Evening star., 1917-09-16
Dr. Harry A. Garfield Head of Wheat Price Committee


sanize the Municipal Association of
Cleveland.
Business men may desire to know
what qualifications DR.. Garfield has to
deal with such practical products
coal and wheat. This article may
answer all of their questions. 1t can
be said that Dr. GARFIELD is money
maker naturally, If such a gift will in
crease the respect by which bankers.
merchants and manufacturers measure
him
Likewise, he is an organizer-not a
smashing personality. whose steam
blows off, mostly. through a safety
valve. making great noise in an
courteous, energetic. ina aginative and
able executive. 1t might be steel
easily as wheat, or ships easily as
coal. so far as he is concerned: or rail-
right there all wise action begins.
There are two main government
bodies dealing directly with wheat, the
committee on prices. of which DR.
Garfield was made chairman, and a
control board. which buys and sells
wheat exactly like Il private corpora
ton.
Prices for the crop of 19l7 having
been established. based on the cost of
production. with profit added. the work
OF the second board was inausurated.
Dr. Garfield objects 10 the verb
fixed" He prefers and uses the word
found" The prices. then. We're found
in the manner stated. Wherewith. buy
ing and selling followed.
The task of finding the price. after
learning the cost of production. plus
profit. was a tremendously large and
highly technical operation. Many states
We're involved in the problem. And
TWO seasons, spring ana winter. Ais"
several gradations. designated by
names and numbers. Knowing little
about wheat-nothing. possibly when
lie first met the members Of his com
inittee in conference br. Garfield soon
learned all about il. and by the right of
knowledge. as well as by appointment.
properly sat .at the head of the table.
The StockS\ of wheat in the world
are not deficient Re said to the writer
of this article. There is enough. but
the crops of India and Australia are
not available. through scarcity of
ships. for our allies in Europe. The
voyage from the latter country to Eng
land is three times longer in time than
from Canada or the United States.
Lack of vessels. therefore, has made
shipments OF wheat from this country
to Europe necessary. If Great Britain,
France. Belgium and Italy are to keep
their armies in the field. the armies
must be fed with bread made from
wheat grown in this country and
must be employed. mostly. in trans
porting troops and their guns and am
munition. Some of them can be spared
TO carry carGoes of food across the
Atlantic. bnt they cannot be spared
for the long vo?ase to India or Aus
tralia.
Bread is dear. although wheat. as I
have said, is abundant The situation
was forcefully described to me by Mr..
Hoover. the food commissioner. He
said that when several retorts. joined
together by pipes contain water that
the same level in all is maintained, even
if some of tho water is drawn from one
or more Of them.
But were a pipe to be broken levels
would immediately lose their relation
To one another. and the retorts would
show different quantities of water. one
or two might be empty.
In normal times the selling of 20
100000 bushels of wheat in Chicago
drops the level of supply evenly
throughout the United States Europe,
Russia. South America and other coun-
tries But war broke the pipes and
while England. France and Italy are
running dry of wheat there is plenty
in India and Australia"
Or. Garfield was professor of politics
at Princeton for five years. and was
then in 1908, elected president of Will
liams College at Williamstown Mass
He was asked if he would advise a
young man to enter upon a public
career.
Yes" was the answer. ''if it is pos
sible to do without sacrificing what
he regards principle of right con-
duct Usually. always. If the young man
has a family dependent upon him, run
ming for office implies the possession Of
a livelihood outside the money earned
in the public service.
"A political career. even then, is pre-
carious. II may be terminated at any
time and actually because of meri-
torious conduct and service Yet per-
haps. il is not more precarious than the
Iay- medicine or business"
copyright. 1917, by James B. Morrow.l