The Wilmington morning star., 1943-10-14
Washington
Column
BY JAMES THRASHFp

REPRESENTATIVES is the Repubjo,n
Congressional Food Study Conn,g.,a
tee. 1t is an unofficial bod, =,
some 45 members, appointed ; 81
months ago by Minority Toa5 5A
Joseph Martin to try to oot "t a
whole war Food problem certo. We
under the authority of one r ~, "a
The committee hasn't vet f, ''a,l'
ed its mission. The nearest il ba ~,
come has been to inspire = b bas
introduced by Democratic Dr. o..'
Hampton Fulmer of South wv. y, p
lima, chairman of the House Aa'
culture Committee, ard sin,: h..
one introduced in the Senatn I
Senator Arthur Vandenberg W. Wy
bills are now resting comfortsb,r
in the Rules Committee. Rn+ y
the process of trying. il has no. :"
died the War Food Adminisfr,ttis's
persistently. Speeches by IFS mor g''
bers. on the House floor and on
side, have contained some dfscIo.
ures that must embarrass WIZ
to say the least.
One of the committee membsr.
Gerald Lands. in the course =.
his food investigation. discovoroYs
| the Army dumping potatoes sno w
ed and mspoiled alike. in hi,
home town of Vincennes. Indian.
Since then Lands has turned hi.
attention to the price situatnn
charging that OPA is both dlatorr
and unfair in fixing ceilings o@
certain commodities.
The Hoosier congressman st,,..
that large quantities Of spnscb
and asparagus spoiled in w,ro
houses this summer because bo
vegetables could not be moved "
canneries until a price was 60.
He also cites letter from a Frss
no. Calf, farmer who planted and
raised 200 acres Of peas at a cost
of $35 an acre. When he eamo5
the ceiling price on peas. the farm
er writes, he figured that he world
receive less for his crop than ne
cost of hiring labor to harvest #
So he simpy put an ad in The Dspor
inviting people to come OIL. and
help themselves.
To bolster his accusation that
food is being wasted through incl.
ficient scheduling Of uansporta.
ton, Lands calls attention 10
recent Food Distribution Admins.
tration release which asks for cash
offers on 100000 pounds Of rolled
oats. The breakfast food, says the
congressman, was infested by bugs
while it reposed on the Whawes
at WeehaWken. N. j.. and can now
be used only for chicken feed
Lands charges further that Il
million out of 80 million cases Of
canned milk. bought by the CON-
modities Credit Corp, in 1871 haze
spoiled because they were not tug-
ed over regularly. as canned milk
must be if it is to be stored l@-
time. He also says that CCC tlm,
ed back 100000 cases Of canned
tomatoes to the open market atto.
storing them for a year, because
it had no place to use them.
But the Food Study COMMITTEES
favorite among its current FINDINGS
is an involved story which en-.
braces feed. coal, shipping and
price ceilings.
Last year, a committee spokeS
man recalls, WPB and OPA urged
East Coast commercial establish
ments and households equipped
with oil furnaces to convert TO Goa.
or run the risk of getting no OIL
To take care of transporting coal
to meet these added needs. the
Great Lakes fleet Of 10 wheat
carrying boats was conVeHpa "
coal carriers and used to haA NE
fuel from Newport News 10 10f'"'
ern coastal cities.
The narrator now shifts u u
scene to the Middle West. anu "'0
time to the present he Icpe@'S
the well-knoWn fact that $ :
farmers can get s1.45 busnel 10.
their corn by feeding it mo p ,t
as against 80 or 95 cents by SeA-uI =
it for feed, there is a shoft0se W Us
corn on the market So |hea' IL d
being fed to poultry and aaH! '''D
beef cattle. ,...
he continues. Dairy heroS d DS
poultry are being sold in ieea'
short areas. But it was discover ,-
thhat Canada had S m S1Ip NV.
wheat Then VIA remen0e- 'a.
that the grain carriers are NV
coal carriers on the Atlan(c Oo@ .s.
The solution to this prooIen-."..
committee spokesman says Il Id o
been to reconvert tine Whea'', ,.
ships to their original Joo' NJ.
that, he points out, seems 10 lsS'.
the coal problem about "nei' ~
| ,uac hofora