BY Which present high prices are Produced as “illegal” and the president assured congress and the country that swift prosecution nd punishment will fall upon the “criminal,” early | by , the president said ‘The president issued also a warn country's to; it contest to settle the situa 8.—Presi @ent Wilson introduced his speech to ‘Pongress on the high costs of living sought this opportunity to ad- operation upon which it knows that} its hope of healthful life depends It cannot think its business out make plans or give intelligent and provident application to » affairs | While in such a case. Whe there is no peace of mind there can be no e can be no caloul energy in endeavor The purpose and the power to do and to enforce what is right Politically, economically ially the world is on the operating table, | and it has not been possible to ad} | minister any anaesthetic. It ix con scious, It even watches the capitall no confidence in indnatry J able basis for credits, no ¢ | buying or systematic selling | tain prospect employment, no | normal restoration of business, no | hopeful attempt at reconstruction or | the proper reassembling of the dis located ements of enterprise until | peace has been established and so | far as may be, guaranteed Our national life has no doubt been nfident of nO cer} less radically disturbed and dismem dered than the national life of other | peoples whom the war more directly | with all its terrible ravaging | but it haa) been, nevertheless, profoundly affect: | affected and @ tructive force, ed and disarranged and our tries, our credits, our produ pacity, our economic re inextr bly interwoven with those of those nations and peoples indus th processes and confusion of the war fell and who are now most dependent upon the cooperative action of the world. We are just now shipping more goods out of our ports to foreign markets than we ever shipped be }fore—not foodstuffs merely, but stuffs and materials of every sort;| index of what our| | but this is no foreign sales will continue to be or | of the effect the volume of our ex-| have on supplies and) } Ports will | prices. | It is impossible yet to predict how far or how long foreign purchasers | Will be able to find the money or the} | credit to pay for or sustain such pur 1) Chases on such a seale; how soon or foreign manufac: | | turers can resume their former pro- | you because it Is clearly My / guction, foreign farmers get their ac- fo call your attention to the customed crops from their own fields, t cost of living and to urge) foreign mines you with all the persuasive of which I am capable the with the ends of the earth. }to what extent ‘esume their former output; foreign merchants to set up again thelr old machinery of trade) Tegislative measure which would be) 1 these things must remain un a it down. A The prices the pénole of this are paying for every: that it is necessary for to use in order to live are justified by a shortage ither H of supply ~Seme Already Criminal by legislation. this critical matter; at the shorn, In a Vicious Cycle intances «ven. or natural end. fo gear an excuse. Strikes Make It Worse Sein matters worse. | here or elsewhe: constitute a burden upon us fs the more unbearabie be-| we know that it is wilfully re Missy Moy a leorene | tably remain speculative and sway action, be greatly lightened to square with the act- and de of the methods by which are produced are al) a 1, some of them crimi- and those who employ them be energetically proceeded but others have not yet brought under the law should be dealt with ‘Reed not recite the particulars the prices inded and paid at the resources M supply, at the factory, in the food in the restau: and hotels, alike, in the city in the village. They are familiar ‘They are the talk of every home » and of every group of casual It is a matter familiar knowledge, also, that a . has set in which {s likely, something is done, to push and rents and the whole cost living higher and yet higher, in cyele to which there is no the necessaries of life come de- for increases in wages—de ds which are justified, if there ” other means of enabling men Upon the increase of wages follows closely an increase in 3 price of the products which those | producers have been accorded the In & proportionate increase, the manufacturer does not con- tent himself with that, but an in- Grease considerably greater than the ‘wage cost, and for which the cost is often times hardly more ‘The laborers who do not get an in pay when they demand it likely to strike and the strike lective in controlling it and/ certain until peace is established and | | the nations of the world have con |certed the methods by which normal | | life and industry are to be restored. | All what we shall do, in the mean-| | time, to restrain profiteering and put| life of our people upon a toler-| lable footing will be makeshift and thy provisional. There can be no settlod condition until the treaty of peace is out of the way and the work of liquidation of the war has become the chief concern of our government and of the other governmentn of the world. Until then, there will inev- now this way and again that, with heavy losses or heavy gains as it may ebance, and the consumer must take care of beth the gains and the losses. There can be no peace prices so long as our whole financial and economic system is on a war basis, Europe Needs Help Europe will not, can not, recoup her capital or put her restless, die tracted peoples to work until she knows exactly where she stands in | respect of peace; and what we will do for her is the chief question upon which her quietude of mind and con fidence and purpose stand. | the peace terms may be changed or |may be held long in abeyance. or may not be enforced because of divi sions of opinion among the powers associated against Germany, it ts idle to look for permanent relief. But what we can do we should do, and should do at once, And there is @ great deal that we can do, provi sional tho it may be. Wheat ship- ments and credits to facilitate the purchase of our wheat can and will be limited and controtied in such a way as not to raise, but rather low er the price of flour here. The gov- ernment has the power, within cer tain limits, to regulate that. We can not deny wheat to foreign peoples who are in dire need of it. and we do not wish to do so, but, unfortun ately, tho the wheat crop is not abundant, if handled with provident care. The price of wheat is lower in the United States than in Europe, and can, with proper management, be kept so. Sell Food and Clothing By way of immediate relief, sur plus stocks of both food and cloth ing in the hands of the government will be sold, and, of course, sold at prices at which there is no profit. And by way of @ more permanent correction of prices, surplus stocks in private hands will be drawn out of storage and put upon the market @hecks production; if it affects the | Fortunately, under the terms of the cessive addition F: A another ¢: resulting from the scarcity. ih we have become only _ and letting them work an these. I have sought this Jacking and may be supplied. We must, I think, frankly admit that there is no complete immediate legislation ‘The free pro- cesses of supply and demand will not operate of themselves and no leg. iglative or executive action can force them into full and natural operation ly to be had from and executive action. 4ntil there is peace. There war. cert of the nations that hi Ys, it prevents distribution and | £004 control ips the markets, so that there is tly nothing to buy, and there These are facts and forces with too ; but we are not justified be Cause of our familiarity with them | 1 because of any hasty and shallow gonclusion that they are “natural” | inevitable, in sitting inactively | ulating of stocks has no doubt their | fatal results, if there is anything we do to check, correct or reverse oppor: ity to inform the congress what | executive is doing by way of | femedy and control, and to suggest where effective legal remedies are is now neither peace nor| All the world is waiting—with what unnerving fears and haunting doubts who can adequately say?— waiting to know when it shall have peace and what kind of peace it will he when it comes—a peace in which cach nation shall makeshift for It- elf as it can, or a peace buttressed 4nd supported by the will and con- the act, the hoarding of foodstuffs can be checked and pre vented, and they will be, with the greatest energy. Foodstuffs can be drawn out of storage and sold by le- gal action, which the department of justice will institute wherever neces sary; but so soon as the situation is systematically dealt with, it is not likely that the courts will often have to be resorted to, Much of the accu- most inti. | mately of all with the nations and/ peoples upon whom the chief burden | lot While there in any possibility that | chasers can probably do the rest what we hoped it @ould be, it is! been due to the sort of speculation which always results from uncertain ty. Great surpluses were accumu lated because it was impossible to foresee what the market would dis clone, and dealers were determined to be ready for whatever might hap: pen, as well as eager to reap the full advantage of rising prices They will now see the disadvantage, as well as the danger, of holding off from the new process of distribution. Big Four Supply Disregarding the surplus stock in the hands of the government, there was a greater supply of foodstuffs in this country on June 1, of this year, than at the same time last year. In the combined total of a number of the most important foods in dry and cold storage the excess ig not quite 19 per cent. And yet prices have risen. The supply of fresh eggs on hand in June, this year, for example, was greater by nearly 10 per cent than the supply on hand at the same time last year, and yet the wholesale price was 46 centy a PROFITEERS, SAYS WILSON Text of President’s Food Message to Congress Follows dozen, as against 30 cents a year ago The reased more ntock of frozen fowls had in than 208 per cent, and yet the price had riven from 341% cents per pound to 37% cents upply of creamery butter had increased 129 per cent, and the price from 41 to cents per pound The supply augmented 3 per cent, and the price alvo a nad up from $34 a barrel to $36 a barrel, Canned corn had ir creased in stock nearly 92 per cent and had remained substantially the same in pri In a few foodstuffs the prices alvo declined, but in nothing. Uke the proportion in which the supply had Increased. For example, the stock of canned tomatoes had increased 102 per cent, and yet the price had declined only 5 cents per dozen cans In there has been the usual result of an increase of price following a decrease of supply, but in almost every instance the in crease of price has been dispropor Uonate to the deore in stock Studying the Laws The attorney making 4 tion as a that ¢ is conv hag been general areful study of the whole and of the pplied to better it that under the lation 1 temptation of exces tional cases combinations of pro ducers and combinations of traders have been formed for the control supplies and prices which are riy in restrgint of trade and ainst these prosecutions will be Promptly inatituted and pushed, which will in all likelihood situ lawe and stimu |have a prompt corrective effect There is reason to believe that the prices of leather, of coal, of lumber and of textiles have been materially affected by forms of con cert and co-operation among the pro: ducers’ and marketers of these and other universally necessary commod: ities which it will be possible to re dress. No watchful or energetic ef- fort will be spared to accomplish thig necessary result I trust that there will not be many cases in which prosécution will be necessary, Public action will no doubt cause many who have, perhap unwittingly, adopted {illegal meth ods to abandon them promptly and of their own motion And publicity can accomplish o great 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 neces sary for their self-protection The department of commerce, the department of agriculture. the de partment of labor and the federal trade commingion can do @ grpat deal toward supplying the public, aye tematically and at short interva with information regarding the actual supply of particular commod. | ithea that is in existence and avail able, with regard to supplies which in existence but not available because of hoarding and with regard to the methods of price fixing which are being used by dealers In cer tain foodstuffs and other necessar jes. Retailers Are Blamed There can be little doubt that re- tallers are in part*-sometimes in large part—responsible for exorbitant prices, and it is quite practicable for the government, thru the agencies I have mentioned, to supply the pub- lie with full information as to the prices at which retailers buy and as to the costs of transportation they paid, in order that it may be known just what margin of profit they are demanding. Opinion and concerted action on the part of pur- That is, thone agencies may per- form this indispensable service, pro- vided the congress will supply them with the necessary funds to prose cute their inquiries and keep theic price liste up to date. Hitherto the appropriations committee of the house has not always, I fear, seen the full value of these inquiries and the departments and committ have been very much straitened for means to render this service. That adequate funds be provided by appropriation for this purpose and provided as promptly as possible is one of the means of greatly ameliorating the present distressing conditions of livelihood that T have come to urge in this attempt to con cert with you the best ways to serve the country in this emergency. It is one of the absolutely necessary things, underlying many others, and can be supplied at once There are many other ways. Ex isting law is inadequate. There are many perfectly legitimate methods by which the government cannot ex ercise gestaint and guidance Extend Food Control Let me urge 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 commod- ities to which it shall apply. Its provisions against hoarding should be made to apply not only to food, but also to feedstuffs, to fuel, to clothing and to many other commod- ities which are indispytably neces saries of life As it stands now, it 1s limited in operation to the period of the war, and becomes inoperative upon the formal proclamation of peace. But I should judge that it was clearly within the constitutional power of the congress to make similar per manent provisions and requlations with regard to all goods destined for interstate commerce and to exclude them from interstate shipment if the requirements of the law are not complied with Some such regulation is tively necessary. The abuses which have grown up in the manipula tion of the prices by the withhold ing of foodstuffs and other necessar- jes of life cannot otherwise be ef- fectively prevented. ‘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 altho the present act pro. hibits profiteering, the prohibition is accompanied by no penalty? It is clearly in the public interest that a penalty should be provided which will be persuasive. To the same end, I earnestly rec ommend, in the second plage, that the congress pass a law regulating cold storage as it is regulated, for ex ample, by the laws of the state of New Jersey, which limit the time impera during which goods must be kept in| of salt beef had been | actively | THE SEATTLE STAR—SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1919. | st prescribe the methods of dis |Powlng of them if kept beyond the | permitted period, and require that | goods releaned from storage shall in all cases bear the date of their re Jeelpt. It would materially add to |the serviceability of the law, for the purpose we now have in view if it were also prescribed that all goods released from storage for interstate | shipment should have plainly marked each package the selling or market price at whieh they went into stora By this wna the pur chaser would always be able to Jearn |what profits stood between him and the producer or the wholesale dealer. | It would serve as 4 useful exam | ple to the other communities of this country, as well as greatly relieve | local distress, if the congress were to regulate all such matters very fully for the Dintrict of Columbia, where its legislative authority is without Umit I would algo recommend that it be required that all geods destined for nterstate commerce should in every se where the form of package maker it p mle be plainly marked with the price at which they left the hands of the producer. Such a re quirement would bear a close analogy to certain provisions of the pure food act, by which it is required that cer tain details can be given on the labela, packages of food and drugs. And it does not seem to me that we can confine ourselves to detailed measures of this kind, if it is indeed our purpose to assume national con trol of the processes of distribution. I take it for granted that that Is our purpose and our duty. Nothing leas will suffice. We need not hesitate to handle @ national question in a national way. We should go beyond the measures I have suggested. We should formulate a law requir ing a federal licensing of all cor- porations engaged in Interstate }eommerce and embodying in the lieense, or in the conditions under which it ts to be issued, specific regulations designed to secure com- | petitive selling, and prevent uncon- sctonable profits in the methods of | marketing. Such a law would af- ford a welcome opportunity to ef- fect other much needed reforms in the business of interstate ship- ment and in the methods of cor- upon SPORTING CHANCE’ F . | Hide you From sy | HW police Well, I'll teke a porting, hance! I | porations which are engaged in it; but for the moment I confing my | recommendations to the object im- mediately In hand, which Is to low- Jer the cost of living | May I not add that there ts a | bill now pending before congre: j which, if passed, would do much to |stop speculation and to prevent [the fraudulent methods of promo- tion by ‘which our people are an- nually Meeced of many mililons of | hard-earned money. I refer to the measure proposed by the capital is- sues committee for the control of security insues. It is @ measure formulated by men who know the actual conditions of business and its adoption would serve a great and beneficent purpose. We are dealing, gentlemen of the congress, I need ily say, with very critical and yery difficult matters. We should go forward with confidence along the road we see, but we should also seek to comprehend the whole of the scene amidst which we act. There is no ground for some of the fear- ful forecasts I hear uttered about me, but the condition of the world is unquestionably very grave and we should face it comprehendingty. The situation of our country Is ex- ceptionally fortunate. We of all peoples can afford th keep our heads and to determine upon mod- erate and sensible courses of ac- tion which will Insure us againat the passions and distempers which are working such deep unhappiness for some of the distressed nations on the other syle of the sea. But we may be involved In their dis- tresses unless we help, and help with energy and intelligence, The world must pay for the ap palling destruction wrought by the reat War, and we are part of the world. We must pay our share. For five years now the industry of all Europe hag been slack, and dis ordered. The normal crops have not been preduceg: the normal quantity of manufact goods has not been turned out. Not until there are the} usual crops and the usuaY production of manufactured Goods on the other sie of the Atlantic can Europe re- turn to the former conditions) and it Was upon the former conditions, not the present, that our economic rela- tions with rope were built up. We must face the fact that unless we help Europe to get back to her nor- mal life and production, a chaos will ensue there which will inevitably be communicated to this country. For the present it is manifest we myst quicken, not slacken, ovr own pro, duction ; A love romance of a man in prison garb and a pretty maid who saves him and puts him to work— Now here | | SERIES AGA: SL eRe Fe Punctuated by love-making, good two-fisted fights, beautiful clothes, smart settings and snappy action The cast is noteworthy. Included are: ‘ HERBERT STANDING ANNA Q. NILSSON JACK HOLT EEE LABOR LEADER SPURNS PLA ‘Declares Wilson Too Lai Threatens Strike WASHINGTON, Tevolutionize all the processes of our! strikes undertaken at this critical | economic life. We shall not attempt) time are certain to make matters) to do go, These are days of deep| worse, not better—worse for them of the surface. Eyery one who Is in| be done now is to stop or interrupt | } | strong fiber and steady self-control| and the shipping of the country | Will Probably Talk on Food readily find themselves no matter) we must unite, not divide, to correct excitement and of extravagant) and for everybody else. The worst NATION TOUR real touch with the silent masses of| production or to interfere with the | n We strong fiber and steady self-control. | are all involved in the distressing re- 2 7 ‘ During His U. S. Trip it. There are many things that ought a speech, but with us these are things | thing, the most fatal thing that can our great people knows the old| distribution of goods by the rallw ay am serenely confident that they will/ sults of the high cost of living anda WASHINGTON, Aug. 9.—(United to be corrected in the relations be. what the circumstance and that they | Aug. 9.—Lal will address themselves to the tasks Hold World Steady ress.)—P vilson, wi ° ident's p We, and we almost alone, now|of peace with the same devotion and capital and labor, in respect of |! ress.}—-President Wilson, having| will not accept the nena L hold the world steady. Upon our|the same stalwart preference for | and conditions of labor and |handed the high cost of living] posals, Representative Nolan, 1a steadfastness and self-possession de-)What is right that they displayed to + things even more far reaching, |problem over to congress, at least | Tepresentative in congress, deci Pend the affairs ot nations every- | the ti gga eld the whale world In Bo, one, am ready to go into |for the time being, turned his at-| after hearing the executive's messi where. It is in this supreme crisig—|the midst of war, conference about these matters with | | vennekias Xd Q pla es ja ternoon, this crisis for all mankind—that|, And I enter another confident) any group of my fellow countrymen |'*?ton today to plang for his tour] ye: He ay Atte pide taber da America must prove her mettle. In|hope. I have spoken today chiefly| who know what they are talking |f the United States. It is believed, | |. M8 cantor expect Mater Be the presence of a world confused, dig-|f Measures of imperative regulation | about and are willing to remedy however, that he would touch on| prices, while he passes out glitd tracted, she must show herself self-|8nd legal compulsion, ef prosecu-|isting conditions by frank counsel|the high cost of living in his| ine seneralitice" Nolan salde * possessed, self-contained, capable of | tions and the sharp correction of sel-| rather than by violent contest ; | Rieu onet of living eae thera sober and effective action. Sho saved| fish processes and these no doubt are) : é speeche: ing Spe Ee Europe by her action in arms; she| necessary. But there are other| | Ap yey Js possible while men! In his address to congress aye. | Ceepands have been belie es must now save it by her action in| forces that we may count on besides | OF? iD A temper and there can be nolterday the president said there Onn | Beate. aber ‘will nt eee ue peace. In saving Kurope she will|those resident in the department of| Ti Cmunt wilch dons not have as itsipe no peace prices until there is claha to. piciea eoal te Clie ae save herself, as she did upon the bat-| Justice. We have just -fully awak-| f standard the general in-|peace. He is expected to use this| ™Sht to s ened to what has been going on and to the influences, many of them very terest. Threats and undue insistence upon the interest of a single class! make settlement jmpogsit tle fields of the war, and capacity with wh rgument in his Before Wilson The calmness h she deals campaign goes on tour he ITES--STIN with and masters the problems of |#elfish and sinister, that nave been | Mele tall enent impossible, T believe |may hold a series of White House Peace will be the final test and proof | Prodycing high prices and imposing| i ', Nive hitherto oat fecasinn to /conferences with representatives of ot her among the people of | #n intolerable burden on the mass of 94 {0 the congress, that the industry |poth capital and labor, to discuss the world pur people, To have brought tt all ena er mubee Peonle and of the /the present economic conditions and | tar bemanin’ oF And, if only in our own interegt,|into the open will accomplish the) (°°! - ul 293 irreparable damage |the remedy for certain evils, In i - Ray hokys ty — we must help the people overseag,|steater part of the result we seek ploy and workmen are to go! nig speech he sald many thing warm wai PP! w B " on in a perpetual contes: antagon. | Europe is our biggest customer. We Appeals to Producers perpetual contest as antagon- | should be corrected in the relations must keep her going or thousands| T appeal with entire confidence to| shen Te effect te elthe OF |between capital and labor and that | ORU of our shops and scores of our mines| Our producers, our middlemen and] pave we not steadiness a ted. / ne was ready to confer on the mat- | ®YOUR-BODYGUARD™-SOF, 60 must close, ‘There is no such thing| our merchants to deal fairly with the| possession and businen conve agen {ters with ‘men who know what as letting her go to ruin without| people. It is thelr opportunity tolty work out that result? enough |they are talking about ourselves sharing in the disaster show that they comprehend, that : _ 6 Be tea In such circumstances, fac Undoubtedly we have and we shall they intend to act joint: and that to face with such tests, passion must be dig-| they have the public interest sincere-| W°rk it out. In the meantime—now 9 carded. Passion and a disregard for|ly at heart. And I haye no doubt|®M4 in the days of readjustment and the rights of others have no place| that housekeepers all over the coun,| recuperation that are ahead of us in the counsels of a free people. We! try and every one who buys the let us resort more and more to frank need light, not heat, in these solemn| things he daily stands in need of|%"d intimate counsel and make our x a times of self-examination and saving] will presently exercise a great vigil-|S*lves @ great and triumphant na-| 9 action, There must be no threats.|ence, a more thoughtful enonomy, a| tion by making ourselves a united & Let there be only intelligent coungel| more discriminating care as to the| free in the life of the world. It oO market in which he buys or the mer-| Will not then have looked to us for chant with whom he trades than he| leadership in vain, hag hitherto exercised. Se eco T believe, too, that the more ex AKE a trip with us from mod- treme leaders of organized labor will ern Fifth ave, to primities re the health presently yield to a sober second! Central America, in the fastnesses thought, and like the great mass of| of which the Mayas guarded the by w is with nature. thelr associates, think and act like] secret of a lost race. “Hey pene true Americans, They will see that! Three,” Monday in The Star 4 Wad aaa iS Wonse 100, aoe and let the best reasons win, not the strongest brute force. The world has just destroyed the arbitrary force of a military junta, It will live un- der no other. All that 4s arbitrary and coercive is in the discard. Those who seek to employ it only prepare their own destruction, We cannot hastily and overnight Fe STHREE,