Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-05-23


mission pledged their personal credit
for the further communes to bring up
the stock of goods in transit as hi2 II
sometimes as $2O,00O,O0O In the
early days the commission would have
to send canal boats first to one part
If Belgium and then TO another where
the supplies were within less than
twenty-four hours of exhaustion.
Some Confusion.
At first the commission endeav-
Orcd TO distribute the actual gift food
consigned to them to tine actually
destitute persons Within a week they
found an enormous amount Of diff
Guilty and confusion arising out OF
this Arrangement because il would
be necessary to divide cargo Of gift
flour, for instance, over O0j COM
munes in Belgium. and at the same
time to ship parallel with it n large
quantity Of foodstuffs, consigning
them for the purposes % sale for
those who could pay 'Tnis meant a
duplication Of the entire transport
organization and i'm fact was quite inn
possible because no gift cargo was
sufficient in size to distribute over
5000 cOmmunes; and the next thing
the commission found was that il
was borrowing from the gift CargOcs
and was loaning rood from the sales
department TO the benevolent depart
ment. The direct business minds OF
the managers united this knot by q
very simple device, hy which they
sold all Of the rft food from the
benevolent department to the provi-
siOninS department. The benevolent
/ department instead Of having food
stuffs, thus had cash i'm hand This
/ 4 1, 4 - IA
subventions to the cOmmErcs. and th,
communal authorities with this money
| purchased their required imports from
sales department. The result was an
enormous simplification In tho, work
and an actual gain in efficiency. as
the communes were then able TO buy
precisely what they required for each
| inditidual and local Institution.
Agentinc Wheat.
It is of some interest to follow the
actual course Of cargo of foOdstuffs
! through the commission. Take the
case Of Argentine wheat. One Of the
largest firms OF grain buyers In Ar
Sentine undertook to make purchases
on behalf Of the commission without
profit to themselves This grain
would be purchased in one Of the cen
tral Argentine provinces, transported
to Buenos Aires, and a freight paid
on it. less the usual rates by virtue
of arrangements by the commission
with the railway companies at Buenos
Aires. A cargo would be taken up by
one of the regular steamers Of the
commission. Inasmuch as the COM
mission had negotiated an arrange
ment with all OF the belligcrent gov
ernments that ships flying the com
missions flag would be immune from
attack at sea, they were able to char
ter ships and obtain rates at less than
normal. This cargo, in due time ar
rived at Rotterdam and was there
discharged into lighters which are
under time charter to the commission
These lighters are towed down the
canals from Rotterdam into Belgium
and discharged into one Of the five
milling centers in Belgium. The flour
mills in these five cities are oper-
ated on behalf OF the commission,
whereby the commission agrees to
pay for the labor and actual cost OF
operation. The wheat IL milled into
so per cent flour and 20 per cent
bran and the bran is sold to the mum
icipal dairies to feed the cattle and