Daily Kennebec journal., 1917-08-31
est to all the interests Of the couu.

-, ..,eni was the mounting cost Of living.
ne conoltion of world markets also
""s sNen careful thought as was the
pfooaole effect of an early termina.
,ioh OF the war which would loose
great stocks of wheat in other co,n.
'l'es TO" tied up because of lack OF
shipping. "a
Inc cost of production came in for
considerable attention. Experts of the
department Of agriculture were asked
LOT production cost figures and the
committee studied data supplied bv
sro"ers organizations It was real
i~eo some growers will be forced TO
sen thelr wheat at loss while many
others Will make high profit.
Ihe committees work ended with
the liking of price.
Statement by President
The announcement was made at
the White House in the following
statement by the President:
section III of the food act proyides
among other things, for the purchase
and sale OF wheat and -four nv the
government and appropriates money
fN' PSSN' lie purchase OF
Wheat and -four for our allies. and to
CONSIDERABLE degree for neutral
countries also, mas been placed un-
der the control OF the food admins
tfat,on. | have appointed a commit
zee 10 decide a lair price to be paid
IN government purchases The price
no" recommended by that commit
tee-S2.20 per bushel at Chicago for
f2.
heFed TO ny the food administration.
III is the nope and expectation of
the food administration and my own
also that this step will at once sta
nlilze and keep within moderate
bounds the price of wheat for all
transactions throughout the present
crop year and in consequence the
prices of -four and bread also, Tho
food act has given large powers for
the control of storage and exchange
operations and these powers will be
fully exercised. An inevitable conse-
quence will be that financial dealings
cannot follow their usual course.
Whatever the advantages and disad-
Nantages of the ordinary machinery
Of trade, it cannot function we'll un-
dor such disturbed and abnormal con-
ditions as now exist. In its place the
food administrat ton now fixes for its
purchases a fair price. as recommend
ed unanimously by committee rep
resentative of all interests and all
sections. and believes that thereby it
Will eliminate speculation, make pos
sible the conduct of every operation in
the full light of day. maintain the
publicly stated price for all and, true
economies made possible by stabiliza-
ton and control, better the position
of consumers also. Mr. Hoover. at
his express wish, has taken no part
in the deliberations of the commit
tee on whose recommendation I de-
termine the governments fair price,
nor has he in any way intimated an
opinion regarding that price"
Report Of the Committee
The report of the committee ad-
dressed to the President follows:
The undersigned, comm,,ee has
been asked by you to recommend the
price which the government should
pay for the 1917 crop of wheat.
I'm its deliberations. the commit
tee has kept constantly in mind the
three following factors:
"First-The fact that the United
States is at war.
"Second-The need of encouraging
the producer.
"Third-The necessity of reducing
the cost of living to the consumer.
The normal laws Of supply and de-
mand have been violently interfered
with and Congress has undertaken to
offset this disturbance by comforting
extraordinary power upon the Presi-
dent to stabalize prices. Each OF the
foregoing factors grows out Of condi-
tions which have received the care
full attention Of the committee Chief
among them are:
That wheat yield in a great and
important section Of the country this
year has been below the normal that
over against this situation is the cry
ing need among the body of the pop
ulation, especially the wage earners,
htat the rising tide OF costs shall be
stayed and reduced as rapidly as pos
sible consistent with the welfare Of
the producer. that the government is
at the present time engaged in the
great task Of reducing and stabiiz-
ing costs Of other staple commodities:
that the wheat Of the world is abun-
dant for its needs, oven disregarding
the burden Of supplying wheat to the
Allies and to neutral nations rests for
the time being upon the United States
and Canada.
Your Committee has also consider
ed the fact that the government price
for the 1917 wheat crop is in effect
a continuing guaranty until the mini
mum price guaranteed by Congress
for the cror Of 1918 goes into effect
(July I, 1879. 1t has considered re-
lation of the 1918 price guaranty to
the price here recommended. 1t has
also considered the effect which an
early termination Of the war would
have upon the wheat markets Of the
" orld.
I'm reaching its conclusion the COM
mittee has been guided by the prin-
ciples you have announced that
fair price should be based upon the
cost Of production for the entire coun-
try plus a reasonable profit. We have
relied upon the cost estimates for the
crop Of 1917 furnished by the United
States department Of agriculture