PROBLEM OF FOOD PRICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16890, 30 December 1916, Page 10

PROBLEM OF FOOD PRICES

A SHORTAGE OF SHIPS

NO PROOF OF EXPLOITATION.

(From Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON, October 20.

Mr Runciman (President of tho Board of Trade) gavo facts and figures in refuting tho charge in tho House of Commons that tho Government has not exercised the full control it might havo assumed over the food supplies of tho nation in tho interests of the people. The speech staggered the critics and killed the debate. As he pointed out, war, with its increase in consumption, diminished production, shortage of shipping, and inflation of currency, must inevitably mean an inoreaso of prices. Instead of restricting our consuming capacity we, in this country, had increased it since tho war began.

At tho outset Mr Runciman admitted that the Cabinet must take all steps to prevent the exploitation of tile people, but ho suggested that nothing should conclusively bo said to give foreign sellers and purchasers tho impression that prices must riso and that tho tendency was. upwards. One of the groat points to be borne in mind was that tho consuming capacity of our people had greatly increased. No doubt, people with fixed incomes and others were suffering very much but the Board of Trade daily received communications showing that in our munition areas and many of the large towns throughout tho country the working classes were buying the best kind of meat more readily than ever before. FISH, EGGS, MILK, FREIGHT. Fish was dearer because there was a smaller number of boats working, and the men were engaged in trawling instead of fishing. Eggs were dearer, because we were receiving none from Russia and Siberia, and so far as milk was concerned, if tile production was not made remunerative to tho farmer thero was no arrangement under tho sun which would prevent tho diversion of the farmers', work to other commodities. Tho War Office had made arrangements which would ensuro that British dairy farmers would do all that was necessary to provide an adequate supply of milk for tho troops, and it would be the duty of the Board of Trade to make such representations to tho War Office as would ensure an adequate supply of milk for tho civilian population. SHIPPING FREIGHTS. Next came tho important question of shipping freights. Mr Runciman claimcd that the Board of Trade had brought shippers and ship owners together. Tho congestion at the docks had been greatly relieved. The committeo suggested that more should be dono in regard t(5 tho prohibition of the slaughtering of live stock. A good deal had already been done, and it was somewhat remarkable that there were more live animals in tho country to-day than thero were at the beginning of the war. HUGE MEAT PURCHASES. He had absolutely no evidence of exploiting in tho meat trade. With regard to tho Government meat purchase, ho would like to tell the House how far the operation had gone. When they started on tho business he_ was bound to say he looked forward with some degree of nervousness on so vast an enterprise. They were fortunate in securing tho willing co-operation of a number of gentlemen who knew something about the meat trade. Sir Thomas Robinson had worked night and day sinco the first start, and ho had dono his work so well that not only our own but tho Allied Governments were grateful to him for what ho had dono.—(Cheers.) Their operations had assumed gigantic proportions. Their daily purchase of meat was over 60,000,0001b. Tho total amount distributed for tho civil population was well over 160,000 tons. The profits of tho merchants were strictly limited, tho middleman was eliminated altogether, so that the full profits might bo handed over to the merchants under the most rigid conditions. Tho committee had worked in closo cooperation with tho Australasian Governments. _ The shipowners had not received a single increase on their freights sinco tho boginning of the war, and would not do so until tho war was over. The homo supply raised an entirely different question. British farmers who were not prepared to sell their meat to the committeo might be charged with improperly withholding it, but at pro sent ho was bound to say he had not seen any evidence of it. SUGAR AND WHEAT. Sugar was dismissed in a few words, because tho Government attitude is well known. Mr Runciman's answer was that sugar was cheaper in this country than it was in America. The House was then told of the secret purchases of wheat. In October, 1914, the Government secretly made very largo purehasso of wheat through a first-rate firm, and before tho secret leaked out over three million quarters of wheat had been handled and a large quantity of flour. Then Indian wheat came along, and they turned the whole of the firms in that trade into Government agents. They did 't well, and nearly 2$ million quarters of wheat were brought here from India in that way. Then there camo tho great stock scheme _of Lord Selborne, who succeeded in making an arrangement with the trade which enabled him to pile up in this country a supply of wheat which made our margin of safety large. Lord Selborno greatly enlarged our storage capacity simply by organisation and by making millers carry more m their silos and having more held in tho great port granaries, with the result that wo were still holding on Goveminent account a very .large amount of wheat. That transaction led naturally to the step tho Government had just taken. They hid to bring wheat from greater distances, and the only way they could do it was by making use of tonnage which in itself was uneconomical, but which would securo that the advantage of tho artificial arrangement should accrue to tho State or to consumers. Wheat and shipping were inextricably bound up together, and it would have boon impossible to have carried through the Australian purchase on business lines unless they had been prepared to dived vessels into that trade. It was an uneconomic thing to do, but they were prepared to take risks in order that we should havo our supplies hero and not be dependent upon one market alone. They were going to do it at. the equivalent, as near as tlie.y could make it, of what were known as Tilu'o Book rates. OUR SHIPPING LOSSES.

Out of a total of nearly 10,000 merchant vessels, said Mr Runciman, there were only 1100 ocean-going vessels free to conduct their own operations. The remainder were engaged in the services of the army and navy, of our Allies and the colonies." The bulk of the mercantile marine was under control, and all cxccut a small part of that which was under control was running under Blue Book rates, and the remainder under control were at fixed rates which bore no relation to the open market rates. Only a small fraction were running at free rates, and of them only three score were bringing v-liat could by any stretch of the imagination be called foodstuffs. If this were known a great deal of the hubbub outside would have been subdued, and it was the duty of those who had any influence on opinion outside to make it known. To put the heavy rise in the cost of foodstuffs on freights was nothing less than a distortion of facts. What we were suffering from in regard to ships was shortage. We had actually lost no fewer than 2,000,000 gross tons of shipping in the war. a tonnage which was more than the whole mercantile marine of France, while Allied nations had also lost large numbers of vessels.

NO RATIONING

He did not say that prices should be left to look after themselves, but the one thing to do was to provide that plenty of food canio into the country, and to avoid putting ourselves in the position of being a blockaded country from any cause whatever. Meat tickets, bread tickets, and all other arrangements of th" kind were chiefly harmful to the poorer classes and those who had fixed incomes, lie wanted to avoid rationing. The policy of the Government was to provide food for the people, to see it was brought to this country 7n abundance, and to take care that no one exploited the consumer. It was that policy that the Government intended to maintain. —(Loud cheers.)