The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-07-28

many burned It rather n = puy fuel"
why Corn n niGh.
well, stili goinG after the fanda-
mental sason why 70 corn 10 hish'
! persisted the interviewer. .
/ Corn In standing on record levels
said MT. Armour partly hecause OF It's
Increased production cost. In wages n
80 on. but even more because OF the
sympathetic and competitive relation
that exists between corn and wheat.
wheat In the real basis on which food
values are determined, The govern
! rcnt IL responsible for the high cost
| % wheat by It's guarantee nj $2,26 per
hushei to tho farmers of the country.
That price was fixed In the belief that
IL was high enough to un-
! usual production.
Congress did not think that wheat
would be worth that much or the open
market. and SO an appropriation OF a
billion dollars was passed In order TO
make up h difference hat
the government paid for the wheat
and what II expected to get for II IN
the open market. The United states
Grain corporation. however. thus far
has made no reduction In the price. and
SO with wheat at its present high lev
els corn IS up. and also meat animals
Mt a record level"
WAY Boosts Exports.
Sounds like the nail in the board
of the wall IN the house that Jack
built'.' said the interviewer. but 'ogi-
cal Now. What effect has export on
the domestic MARKET
let me saw that in normal times We
export very little beef from this coun-
try. That was true before the war.
But during the war, or after the war
had been on for a time and the sub
marine had worked havoc among the
worlds carrying fleets England awoke
to the fact that one shir plying be-
tween England and the United states
was worth two or three ships betwee
South America or Australia. and con-
dttions had reached n point where de-
rnand was more important than price.
II was then that the allies turned to
this country for meat and naturally
cur exports mounted rapidly.
Naturally this increased demand
and it's competitive buying boosted
prices. But with the signing of the
armistice there vas an instant break
in the cattle market and export of
beef from this country practically
~ceased-the break was go sharp that
It threatened many live stock men
with ruin. Europe Is again getting
its beef from South America and
Australia and the corn-fed beef of
this country can never again hope to
compete with the grass~fed animals
OF the Argentine end Australina. It
may even be that Erass-fed beef from
the Argentine will soon he a COM
! petitor in ~ own markets The
availability OF shipping facilities will
probably assure this.
The end Of the war did not affect
~ 49, ,,A - xt H. 3l~ .
market. however. There is no place
other than this country where the
hungry people of Europe can secure
hog products and hat is largely the
reason why hog prices continued to
climb even while beef was falling off
a. few weeks ago. This drop in
prices so alarmed the beef producers
that they inaugurated an advertising
campaign to increase the use of beef
and lamb. and this campaign, together
with the disa appearance of surplus
beef stocks has cause demand to
again catch UT with production and
for a wee or more past the packers
have had to engage actively in buying
beef cattle 10 fill orders-and the re-
suit has been stronger prices in the
cattle market.
with respect to the shipment OF
breeding animals to Europe, Europe
has need for a considerable number,
1t seems to me, but not enough have
been sent or are in prospect of being
sent to make such expectations an i'm
p~ortant factor in the present price"
Answers Recent Charges.
Mr.. Armour paused. leaned forward
/ in his chair, and began what nigh
!, be termed his answer to the recen
| charges Of the food admjnistration-
that the Big Five control foot
t prices.
Il just want to seize this oppor
tunity to say a few words about tn
: legislation that has been proposed a
Washington" he said. The legislation
which its advocates promises the con
sumner will lower the price of mea
and which they promise the pro
, Queer will make his live stock wortl
! more. 1t becomes apparent to an,
r n who studies the situation that II
the very nature of things some one j
being fooled--the 10 per cent prof
a on volume which the food administra
I ton showed the packers made las
: year, and which is about the usua
a rate, cannot be so divided between tn
' producer and the consumer that IT. /
a going to mean anything TO either o
them.
Yet because prices are high Ger
I tain critics of the big packers ar
A seeking to enact laws that will Grip
pie packer activities. want TO ga
that the laws which have been pro
posed cannot do other than Jesse
the efficiency of the big packers, an
any lessened efficiency means highe
: rather than lower prices to the con
: sumner.
r II hope The Trihune's readers wi
interest themselves in this whole mat
ter to the extent OF finding out wha
. the facts really are.
Meat prices are high az compare
to the prices that ruled before tn
$ war, but they are low as compare
with the level that other basic o
9 have attained, and they are low com
/ pared to the prices which would in a
I likelihood prevail II the efficiency @
q the present packing Industry
8 ruined by legislation based o n misun
. Outstanding. misrepresentation. an
8 ~ungrounded prejudice-on the theor
!. that the price Of meat can be reduce
I and the price OF meat animals raise
g by one and the same law.
I The remedy for the present hig
e prioes requires twofo1d action. Firs
r and foremost. world production q
y food must be increased. Europe
3 PROSTATE and Is going to make som
( tremendous exertions TO get produc