The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-20
HENRY CLEWS
 WEEKLY LETTER
fclews. weekly G.etter.)

Allies. It. however, served the uselul .p1r,uose of clarifying and enPnaa'iznHe H the Allies intentions. Their terms 1,e, 1,o now more definitely and more nIalny established. and the basis o1 r,orr,la-s discussion has been cieariy o,,flir,ed. z, The Central power govern ments must know, If their people ou moi. the main condidtions to Wn.cn they must eventually submit ane sooner they abandon the present poi.cy Of reff- Abstraction, the Detuer Ol +ban,.elves and the world at iaree' rms "A fies- are united in insisting upon i. z,e,,ne that means the triumph or oe- j r,orracv7 over autocracy. At present Deace appears impossible pecauSe Germany is not ready to accept lne Anies' terms, and evidently VII ,,.,S mo., until compelled either ny ..H +s,a victory or change of heart III t.ne cserma.n leaders; the aatter pelns much the more desirable basis or Au I t11strnent for all concerned, Gerlnany fncluded.~-y------.-,, ssszs
 N The N1aea 4nnaixa&inM Nfsaovernment .rintroy over business, which IS now [ ibefr1a 50 sweepdnEly put into opera tior since passage of the Food SoH- troI Law, is necessarily naVlns somewhat rmsettling enect Anis, however, will only be temporary, H. Anu ! within a few weeks pubic aoJ oJAue.S oJusen..sS to the new regulations Wnl pe pS. pteo- 7 t,railv ror,pleteA The food supplies or fhA frnifsd AstAtes are now practically { ,,r,S7e+ tgse regulation of ass one man. MT. Hoover, who has heen clotnea with absolute powers. The poilcy ol the aovernanent in regard to price hx- ine will unsdoubtedfy be a conserva- tive one, for the reason that the rlsks Of the situation are understood ana that it would be unwtse to anter1ere with business to an extent thai woulo impair tax-payang abilities. EA tIa- ordinary conditions usually requlre \ eo11alnv extraordinary means of hand- linz. War had so completely de- ran<ed the ordinary means of pro- ducttou and distribution tikt the nat uraI play of supply and demand be- came Impossible Commodity prices have been soaring and soaring until fine food problem became acutely grave and it was evident that, unless some efrectual step was taken to check the rise in food and other nec- essaries of life through unscrupulous speculation and manipulation, serious nnblic and political derangement would follow Profteorfng developed into a menace that must sbe overcome, and the only practical cure was gov ernment control while war continues. when the war Is ended, ordinary in ffuences of supply and demand may be allowed to reassert themselves' thouxh 1t Is by no means certain that all of the new government activities assumed on account of the war win be abandoned On the contrary, not . few Of them will be retained; and a1thouxd this country is not prepared fo talns on the sociaHstfc system, still one Of the .legac1es Of the war will un- doulbtedfy be a much closer regulation z of 1buasindsH by government than was possible before. How far tho govern mont will Invade the field of owner shtp remains to be seen. Tn this di- rection the movement will be more cautious and such experiments prom ise' to be confined at firsr TO public 7 utilities, such as electricity, gas. brol- E leys and other public service institu- tons.
 The worlds food situation is more serious than generally appreciated. Destruction of lire, of weaath and of commodities In Europe has lessened food production in various parts of the world; while the diff1culties of Transportation aggravated the serious shortage fn nearly all lines of animal and vegetable foods. High prices re- suited unavobdaibly. Many articles of < food have doubled in value since the war, and high food prices seem like " to continue for some time to come even after the war, simply because la Dor will be scarce, wages high, capital dearer and transportation expensive The results of government control oi prices will probably be seen chiefly ir preventing too marked rise or toe much speculation or unscrupulous profiteer7ng, fowhich In these tirmei would be a crime. No great decline in values can be expected through government or any other agency The i scarcity of products is worldwide, sant all the government in the world can
 not prevent the natural economic con sequences of such a situation Int only way of bringing down prices 1. to economize. to avoid waste and te increase the product in every possible direction. High prices and libera profttszaer then natural law of supply and demands will accomplish thii more quickly than any other means Profits of the American farmer this year will be positively phenomenal On the four principal crops, corn, cot ton. wheat and oats alone, it is esti- mated that. if current prices prevail the growers profits on these foul articles will reach s6 ,000, ,0O0, 900 more 4bAA&&AA A1aSN T<AA. lOD<ply LfllS rate Ce profits will not be maintained, thougt they will remain very high. Other crops and farm animals are also yielding extraordinary returns; tn, result being that American farmers whether sout hor west, are sure tt revel in an unprecedented prosperity which within few weeks will be re fiected in business activity at home Here are excess profits that woult prodtfce an enormous revenue if with
 In reach, but they are practically ex empt because they are looked upol and treated as privileged class. I'm government has already been quit, successful. in checking the rise fl steel, copper and other products. | remains to be seen WI ether a carre spending restraint will be imposed up on the profits of the soil as well al those of the mines. of manufactur, and of railroads.
 The financial situation is inevitabl, dominated by the necessities of gov ernment financing. The Secretary O the Treasury somewhat startled tn, country by the announcement that h. would require 5000. o00. 900 in addi tion to tho ss.ooo.ooo.ooo LAbert,