COLD STORAGE AND FOOD SPECULATION 59 



prices of all commodities more than to say, as a 

 general fact, the average prices to the consumer are 

 lower in food-controlled countries than in the United 

 States. Practically the entire wheat supply to Bel- 

 gium is to-day imported from the United States, 

 and, despite the extraordinary costs of transporta- 

 tion, the price of bread is 60 per cent, of the price 

 in New York City. A large portion of the wheat 

 in France comes from this country, and yet the price 

 of bread is, again, 40 per cent, below our own. In 

 England, where food control was started too late, 

 the price is 30 per cent, below our price, and in 

 Canada, again, we see a lower range of prices to the 

 consumer than in our own country, although the 

 producer realizes the same price." 



Produce exchanges, similar to those described in 

 Chicago, exist in New York and other large cities. 

 The quotations which they make are directed by the 

 distributers and are largely fictitious. Judge Jay- 

 cox, of New York, called their daily quotations of 

 prices "untruthful, wilful, deliberate, intentional, 

 systematic, and fraudulent," as a result of an in- 

 quiry into their methods. Honorable John J. Dillon, 

 Commissioner of Foods and Markets of New York 

 State, says of the food exchanges that they are 

 "gambling dens." 



According to the State food experts, New York 

 City food speculators made profits of $900,000 in the 

 week preceding November 18, 1916, on the single 

 item of eggs alone. The toll for the week of No- 

 vember 18 was estimated by the State officials at 



