The Sentinel=record. (Hot Springs, Ark.) 1900-current, 1918-02-22

Washington, Feb. 21.-The eastern
part of the United States faces a food
shortage likely to continue for the
next sixty days.
In making this disclosure tonight
Food Administrator Hoover declared
the situation is the most critical in
the countrys 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 far behind in its
program for feeding the allies The
only solution he sees is a greatly in
creased rail movement Of foodstuffs,
even to the exclusion of much other
commerce 1t was very evident TO-
! night that the railroad administration
| is inclined TO resent Mr Hoover S
blame and Director General McAdoo
declared he was ready to provide every
transportation facility for expediting
! food movement The railroad admin
istration, he said. had suggested that
farmers be urged to release their grain
boards and that large numbers of
available cars might lie utilized in
! moving them.
Cereal exports TO the allies. Mr.
Hooyer's statement says. will be forty
five million bushels short on March
and meat shipments also are far
short Of the amounts promised
Inability to move the crops, Mr.
Hoover sets forth, has suspended the
law of supply and demand and has
created price margin between pro-
ducer and consumer wider than 1t
ever was before
a large part of the corn crop is
about to spoil because it is not NOV
ing to terminals for drying The per
centase of soft corn i'm last years crop
all of which must be dried if it is to
be saved is the largest ever known.
! Estimates place the amount as hisl
as billion bushels
I The cost of grains for feeding live
stock has increased to such an eX-
tent by reason Of transportation facili-
ties, Mr. Hoover says that feeders
are confronted with the prospect OF
serious losses Dairying, too, he de
clares are hard hit
Potatoes, the food administrator de
! clares, are spelling in producers hands
while consumers have been supplied
only from summer garden crops and
stores carried over
Mr. Hoover's statement follows:
"In response to many inquiries beg
| to say it is true that since the first
of December we have fallen far be
hind our agreed food program with
the allies BY the end of February
we will be short 45,000,000 bushels IN
| cereal products which we undertoob
as our share Of their supplies We
| win also be short of the amount OF
Tmeat and pork products that 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
/ has made efforts to find a remedy
but during the month of January the
weather was insuperable and al
{ though progress has been made since
the fifth of February, the situation Is
, the accumulation of those delays. Tn,
, next sixty days will be the mos
/ critical period in our history Th'
, simple fact is that the problem goe'
/ far deeper than supplies to the allies
/ During the last three months we hav'
3 fallen behind in movement Of food
stufts from the farms to the consum
ing and storage centers. Up to tn
r first of February less than fifty pc
! cent Of the normal ratio of corn ha
: been moved, less than eighty per cen
: OF the oats and less than sixty pc
e cent OF the potatoes. From Noyembe
{ to January / we We're short IN Tn
1 usual movement OF grains and graf
products into the terminals alone o