The Washington herald., 1918-02-11
WAR TOBRING
new FOODLAW
Holland Says Old Rules of
Supply and Demand
viii Change.

the New York bar and partner in one
OF the leading law firms Mark Wins
low Potter Is probably better known
to the public as the president Of the
Carolina. Ciinchneld and Ohio Rail-
road than in his vocation as q law
yer. although that has been success
fuL The Carolina. Clinchfield and
Ohio Railroad is associated with that
remarkable enterprise which owes its
success to cooperation Of capital and
ability between the late Norman b.
Ream, the banking house of Blair
Brothers and 7. Jefferson Coolidge Of
Boston They succeeded where others
failed They built an air line railroad
from the Clinchfield coal regions to
Spartensburg. S. c., where connec-
ton Is made with a railroad by
means of which they are able to trans
port their coal to vast elevators and
wharf facilities which they caused to
be constructed on the shores OF
Charleston Harbor.
In order successfully to handle these
properties entailed management which
in its way equaled the great ability
OF which Mr.. Ream was recognized
as a possessor Ability of that kind
was found in Mr.. Potter. And he
was regarded as especially valuable
: to the railroad corporation and to the
coal company because his was not a
narrow mind. concentrated exclusively
upon one thing, but because he was
able to take a national point of view
OF all our material connections. He
has made a study OF the agricultural
Industries OF the United States and
his early experience IN Illinois in the
heart OF the corn belt, served him
well when at a later time, he spoke
authorltatively upon the production
of Indian corn in the United States.
Mr.. Potter. in a recent communica-
ton to the Manufacturers Record, of
Baltimore. stated that in the North
and West all of the Indian corn lands
2 have been taken up. An assertion of
!, that kind has been spoken of as al
most astonishing for 1t was presumed
that in the Far Northwest there still
remained many acres OF land avail
liable for the cultivation of Indian
But, according to Mr.. Potter. here
> after the United States must rely
upon the border States and the South
= for the supply OF Indian corn for
which there will be. not only in war
times but after the war, a very great
demand.
= In the Year 1918.
~ Mr.. Potter speaks as a man of au-
thority when he says that there arc
several reasons for the belief that the
q. six months between January l and
July /. 1918 are likely to be most mo-
y rlentous in the life of the nation.
One of the reasons for this belief in
IL
disclose whether or not we have in
!. creased our food production up to
the point OF providing sufficient sup
plies for our own people and also for
the rest Of the world. II there should
be a failure OF the crops in 1918. or
even should there be any falling OF
in the harvest next summer and fall
as compared with the harvest of 1917.
then io Mr.. Potter's opinion, the price
of foodstuffs in the United States will
be Increased 100 per cert next fall and
winter, thereby creating intense dis
= tress and sure to cause social and in
-dustrial disorders. Mr.. Potter goes so
4 far as to to say that ''the probable
Tesults of famine in Europe, which a
' reduced production IN the United
States in 1918 would cause, and the
possible effect upon the determination
of the war, are too terrible to con-
template" Mr.. Potter is one Of those
men whose Judgment is esteemed
highly who are persuaded that we
have been rnisled respecting the suf-
.fciency Of our food supplies. Instead
Of a sufficiency, in his belief there is
shortage of beef, a considerable,
and an alarming shortage of sheep
and a falling of in the production of
wool. as compared with the produc-
tion Of 1910. Of over 3. 5.0OO,0 900 pounds.
As one Of the results OF the war, It
is already being perceived and here
after Is TO be fully realized, according
to Mr.. Potter, that the world is trans
formed into a new era never to re-
turn to the old. 1t is an era in which
the relations Of producers to con-
sumers, Of production to consumption
will be found to have changed forever.
For instead OF the excess production
Of the past. we are in danger of a
shortage in the future, and unless this
danger Is overcome there will inevita-
bly, arise very serious economic and
social troubles.
Appealing for Aid.
Mr.. Potter Is one OF those who be-
lieve that at this time IL is the duty
Of men of capital and of manufacture
ers to provide all of the additional
\ capital and aid which are needed in
order to bring to the highest point pos
sible the food products of the Amer
ican soil. The farmers are able AND
willing to furnish efficiency. but they
need capital and they need the aid oi
the manufacturers. To quote again
from Mr.. Potter. THE farmers loan
bank act will help. A more liberal
policy of making loans to the farmers
will help. But the bankers and man.
ufacturers and capitalists generally
must actually take up and engage in
the business Of farming. They must
! try to apply to farming the modern
ideas of organization. system and ef-
fciency, that have made possible the
great Industrial organizations of the
day."
II Is to the South that the people
must look for increased production oi
meat. and other food supplies, es-
pecially the grains. such as Indiar
corn and wheat. For in the South
every crop Of the North and West
including corn. grows in profusion anC
furnished with the greatest economN
the proteins. the fats and the car
bohydrates necessary for balanced ra-
fions. Here, then, is a man of West.
ern birth. OF prominence as a lawyer
of the New York Bar, Of high stand.