The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-07-18

ricultural department cracked down on General Foods with an order to show cause why they should not be barred from the Chicago grain market.
 ELEVATORS JAMNIED
 However, it is since May. 1s44, that some of the interesting things happened.
 During the summer of 1944 there was so much rye heaped up in Chicago elevators that the War Food Administration instructed the WIPE to order grain distillers to use 10 per cent rye in making alcohol. Naturally this was 8 boon to General Foods. It helped get rid of its accumulated rye.
 Ordinarily, alcohol distillers don't use rye. Whether someone pulled political wires to get rye used during the summer of 1914 is not known. Anyway, WIPE is sued the order on instructions from the War Food Administration and on the excuse that room had to be made in the Chicago ele- vators for wheat.
 Meanwhile, speculation con- tinued. Rye still was the only grain on which there was no price ceiling. It was the only grain in which speculators could operate, and by the win ter of 1944-45 other people be- sides General Foods were in the market, too. In fact, a lot of money held by wealthy European refugees in this country went into rye. This refugee money played rye against General Foods. They sold short.
 The refugees were gambling that the war would be over last win- ter and they could import Ar genuine rye at around 65 cents a pushed to replace their short sales in Chicago.
 As a result of this trading, the gigantic total of one billion rye futures was out against 30-mil- lion bushel crop in the winter of 1944-45.
 G. F. LOBBYISTS BUSY
 Meanwhile, the General Foods boys were racking their brains as to how to get rid of the rye. They didn't know what to do with it. The rye market is limited. Only a small amount goes into rye bread, and General Foods tre- mendous holdings became embar- rassing. Also, Chicago Board of Trade men were demanding that rye be moved out of Chicago. So the General Foods lobbyists got busy in Washington, and. after some wining and dining of Bel gian commercial counselor, Jo- seph Jennen, they managed a zeal whereby Belgium would take rye off their hands.
 Belgium wanted rye as cattle feed, in order to build up it's herds, seriously hit during the German occupation. Under war food rules, Rye cannot be used for anything but human con- sumption. However, after re- ceiving promises (but with no guarantees after delivery that the ryer would be used for human food, the Foreign economic administration order ed the Commodity Credit Cor poration to purchase 1.044,00O bushels of rye for B Belgium. Simultaneously, TEA ordered 3,005,736 bushels for UNRRA, to be used in feeding Poland. CzechoslOvaka, and Yugoslavia, which are legitimate Rye com suming countries.
 The rye was purchased very quiently on March 19, l945. and officials of the Commodity Credit Corporation made Q careful effort not to let spectators know what was happening.
 However. some of the politicoes presumably were In the know. for it was about this time that the friends of Ed Pauley came in on the deal. Pauley, now U. s. rep arations ambassador in Moscow, has lucky fingers. Whatever he touches turns to gold. Ed is 8 generous man. And several friends climbed abroad the zooming rye market.