Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-12
CONGRESS MAY ACT
TO CURB SHORTS
Grain Legislation Held Likely
as Result of Hoover'S At
tack on Spectators.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

| A drive to curb short selling on the
grain exchanges, or certainly to give
the widest publicity to such trans
actions, may develop in the next session
Of Congress as q result of the attack
leveled by President Hoover on the
SPECTATORS selling wheat short on the
market today.
Members of Congress in Washington
yesterday said that bills for this pur-
/ pose had been introduced many times
in the past In both houses of Congress,
but nothing had been done with them.
They intimated that the grain trade
had been too strong in its opposition to
this kind of legislation.
While officials of the Government
who have knowledge Of the wheat stu
alton admitted last night that short
selling Of wheat at this time has some
thing to do with the drop in price of
that commodity, they pointed out that
the real root of the situation lay in the
this year about 200.000,000 bushels more
wheat than can be consumed in the
United States.
In Excess OF Surplus.
Furthermore, attention was called to
the fact that this 200,000000 bushels
of wheat Is in excess of the surplus
wheat carried over from last year.
Much Of that surplus is in the hands
OF the Federal Farm Board. purchased
in its efforts to stabilize the price IF
wheat for the farmers in 1880 and 1929
In addition, the world surplus of
wheat last year was about $4,000. 900
bushels That is the amount that was
produced in the world in excess CT
what the importing countries bought
and the exporting countries consumed
The Department of Agriculture has
estimated that the wheat crop of this
country this year will reach a total
of $50 100000 bushels. A year ago
the crop amounted to $4,000, 900
bushels; in 1929 it was 815,00O,000
bushels and in 1923 over 900,000,oo0
bushels.
The consumption Of wheat in this
country for food. seed and feed is not
over 650,000,000 bushels year Under
these circumstances the problem of
the wheat producer in America is not
difhcult to understand though very diff
f1cu]t to solve.
Drought In Canada.
The American wheat farmers may
be aided this year by the conditions
prevailing In Canada, where the wheat
crop Is said to be in bad shape, due
! to the. drought, so bad that 1t may
not amount to more than half the
usual crop. There are bad crop con-
ditions reported too. from Australia
and Argentina, both big wheat-export-
ing countries.
A campaign of education regarding
the wheat situation in this country
and throughout the world has been
underway for several years Efforts
have been made to get the farmers
! to reduce their acreage. The size of
the wheat crop this year. however, does
not indicate that the campaign has
| had any particular effect so far
The price of wheat on the Chicago
exchange took another drop of u
cent yesterday.
Just what the administration can do
at present regarding the short selling
Of wheat on the exchanges in this
country Is not clear. President
Hoover's denunciation Of the specula-
tors who are INDUCING in this prac-
tice now may bear results, but in the
opinion of members of Congress un-
less there Is legislation to curb the
gamblers little will be accomplished.
U. S. Knows Spectators.
Under the so-called grain futures
act, the Department of Agriculture
must be notified when sales Of wheat
in a single day by any concern or in
dividual amount to 100000 bushels or
more. But under this act there is a