FOOD PRICES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11574, 18 December 1915, Page 8

FOOD PRICES.

During the last ten weeks cable nie.v | sages—wretchedly vasuo and misaligning, it must be admitted -have referred to food rio'* in ISerlin and elsewhovo. Soim* ol tho ilouwnist i tiiioiti'* wero evidently impressive li'Otu tbd point of view of the numerical strength! of tho demonstrators, and reports regarding tile steps taken to conserve food supplies indicate clearly that, despite spread-eagle speeches in iho Keichstag, alt is not, well with the enemy. At the present time it will be generally admitted tho Social Democrat lenders aro the real spokesmen of "Jie- German people, in a domestic, and not in an imperial sense, and some of them have been saying very hard things about the authorities for failing to keep down the cost of living. In the Berlin City Council a Dr "\Yurn, Social Democrat, showed that, as compared with 1910, it cost the average, working-class family just 100 per cent more Lo live to-day, and ho quoted a. few interesting figures. Bread, he said, was 71) per cent dearer, wliilo potatoes were 100 per cent and eggs ISO per cent dearer. Dr and other speakers accused the authorities of playing into the hands of the, "per cent, patriots,'' and urged that j supplies should bo seized and distri- j butcd "in accordance with the requirements of the lleich:;tng." So powerful wove the protests made j all over Gennatfy that the authorities j took steps to regulate wholesale prices! ill Berlin and throughout the Empire, | and towns of more than 10,000 inhabit- j ants wero ordered to fix minimum re-| tail prices in accordance with eondi- j tions prevailing locally. A writer in i the "New Age" has provided a few details regarding the prices paid. The Government of Mecklenburg-St-relitz fixed tho maximum price, of butter at 2s od per lb, the general in command in Silesia fixed it at 2s 7d and the authorities of Brandenburg fixed the maximum at 2s Sd per lb. To charge more for butter was to incur liability for a fine amounting to £IOO and to hold back supplies in order to cause the price to riso owing to a scarcity was to run tho risk of a £-500 fine. The sale of milk has now been regulated in many districts; and Potsdam has issued petroleum cards. "On presentation of these cards oil will bo supplied at the rate of 32pf, a litre; but only to those persons who have neither electricity nor gas in their homes." Theso "things indicate a serious shortage in Germany, but thoy show also that the Germans, by means of thorough organisation, are endeavouring to husband their resources and keep down the cost of living. In Great Britain little has been done and in New Zealand attempts, to grapple seriously with the problem have been more or les» farcical.