The Press., 1917-12-27

Tasks of Administrator Who Is Saw
 ing American People $6s,ooo,ooo
 Monthly on Their Wheat Flour Bill.
 Sugar Enough to Feed Belgium Kept
 From Candy Makers.
 4 4 k 4 # 4 4 4 Akk*& ~%&t&kk |
 4 This is the fifth article of a <
 f series on America's war prepara- <
 4 tions, secured from federal off 4
 4 ciaIs by the Publicity Committee <
 f of the Connecticut State Council #
 4 of Defense. for publication in & 4 Connecticut newspapers. They <
 4 Will deal with all phases of the <
 4 nations organization for war, #
 Y and Will be as complete and in- < | formative as the exlgencies of t 4 military strategy will permit. 4 &i..i .... 4- 4 &A&A&A& tt 4 K < < && < 4 4
 The end of last summer saw Cador- mas army on the point of making the long hoped for break in the Teutonic lines. But Italy ran short of wheat. In September the all-important bread ration of the Italian soldier had to be cut from 75O grams a day to 500 grams. The next month the Germans attacked. and the Italian line crum. pied
 The United States Food Admins tration had not been created by Con- gress until August 10. There is no particular reason why it should not have been created two months earlier. It's work is to prevent just such con. tingencies as the cutting of the Ital- Ian ration.
 The work of the Food Administra tion is two jobs rather than one The first task is to see that food in the more concentrated forms is savel from unnecessary consumption here in order that it may be shipped to Europe.li5 @Gssal 4.,, . s.,
 4 AS part of this task Mir. Hoover asks every American to eat each day one ounce less of sugar than he usual ly eats. Is he trying to inflict a hard ship when he asks that: Americans who do as he requests will still eat three-fourths of their normal consump-
 ion of sugar. But the English are getting only little over one-fourth as much sugar as they used to eat.
 American confectioners have been putting 100000 tons of sugar a year into candy. That amount of sugar would all but supply the entire Eng fish demand at the present rate of | consumption. Recently he administra- ton has cut the candy makers down to 20O,O00 tons year. The money value of,the sugar. SO saved is enough to feed all of Belgium for one year.
 In restricting the candy makers the | administration WAS performing the | second part of It's .task--that of con- trolling the distribution of food sup. plies. In its, conservation work the ! administration deals directly with | producer and consumer. On the side | OA GOntAOA AS QSS4S W1Lu IIl0 ua0ULaG~ turer and the wholesaler.
 Food control is saving money for | the American household week by | week. In May, wheat was at $3.5O a bushel and flour at $17.1O Congress brought wheat down to S2.2O for this years crop, and Hoover's organiza- tion had reduced the price of flour to | $I0.25. On every barrel of flour | bought the purchaser has been en- abled to save at least $6.85. As Amer lea consumes ten million barrels of flour in. a month, the tctal monthly | saving effected by the administration at this one point Is $6S,5OO,OOO.
 But keeping down the cost of living Is not the primary object of the admin Istration. It opposes hoarding, not so much because hoarding raises prices as because it keeps food out of the market at the very times when it Is most seriously needed. The admins tration's licensing system has practi. cally eliminated hoarding Jobbers, and big retailers can do business only if they have a license. If they are caught hoardine, a forfei- 5ure of their license puts them out of business forthwith. Public opinion keeps the small. retailers in line