Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1918-08-22
sllOOI CoAnEhDS
EOOD ADMINISTRATION
UTAH SENATOR HAS BEEN \
CLOSE sTupeNT OF FOOD REG
uAAtioNs AND PROBLEMS.
Sssues Comprehensive Statement
Touching on the Various Angles
Of thv Food Question.

Smoot OF Utah, who has In the past
year kept in close touch with the
Food Administration. especially in the
lines OF its activities which affected
sugar beets or other phases OF the
western agricultural production, and
whose cooperation has been OF great
value in dealing with western food
questions, recently made the follow
ing comprehensive statement:
The Food Administration Is an
emergency organization that has Nv
ed up 10 its war-obligadons to the
fullest extent Before II lay the
tremendous task Of so managing the
Nations food supply that We at home
here would have enough, while we
fed our armed forces and the Allies.
How we'll II has accomplished that
task Is proved by the fact that our
cause Is going on TO ultimate triumph
in Europe. a triumph that would have
been impossible without the aid ex-
tended from these shores by ship
ment OF food.
Although there has been some critic
ism OF the Food Administration in the
Senate, there has been no word OF
criticism concerning the manner in
which 1t has furnished food TO the
Allies. which was our country's great
est war Obligation No one can doubt
that 10 has succeeded. Had our peo-
pie consumed wheat as they were &C.
cuYtomed 70 in normal times there
would have been only from 10000 900
10 100000 bushels for export as the
surplus OF the 1917 crop Instead, we
have already sent nearly l50.000.0o0
bushels. and before the 1918 crop Is
available 1t is hoped that this figure
will stretch to 170,000.000 This ex-
cess has been saved by the people OF
the country. as a result OF the food
conservation campaign, and IL has
been the absolute salvation of the
Allies.
Before the war the United States
had almost ceased 10 be a food-ex
porting nation. while the nations O;
Europe imported heavily. This coun-
try then supplied about 10 per cent OF
their food defcit. In 1917 II supplied
about SO per cent, although the food
reserves OF our nation had been
by the demands of other war
years and the crop was slightly de-
ncient From the 1918 crop. unless
shipping facilities increase more rap
idly than the public pronouncement Of
today would indicate. the United
States may be called upon to supply
more nearly 100 per cent OF the Allied
food deficit
This may have TO be done at a time
when millions OF our young men have
been taken from the farms for the
Army and warindustrtes. II Is likely
that we shall be this year at the peak
OF agricultural production and that
next year will see a fall, because Of
lack OF labor At home. In that case
we shall be doubly in need OF such
OF our food resources az
the Food Administration has proved
It can give us. Measured In terms OF
nutritive or DEMONSTRATING value, the
1917 crop was per cent below nor
NAL. Had this decrease amounted TO
Is or 20 per cent there could be no
question that the Allied countries
would have been lost. We escaped
by that narrow margin. In 1919 we
must escape aSain-and By . wider
Expectation OF all meat for the
calendar year 1917 totaled l,69+.8S2y-
900 pounds. The per capita consump-
ton in this country for 1917 was
1898 pounds. as compared with 1878
pounds for 1915. In short. the differ
enoe OF s pounds per person, due
largely to the Misrepresentation pro-
aggregated almost one-half
our total expectations TO the Allied
There is no doubt that, no matter
how abundant the 1918 crop may Be.
We should build up a reserve, both
here and on the other side OF the
Atlantic, against possible lean years
10 come. Recently We have beep lay
Ing by a small meat reserve abroad.
The effect upon the morale OF the
French and British people that comes
from knowledge that the United
is building up even a small
stock as surplus Is incidentally
good. They accept this policy as as
surance that We shall see TO II that
they have enough TO sustain life in
definitely-and we shall not fail them
In the Al days after the United
States entered the war the average
rise in food prices was more than 20
per cent This was between April Q
and May II, 1917. Upon this last
date Mr. Hoover was appointed Food
Administrator, although without pow.
ers OF law, and was instructed by the
President to obtain such relief as was
possible through voluntary co-opera-
ton OF the people. In August the
Food Control Act was passed and
staple commodities came under reg
ulation.
The rise in prices indicates what
SPECTATORS and proHteers would have
done had they not been checked. The
date OF Mr.. Hoover's appointment
marks the highest price in general
'oodstuffs; and although greatly low
cred prices cannot generally be prom
ised in time OF war, regulation has
n-ovad that speculatiOn can be