Middletown transcript., 1918-03-02
FOOD SHORTAGE
IN THE EAST
Hoover Declares Situation 10
Be Most Critical
FOOD TO HAVE PREFERENCE
Puts Blame On Railroad Jam-Amer
lea Far Behind In Its Program
For Feeding The
Allies.

the United States faces q food short.
age likely to continue for the next 80
days. In making this disclosure Food
Administrator Hoover declared that
the situation is the most critical in
the country's history, and that In
many of the large consuming areas
reserve food stores are at the point
of exhaustion.
The whole blame is put by the Food
Administrator on railroad congestion,
which he says also has thrown the
Food Administration behind in it's pro-
gram for feeding the Allies. The only
solution he sees is a greatly increased
rail movement of foodstuffs even to
the exclusion of much other COM
merce.
The Railroad Administration is in
clined to resent Mr.. Hoover's blame
of the railroads, and Director-Gene7al
McAdoo declared he was ready to pro-
vide every transportation facility for
expediting food movement. The Rail-
road Administration, he said, had sus-
gested that farmers be urged to re-
lease their grain holdings and that
large numbers of available cars
might be utilized in moving them.
Cereal exports to the Allies, Mr..
Hoover's statement says, will be 49,
OOO,O 900 bushels short by the end of
February, and meat shipments also
are far short of the amounts prom
ised
Inability to move the crops, Mr..
Hoover sets forth, has suspended the
law of supply and demand and has
created a price margin between pro-
Queer and consumer wider than 1t
ever was before.
Far Behind With Allies.
Mr.. Hoover's statement follows:
I'm response to many inquiries, l
beg to say it is true that since the
first of December we have fallen far
behind our agreed food program with
the Allies. BY the end of February
we will be short 45,0OO,000 bushels in
cereal products, which We undertook
as our share of their supplies. We
will also be short of the amount of
meat and pork products we were to
deliver. This deficiency is due solely
to the railway congestion since that
date. The railway directorate. since
coming into control on January l. has
made effort to find remedy, but during
the month of January the weather
was insuperable and, although prog.
ress has been made since February
S, the situation is the accumulation
of three months delay.
1.-THE next go days will be the most
critical period in our food history. The
simple fact is that the problem goes
far deeper than supplies to the Allies.
During the last three months we have
fallen far behind in movement OF
foodstuffs from the farms to the con-
Stunning and storage centres. Up to
the first of February less than so per
cent of the normal ratio of corn has
been moved, less than 80 per cent. Of
the oats and less than so per cent. of
the potatoes. From November l to
January / we were short in the usual
of grains and grain prod
ucts into the terminals alone by over
10000 carloads-over 120,00O,000
bushels, and this further aggregated
by similar shortage outside the term
inals.
Furthermore, this year we have
the largest percentage of soft corn in
many years, and, though we have
record crop of corn, considerable
portion of the soft corn will be lost
by spelling unless it can be moved in
the next 60 days to- the drying term
inals. The least amount of grain that
must be loaded for the next go days
is 100000 bushels a day-and we
have not yet attained that. Less than
this will solve neither the Allied nor
our domestic situation"