The Washington times., 1919-01-15
REAtREAS0NF FOR
1OOM|[L|ONB|LL
Continued from First Pags.)


an embargo has been necessary tc
prevent further congestion.
When. word was flashed over the
wires to the packing industry that
England had failed to "come through"
and make good Oh her orders, fifty rep
Iesentativc r'cat packers from all
parts of the country hurried to Wash
Ington- for conferences with the Food
Administration officials.
Last October they entered into a
gentlemen's agreement with the Gov
ernment to maintain a minimum price
of 171s cents a pound for hogs.
The farmers had been appealed to
through every known medium to raise
more hogs, both from patriotic and
monetary motives.
VIII Maintain Price.
In establishing a high price the
Food Administration, the Department
of Agriculture, and the packers Of
fered a bonus to increase produc-
ton Now that the farmer has gone
ahead with what amounted to a guar
antee by the Government of an extra
reward and raised NOR 'rkers than
this country had ever re had, this
Government is going to ~ and main
tain the price.
The packers. through their official
organ. the National Provisioner, say
that lit has been suggested that 1t Is
10 the financial advantage Of Great
Britain to allow matters to lag q
trife. As stocks pile up in this coun-
try the tendency will be toward q
price break in order to avoid loss"
HIt is a question of honor" they
point out, "and II is believed that the
British will come through and make
good on their orders"
When the packers agreed to main
tain the 17h cent minimum price foi
the month Of January, IL was with the
understanding that there would be
Government and foreign orders suf-
ficient to make 1t possible for them
to pay that price and still do busi'
ness.
The foreign orders failed to de-
yelop when England announced she
wanted no more American pork prod
ucts. but would raise her own.
Paekers See Crisis
The packers foresaw that unless
Government assistance was forthcom-
ing, ruin stared them in the face: in
stitutioRs in which they held 7securf-
ties would go down with them; small
packers would be forced out Of bust
ness: pork products would glut the
market and would have to be sold al
a loss; other meat products would au-
tomatically drop and q financial crisis
would be on
Minimum prices fixed by the Gov.
ernment were not binding. but under
the circumstances the acceptance OF
them by the packers made them
operative and almost as effective as
IL they had been binding. The same
prices were also effective in all the
allied nations, since they were based
on q scheme through which the
worlds pork supply was jobbed.
The high Government official men,
TONED above, who, because OF his po-
sition, asks that his name be withheld
holds that the present situation Is
brought about as a result OF what he
calls "the old-time selfish English
commercialism-"
Sees British Competition
He said that in effect it means that
English eommerciaIism is coming to
the. fore. to repudiate a pledge OF
honor and to say to the United States,
I'VE Will not abide by your food
rules-we will fix our own prices-we
will reap our own prOfits-we will be
your competitor"
German commercialism wrecked
Germany" the Government Official
declared. at was selfish, 1t was
rotten. IL was too much for this age.
Tt had the German people fooled.
we are now having to deal with a
brand Of commercialism that is worse
than Germany ever dreamed Oft is
English commercislism. You may 20
back as far in her history as you
like and you will find it
Mr.. Hoover is having the very
devil Of time over there trying to
make England carry her end of the
burden and play fair. We can only
hope that she will come around
shortly.
There are now thirty-slx shipIoads
Of food supplies either already docked
or about to be docked in European
ports. but not a pound Of them can be
used to relieve the millions of stary-
ing people over there unless financial
arrangements are made to satisfy
the demands OF the United States
Treasury.
Says England Laid Down.
England has laid down on her
agreement TO take certain shipments
of pork products. Much of the ship
ment in question is pork and pork