The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-04-08
HOOVER NAMED HEAD
Of FDUO COMMITTEE
GOvcfnnsent VIII Take Elective
Means TO Protect Public From
High Prices.
MUST BE NO ExToRTioN
Chairman OF Keller Commission In
Belgium, With Long Experience In
EurOpean Struggle, to Have Charge
o< Work.
tBy W. m. ATKINS.l

arising out OF war profits were adopt
ed tonight at n special meeting of
/ the council OF national defense and
j Its advisory commission.
! General war measures were taken
| up by national defense chiefs, but par
ttcuaar. attention Mas given to the
problem OF wartime food production
and distribution, and the most y1g-
| orous steps were decided upon to
check any tendency toward specula-
/ ton in the prices of commodities.
FGoycrnment heads, il was stated.
proposed TO adopt every means to
insure the supply of adequate sup
plies of food, fuel. clothing and other
necessities at moderate figures. Such
federal action AS may be necessary
will be vigorously invoked to prevent
any form OF extortion being praeticed
upon those who remain at home and
DO their bit in bearing the burdens
that war may impose.
:. Hoover Is Chairman.
The ground work for this task was
laid in the decision of the council and
its commission to create special gov
eminent committee on food supply
and prices. Herbert c. Hoover, re-
Gently head of the American commits
!, sion for relief in Belgium, was given
the chairmanship of the committee.
The personnel of the committee will
be announced later. Mr.. Hoover, Just
returned from the war zone with an
intimate insight into the peculiar
problems European belligerents have
had to meet, was directed as a pre-
urinary step to report to the ma
tionat council Of defense such expe-
rience As European governments have
: in avoiding food price manipulation
and the steps that have been. taken
abroad to stimulate production OF all
food supplies.
An immediate report will be sab
mitfed to the council on this phase
OF the general subject. The economic
plans followed by the European bell
ligerents will be laid before the coun-
Gil for its information, but it is not
yet certain that any of the more strin-
gent regulations put into effect abroad
will be necessary here. The commit
tee on food supply and prices will CO.
ordinate its activities mostly to those
OF the commercial economy board re-
Gently appointed to supervise the eco
nomica1 distribution of commodities of
all kinds.
Committee ON War Finance.
Special attention was directed to-
day to placing upon a complete basis
the mobilization products for the
prosecution OF the war Special COM
sn1ittees were named by the council
9of national defense to assist the gov
gernment in purchasing brass and alu-
fninum products for the army and
SHvS. Tho Guntmittees will work un-
der the direction of Bernard NJ. Ba-
ruch, of the advisory committee,
which recently procured for the gov
eminent an offer of As. ooo, ooo pounds
of copper at less than half the pres
ent market price. The organization
| OF other committees in other indus
tries whose products are essential for
war uses Is being perfected.
Eminent economists, business men
ana bankers constitute a special COM
mittee named by the United States
chamber or commerce 10 cooperate
win government heads in study of
the experience of European countries
IN war financing. The members are:
! Wallace d. simmons. st. Louis. chair
man; John Y Farwell. Chicago. Ed
ward A. Filene, Boston; +. W.
Goehei. Kansas city; John II. Gray.
University of Minnesota; Edmund d.
/ hubert. chicago: hugh NICK Laidon,
indianapolis; Robert 5. Maddox At
ianfa; Samuel McRoherts. New York ::
/ Professor Oliver NJ. w. Sprague, liar-
ward university -
| Secretary of Agriculture Houston
| tonight began defotinG earnest at
/, tention toward greatly increasing
production OF some Of the nation s
Chief crops. 10 meet emergency war
needs. Officials were dismayed over
the official forecast of the bureau of
crop estimates that the production of
winter wheat for 1917 would be APP
| proximately so. coo. 000 bushels less
than last year. A nation wide cam
uaiRn among farmers to plant more
acreage of the staple crops will be
| launched Immediately. Diversification
| of crops also will be strongly urged.
/ The American farmer can "do his
bit'' and aid the nation 70 meet war
| food demands by more efficiency in
! production and bv Increasing Yields of
staple products. secretary Of Agricul-
1 ture Houston said tonight THE food
! crops must be increasad. war de-
mands ana world food shortage must
be met bv American farmers. Efficient
| production is Imperative ~Fhe inport-
ance to the nation, Of an ADEQUATE food
supply for the coming year cannot he
| oyer-emphaslzea i'm view of the
! econonic nrobienls, which may arise
as result of the entrance az the
! United states INTO the war. Every ef.
| fort should be madc.to produce mere
erops than are needed for our nwn re :