Evening star., 1932-10-11

clothing repeatedly, through expert ad-
vice Of business men as shrewd as them
selves, they went into the market and
bought at cost and often below II"
In his testimony before the committee
of the Senate and the House Mr..
Hoover asserted that prices must be
regulated for the benef1t Of the con-
sumer: that they were entirely too high,
and that a fixed price should be set IN
order to keep prices at a lower level.
He declared that he advised the
allies to control the price Of American
products they desired to purchase by
the creation Of a single purchasing
agency and thus to remove competition.
He said that the plan had not worked
successfully because there were outside
buyers in the market. He therefore
asserted that we should by regulation
| fix the price Of farm products, and that
in order to do so We should create
single selling agency to be articulated
with the single purchasing agency OF
the allies. and by that combination the
price Of all products could be controlled
and reduced.
At that time wheat was selling at
So 40 bushel. Mr.. Hoover suggested
that the price be fixed at $1.50 a bushel.
Congress declined to pass such law.
But a bill supported by Mr.. Hoover
passed to prevent boarding. And Mr..
Hoover was given authority to license
all large dealers. The sole purpose OF
the law was to prevent boarding and
J food shortage in this country.
! Minimum Price Law.
In ORDER to encourage wheat produc-
i ton. Congress passed a bill guarantee
Ing a minimum price for wheat. And
10 induce the farmers to plant and in
sure them against a possible loss be-
cause Of the possible speedy ending OF
the war, Congress passed law guaran-
, teeing a minimum price OF $500 for
{ their wheat which was changed cou-
| pie Of weeks afterward to $2.20 by
| committee provided for in the bill. Mr..
| Hoover was authorized to license the
grain dealers, millers and other great
| dealers. He proceeded at once to make
the minimum price fixed by Congress
! the maximum price which should be
paid. He compelled the grain dealers
under threat Of forfeiture OF their
licenses to pay that particular price.
Under that arbitrary order the farmer
received at his home station from $1.60
to 81 80 per bushel.
At the same time wheat was being
j sold in the European markets from
$3.50 to IS 90 per bushel. That unjust
ruling by Hoover left no place for the
American farmer to sell bushel Of
grain in the domestic market except at
the arbitrary price fixed by Hoover.
| There vas then created a board, known
as the Export Grain Corporation, which
was dominated by Hoover. No graiR
could be shipped abroad except by that
board At Hoover's dictation it fixed
for export grain the prices he had al
ready fixed for the domestic market.
Thus the American farmer had no
place IN the world where he could sell
a bushel Of wheat except at the arbi-
trary prices fixed by Hoover. Similar
rulings were made for various other
farm products. The result was that
the farmer had to pay for everything
he bought World War prices. but was
not permitted to obtain World War
prices for what he had to sell. Thus
i the farmer was made the special victim
Of the war.
Sees Other Nations Aided.
Mr.. Hoover's regulation of prices was
for the benefit Of England. Italy, France
and Belgium. Thus did he carry out
the plans he brought with him to the
United States viz, to beat down Amer
lean farm prices for the benefit of
Great Britain and her allies.
The inevitable consequence was that
at the close of the war the farmer. in
stead OF having accumulated money.
had his notes in the bank and his
mortgage in the vaults Of the mort
gage company.
to make enormous wages. The farmer
was the chief victim of regulation.
This is all written in the records and
cannot be denied. l quote very briefly
excerpts from Mr.. Hoovers testimony
before the House Agriculture Commit
tee. He said:
Wheat has now been consolidated
into an international body called the
| wheat EXECUTIVE 1t controls, I est-
mate rcusAly. 80 or 80 per cent Of the
wheat buy1rg for the allies. Now be-
fore We can move one step in this
country to remedy price conditions.
protect our own consumers from ex-
travagant prices. We have got to get
that buying. commodity By commodity,
all into one hand in order that we
may have one hand to deal with
One Purchasing Agent.
That is to say. there was to be only
one agency to purchase. which. of course.
would place the farmer producer at
the mercy of the single purchaser. He
continued:
The plan I, proposed was that we
should create in that particular small
board. which, for lack of better name.
We would call the food strategy
board the members OF the board to
be chosen by the food controllers Of
| THAT c n n.
try and England, France. Italy and
Belgium)
The board would simply plan the
origin Of the food supply for the Euro
pean allies, and once it had made its
determination it would hand the actual
, operations from the European allied
point of view over to functions like the
wheat executive to purchase that wheat
and distribute it."
During July. 1917 potatoes were SELL
ing in London at $1.48 a bushel. On
the same day in the United States at
s140. France was paying her peasant
1894 for wheat; Italy. $4.33; Neither
lands, 1898; Spain, 1896, and so on.
Bulletin of Prices.
July. 1917. Hoover's bulletin recites
that the retail prices in England COM
pcTeO WIFI 1917 Ildu llSieaSsO Luz PCA
cent, mutton, lat per cent; pork, 81
per cent. The benefit Of these prices
was denied the American farmer by
the arbitrary and unlawful acts of Her
bert C Hoover. To Hoover the American
farmer can charge a large portion of
his present financial difficulties. Thus
did Mr.. Hoover despoil the farmers.
On May l, 1918. in a public address
to millers and grain dealers land not
to farmers who raised the corD, he
said: Il agree with the contention Of
some farmers they would be getting S.,
and perhaps $40, bushel for their
wheat had it not been for the restric-
tion imposed by the Government" The
restriction imposed by the Government
in this case was the restriction Of Her
bert c. Hoover, and him alone.
In an address in 1919, Julius Barnes,
selected by Hoover as the head Of the