The Bottineau courant., 1918-11-28
WASHINGTON
NEWS Co. q. -; &C. C.
REACTIONARIES WOULD
USE FOOD WEAPON
AGAINST WORKERS.

famine in Europe as the most eff
effective means not only of heal
ing quickly some of the terrible
wounds Of the great war but of
enabling the peoples Of Europe
to maintain orderly govern
ments. A hungry people cannot
be expected to do what would be
hard for people in normal cir
cu1nstances to do, namely, to set
up a stable democratic govern
ment to take the place Of an au-
tocracy centuries old.
But this great food problem
will test the metal Of America
and the allies as well as that of
the former enemy peoples. The
common people of England, It
ally, France and the neutral ma
tions are also hungry as they
have never been before, altho
they are normally lands of con-
siderable poverty. A fine order
of craftsmanship is needed to
solve this problem. With AM
erica the test will come in the
way in which the aid is given.
Not a few of the so-called
leaders in America would be very
glad to use the food supply from
abroad as a weapon to check any
steps which the European peo-
pies may want to make toward
more than "a superficial political
democracy. The more progress
sive members of the administra-
tion are against any such tao
tics. They believe the common
people abroad should have the
right to determine their form of
government and what it shall do.
But the administration does not
always succeed in getting it's
views accepted by the govern
ment as a whole. President Will
son, for instance, demanded
price fixing on what the farmer
had to buy as well as what he
had to sell, but he didn't get it.
He demanded that rampant pro-
fiteering stop and it went on
very gaily indeed.
High Food Prices to Continue.
Hoover warns the country that
every particle Of food must be
saved. We shall have enough
wheat for all-wheat bread, and
we shall, if we are careful, have
enough of the other food ex-
cept fats, butter, condensed milk
and other dairy products, which
must be sent to Europe to save
the lives Of the children. We
shall be short of high protein
feeds, needed for dairy cattle.
We shall need to stimulate the
raising of hogs and of dairy cat
tie to the limit.
Signs all point, then, to a per
iod Of continued high prices on
farm products. Within a year
the wheat supplies from Austral-
ia, India, Argentina and the vast
wheat regions OF southern Si-
IBERIA will be upon the worlds
market, but not soon enough to
save from famine the peoples
who are far from the open cham
nels Of trade. Hoover predicts
that nearly ten million Of these
people will perish of starvation
this winter. The war has ended
too late III the yeaI " DlaAe pos
sible the wholesale food distribu-
ton which alone can save them.
Since food prices are likely to
remain up, industrial conditions
can not settle back to anything
similar to the conditions exist
inc before the war. Wages must
be enough to meet the high cost
Of food. Demobilization Of the
army must be handled in such
q way as to leave no chance that
the country shall be torn BY
strikes. But wages alone will
not be sufficient; there must be
government regulation Of food
prices. If the food administra-
tion is permitted to expire with
the Lever act, on the day the
peace is finally signed, then con-
qress must create some other
authority to do the same work.
If hunger is the. cause Of dis
turbances in q dozen countries
IA Europe today, hunger may be-
danger to public order in Amer
lea tomorrow. We may pretty
safely forecast the permanent
establishment Of 9 federal food
administration.
Politicians Study European
Trend.
Il xx~... 1..,r.,.nxy, fvr1f liant flnda- thAf1