Evening journal., 1918-01-03
Hoover MOULD TAKE
OYER ALL SUGAR
Recommends Government
Purchase and Sale of
Stock in Country
HE HAS A STAT
WITH REEF

WASHINGTON. Jan. 3.-Governmenr
purchase and sale to consumers OF
all sugar used in the United States, anC
control OF the amounts and kinds o.
food TO be served in public eatin.
places, were adv coated TO meet the alb.
normal war conditions by Food Admin.
istratOr Hoover today in testimony be.
fore Senate committee investigator.
sugar. He said additional legislation
comforting upon the Food Adminstra
ton such powers SHOULD be enacted by
Congress.
Food conservation came up only cas-
ually during an all-day examination o
Mr.. Hoover, but the Administrator re
vealed that results from conservation
plans formulated for hotels and restaur-
ants had been disappointing because o.
the deliberate failure of some TO co
operate with the Administration. Those
seeking to help had been forced to aban-
don their efforts, Mr. Hoover said in
order TO meet competition. The witness
believed housewives generally wcrc
conforming to the conserN alton recon-
mendatiOns.
Chairman Reed Of the committee, who
has been the chief critic Of the Food
Administration in the Senate, did mol
question Mr.. Hoo, err. Senator Lod g
conducting the examination most Of the
day. Late in the session, howe, e.
Senator Reed and Mr. Hoover enyaged
IN rather heated discussion when the
witness asked to have admitted TO the
committee records the statement of the
sugar situation which Mr.. HooNe
sought to submit before the holidays
and which later was made public at the
White House.
Chairman Reed said he wanted to ex-
anime the statement over night and
that the question of admitting IL to the
records would be determined later. He
added that he wanted to question tn,
witness further on It, Mr.. HooVe
lnally declared, with an apparent show
Of heat that he didn't care whether II
was introduced or not"
Mr.. Hoover said that the sugar sup
ply for the next year promised TO be
10000 tons short OF the estimated de-
nand, but II was hoped to solve the
shortage by cOnserN alton and Limitation
Of supply TO manufacturers Of non-es-
senti2l fo0dstuffs. While he thought
t might be necessary to limit the pc
capita consumption TO three pounds o
month, the witness said he did not
consider the principle Of Limitation o.
personal consumption sound because
II tended to cause discomfort among the
people,
The Administrator explained his de-
sire to have the Food Administration
view Of the sugar situation presented
early in the Investigation by saying that
there was plenty of sugar in the coun-
try was not proved by the facts as he
knew them, ana tended to Offset the
Administrations campaign for cOnser-
walton. lie said he resarded II as vital
that his statement should counteract
the testimony as quickly as possible,
and thought his own statement on the
situation would be more convincing
than that Of George NJ. Rolph, head o.
the Administration Sugar Division.
In urging Coy eminent purchase OF
sugar. Mr. Hoover explained TO the
committee that through that method
alone could relncrs be paid an equit
able price He said some beet factories
are making huge profits at the Z p
cents a pound agreed upon for beet
sugar, but en- the other hand a factory
in Mich gan and "One or two In Colo
RADIO are actually losing money at that
price. His plan, however, he said, Is
for the Government TO purchase from
beet factories at different prices based
on the cost Of production, buy cane
sugars at prices on the same basis, pool
the entire lot and sell TO the consumer
at one price.
The witness denied that the Cuban
price had been fixed by a committee
formed Of renners at a price adyan-
tag0ous to them The price, he said
was fixed by the State Department, and
the international Sugar Committee haG
nothing TO do with IL The Cuban Gov
eminent wanted % cents a pound, he
said The committee deemed this too
high and as the State Department then
was negotiating with the Cuban Gov
eminent on the matter, the committee
dropped il. A price of AGO finally was
agreed upon by the State Department
and the iban Government, he said
Mr.. Hoover defended the Food Admin
istratlon's action in naming the presi-
dent Of ih9 American Sugar Refining
Company, IN officer Of the Arbucklo
Refining Company and Mr. Rolph as
the American members Of the commit
tee, saying this country could be rep
resented pr pcrly only by reflners.
we are primarily dependent in
these times on patriotic men who UNI
derstand their businesses, said the Adj
ministratOr. 1T Is impossible for me
to go into all details, but / reseNe /
final decision to myself and | take fun