Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 290, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1916 — REAL FOOD SHORTAGE SAYS INSPECTOR [ARTICLE]

REAL FOOD SHORTAGE SAYS INSPECTOR

State Food Inspector Says That There Is a Real Shortage of Foodstuffs In Indiana. ,

Boycotts are mostly bosh and high food prices are not due to speculation, but to a real shortage in markets, says Harry E. Barnard, state drug and food inspector, who has completed an investigation of the food situation in Indiana. “All the hue and cry which is being heard in behalf of the consumer to- »elease alleged ‘comers’ on the food market is either caused by inaccurate or ill advised statements or by politicians who wish to make capital out of the situation,” he said. There are just 300 cases of eggs in storage in warehouses in Indiana, excluding one large storage plant at Indianapolis, according to reports make by investigators whom Mr. Barnard has sent through the state. This would afford about enough eggs for one breakfast for half the people of Indianapolis. After the first of the year there will be no eggs in cold storage and the egg supply will depend upon the disposition of the hen, and her disposition will be regulated by the-weath-er. If it is warm she will lay eggs. If it is cold she will not. And if she does not, then eggs will cease to exist at almost any price. - “Hens will not lay eggs at the behest of investigating committees; butter is not made from blue sky, or flour from any paged reports,” said Barnard. There may be other reasons for the high cost of living but the fundamental reason is the result of a poor year of production in all lines of food products, Mr. Barnard believes. It is simply a case of not enough supply to meet the demand. The coming of another season, with better harvests, may change the situation, but until that time there is little chance for any decrease in the general cost of living.