PARIS PROFITEERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 190, 7 May 1919, Page 7

PARIS PROFITEERS

CONNIVANCE OP THEIR CU6- . .; TOMBRS. The' action of the Paris Mnnicipa Council- in-opening temporarv -shops in every quarter of the capital for the sale at fixed prices of foodstuffs drawn from the Government. stocks has already had the happiest effect in reducing the cost of liying hoi' 6. (states , the ''Morning Post's" Paris correspondent in a dispatch' d}ted March 11). Speaking gener« ally, the cost of ordinary necessaries ill Pfl,ris since,the date of the armistico ha 3 been at least .double that of the 6ama commodities l ill London at tho worst periods of the war, while many articles have soared much higher. The fixed price of potatoes, for instance, has been threepence a pound'for many' months past, but . the majority of dealers have "consistently refused-to'sell at -this price, pleading that they had none in stock. It 'has'always been possible, however, to buy potatoes secretly, at tho back doors of the shops, if one were willing to pay anything from sixpenco to sevenpence a pound tor them, and/.a similar state of things has existed with regard to most other articles'. It,is this complicity of the'piiblic with •the guilty trader in fact whicli has been responsible for as large" a'proportion of the, excessive 1 prices asked- as speculative manipulation itself. Newspaper writers have repeatedly called attention to tho happier state of things in' London, because there the public themselves have had the wisdom to enforcfe the law as to prices, idiereas here the Consumers have simply played into tho hands of the avaricious trader. One result of this weakness of tho Paris consumer has been 'that although frequently hundreds of tons of butter and .other commodities were known to have been 'brought into tho city not ah ounce was to be found in. the shops. At tho'same time, butter could always be had if people worr willing to pay dpuble the .fixed price for it. Tho pojicy'.of iixing prices has been 'w peatedly.'proved- a failure Tiere and has only led to prices mounting still higher. The present method. ,of, throwing large quantities of goods-oh the'market from the. Government stocks on condition thjifc they ai'o's&.ld 'at fixed prites has alone .proved-successful, and'lint; already resulted 'in bringing price's do\\;n nearly 39 per'cent. As a means pf still further benefiting themselves the-public are now; appealed to ; by the newspapers to abstain from buying any foodstuffs that are not included in the category of things sold iti.ithe'miiriicipal shops, which policy, it is argued, will: soon' induce the traders to bring the prices of other goods down to reasonable limits. '■ One curious 'vo-> suit of the abandonment of fixed prices for fresh butcher's meat is that the cost of this commodity has for tho moment risen about a. franc per .pouwl. Camembert cheeses,''"which cost about two shillings each in Paris...at_presfini;,.j:an ba procured in almost unlimited quantities at threepence--eafli,-from fifty to a hundred miles hillside llio city, if pcoplo are in a'j p'ositiOii direct, which is significant'' of the grip of the "cheesiJ ring" on tho Paris public. One of tho best results Of' tho' new; policy is that the proprietor!, of the popular restaurants have agreed to reduce , their- prices 30 per cent, in return for the privilege of' being .allowed to obtain their supplies from the Government stocks. f Tho wine problem'will remains to bef solved. In spite of the fact that last year's, vintage was. the most abundant, for many years, the prigc of vin ordinaire (which-before the war was sold at three-pence-half penny, fonrpence-halfpennyj and upwards the litre or li-pint, bottle) remains at two shillings. Inquiries at the Ministry of Transport show that this is simply and solely the result of artificial manipulation There is an, enormous stock of wine lying at the Paris railway stores, but the dealers, so the authorities allege, 'refuse to accept delivery, although iiially of them state that they have had in elq:-e (heir, -doors for want of goods to sell. . .