The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-04-12
billion Dollars Lost Each Year
In the Worlds
Supply Of
Food.
|oRLD WIDE MOVEMENT
veraI Nations Are Interested in the
Italian Bureau Which
Is invssti-
eating.

/.
BY Henry Wood, Rome corr espon,
dent OF the United Press]
ROME, April 1.-THE first world
fde international movement on a
richly scientific basis for reducing
present high cost Of living has
Zen launched at Rome. 1t is the re-
lit OF the discovery OF yearly ST.
b. OOO, 900 leak in the worlds food
apply. This loss it is proposed grad
ally to eliminate through the. CO.
peration OF the leading nations Of
he world and with It's elimination q
corresponding reduction in the cost
Il all food in the vegetable kingdom
expected to take place.
The movement for the present will
AXE the form OF an international fight
gainst plant diseases and it has just
cen inaugurated under the direction
Il the International Institute Of Agri-
ulture OF Rome. This is the institu-
ion founded in 1905 by King Victor
Emanuel on the suggestion Of David
Lubin OF Sacram snto, California, after
he officials Of the state department
Washington had rejected the idea
s visionary and Impractical. Later,
he United States admitted the mis-
AXE it had .mads and remedies it -
ar u possible by ONE ially alignfng..
itself with the institute and appoint
Ing Mr.. Lubin as its permanent dele
gate at Rome.
With still some of the distrust
which it as first manifested, however,
The United States has not as yet join
ed the present fight against plant dis.
ease. although "a of the 55 nations
at the institute have
pledged themselves to 1t. These In
|clude Austria and Hungary. Belgium,
|Brazil, Chill, China, Colombia. Costa
|Rica, Denmark, France, Algeria, Tun-
lis, Morocco, Germany. Japan. Great
Britain, Canada, India, Greece, Guat-
|amala, Italy. Luxembourg, Mexico,
Monaco, Holland, Roumania, Russia,
San Domingo, Servia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and Turkey. Still others
are expected to join later on and Del1
Iegate Lubin is in correspondence with
the state department at Washington
in a fresh effort to enlist the United
States.
The first steps for the present
movement were taken two years ago
at Paris when the agricultural sac
ton of the international congress OF
pathology asked the French govern
ment to become sponsor for an inter-
national fight against plant disease.
France undertook the initiative but
later turned the actual carrying out
of the movement over to the Interna-
tional Institute of Agriculture at
Rome as having the necessary facil1-
ties and organization for carrying 1t
TO a successful conclusion. The hrst
step by the institute at Rome was to-
ascertain to just what extent the
worlds food supply is being diminish
ed by plant disease. Statistics care
fully compiled in each OF the fifty
five countries which maintain perma-
nent delegates at the institute show
ed this to be $1,000, 100000 annually,
not to mention corresponding In
crease in the cost Of the products
which actually arrive On the worlds
The first steps by the institute also
revealed the fact that at the present
time most OF the leading nations OF
the world are already conducting, Wig
orous campaigns against plant dis
ease and have laws on the subject
applying to each Individual country.
There was found, however, to be
complete lack of any international CO.
or any international effort
to help prevent the spread of plant
dis eases from one country to anoth-
er and this phase Of the situation was
the one selected for the first concrete
step.
At the first meeting of the dele
gates an agreement was drawn up
which is now being submitted to all
OF the thirty-four nations Interested
for ratification. The object OF this IS
the establishment of an international
system of surveillance, inspection and
on infected plants very
Gsmilar to that already in force ana
which prevents the entrance OF in |
fected human bsings and animals
fClnnt}nuod m pnGn ~