PROVISIONS CONFISCATED.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3371, 27 December 1919, Page 6

PROVISIONS CONFISCATED.

' ‘ - - . 1‘ -DRASTIC -:_&_Qs'_lON TAGJAINST ,__ "* EROFITEERS. ‘

«In Its drive to reduce the high cosfr» of living, the United States Federal Gfivernmeiit began -at Chicago the seizure of huge amounts of foods in‘ sturage h'ouse's_. The first seizures were reported from Chattanooga, Tenn., and Jalcksoinville, Fla., and the United? States’ district -a.ttorne’y’s office announced that similar action would be‘ taken ‘in the Chicago district. ‘ ‘Governors of aVlu_lmber of States have asked the assistance of the .Department of justice to force. info -the‘ market “amazing quantities of food being held in sforage,_ apparently un~ til~ prices increased. A Not duly will Chicago food horders. be fined and imprisoned (states =3. Chicago paper), ‘but :their"st'ocks will be: seized and sold, I

At Chattanooga Government agents .went to the storage plant of the Atlantic Ice and Coal“ Corporation and took possession of 84,000 dozen eggs. .'.l‘he~district attorney at "Chattanooga managed the raid. He filed an.information in the Federal‘Court, under libel proceedings, charging that the eggs we're held unlawfully for the purpose of increasing prices unreasonably, At Jacksonville more than a million eggs, hundreds of thousands of canned foods, and 27,000 pounds of sugar were seized in raids on wholesale food ware~ houses and cold storage plants by Federal -olfficers. Plans for the seizing of all hoards of food that may be found are now being perfected. Vio»la- f ters of the anti-hoarding law will bel liafble not only to‘ pay .a fine of. 5000 I éollars, or imprisonment for two years, 0 or'both, but are -also likely to havel thé Government confiscate’ the food and sell it. ' *'- 1

The Cuban sugar crop is the largest this year in the history of the island, acdordin-g to Mr H. -H_ Rolopp, who is the head of the sugar dist:-i'buting committee for the Government. Most -of it has been ‘marketed, he said. Sugar priees forced from 16 cents to 13 cents retail showed signs of further slump as 20,000,000 pounds of beet sugar purchased for the Government for ‘the Middle West is reported on the way. Food caeh-es will be seized for uses of the army and navy, and later will be directed to civilian uses. Release of sugar for the canning season is promised. ‘ -. Determintrtion on the part of ‘consumers to take advantage of the Governinent cooperation in bringing about a lower cost of living was indicated ‘in therestrieted buying of distributors in the produce market.

.‘ Eggs were lowered in price 1 cent a dozen; :1, reduction of one. cent a pound was made iu the cost of butter, and potatoes V‘.'Cl'_o offered -at 3 dollars at 3.25 a hundred pounds, against 3 dollars at 3.50 the previous week. Live chickens at 28 cents a pound were -1: a cent cheaper. Despite these reductions in prices leading'ret'ailers, and shippers were slow buyers, and receipts that fell short of normal for this time of the year were slow to clear.