BRITISH FOOD AND THE PROFITEERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 301, 16 September 1919, Page 5

BRITISH FOOD AND THE PROFITEERS

SPEECH BY THE CONTROLLER. Mr. G; H. Roberts, the Food Controller, made an important speech on the food situation yesterday at the annual conference of the Federation of Grocers' Associations at Liverpool. The Cabinet, he announced, had now definitely decided that food control should not come to an end, as was, originally thought possible, at the close of the present year, but should continue at any rato well over the winter.

"The world position .06 regards food supplies," he said, "is not yet sufficiently assured to justify the Government in leaving anything to chance. It is impossible to forecast at the present time the future course of prices. Tho most divergent views are held even by the exoerts. On the one hand lam informed thero will also certainly be a slump in the price of fats in America before long. On tho other hand I am told that, so lar from there being a slump, there will almost certainly be a, rise'; that the Continent urgently needs fats, and that this in itself will tend to keep prices up. It is really astonishing that such divergent views should be held by peraons who are certainly in a position to form an opin-

ion, "Clearly thore is only one thing for the Food Controller to do. He must take no risks. Obviously conditions aro not normal yet. We are still compelled to buv in dear markets for certain foodstuffs: bacon is a case in point. Again, i owing to the enormous financial burden which we shouldered during the war, our exchange position in the countries from which we import is not by any means as good as it might be. Although the shlnping position is vastly improved, there is n great congestion .at the ports, which much imnedes the rapid distribution of supplies and is causing us great anxiety at the present time. "The Ministry of Foods, then, liave a dutv to the public, as also have those engaged in the great distributing trades. But the public also have a duty, and that duty is to- have an intelligent understanding of the.causes which makes for high prices. We hear a great deal about profiteering, but profiteering is not by any means the sole, or even the main cause, of high food prices to-day. One of the main causes of high prices to-day is the general depreciation in the value of money. The cost of.production of all articles.of lon<ias measured in money is correspondingly increased. In these ' circumstances the public must produce more and they must consume less. As far as I can see, they are doing precisely the opposite. I hey are producing less, and they are consuming more. Take production. In normal times we exchanged coal tor food. The position to-day is that wo, can only export one-third of the coal we exported before the war. ■■ "In the circumstances, how can it be expected that our exchange position in foreign countries will be improved, that freights will fall, and that food prices win coino down Are the public consuming at the same rate now as m November last Not at all. Alter allowing tor an increase in the population between November last hnd June owing to demobilisation, the consumption of lood- ■ stulfs has increased exceedingly. Wluu . really Happening is noc time prices aro rising, but that the ordinary householuer is buying mucn more food, consequently ne pays mure for it." Speaking to the grocers on bacon prices Mr. Roberts sa.d that wo were now to a large extent dependent on North America tor supplies, antl under present conditions he was. satisfied it was impossible to fix prices in such a way as to maintain supplies while preserving the maximum retail prices of 2s. 4d. a n>. ke had, therefore, reluctantly come to the conclusion that he must advance tho maximum retail price of the better cuts ! to 2s. 6d. a lb. This would enable hint ■ to issue a schedule of lower maxima for ■ the inferior cuts of bacon. This course, ■ while relieving retailers of their present : difficulties, would ensure that the cont sumer got the cheaper cuts of bacon at a relatively low price. The schedulo would .provide that an additional 2d. a lb. might be charged on tho sale of bacon or ham from which the skin had been removed. Ho was satisfied that there were now ample supplies of bacon, both in this countrv and in prospect, to pre- ' vent any legitimate rise in tho wholesale price for many weeks to come.