Evening star., 1947-11-23
Grain Export Increase
Over 1947 Goal Sought
By State Department

fHCIcdSc grain exports JIllS crop yedl
beyond the current $4,000 900.
bushel goal instead of reducing ship
ments as suggested by the specia,
House (Herter) Committee on For
eign Aid.
The possibility of greater exports
is based on hoped-for savings OF
grain by the food conservation drive
This became known last night
from series of answers submitted
by Undersecretary of State Lovett
to the House Foreign Affairs Com
mittee in response to questions
raised earlier by Representative
VoIys, Republican of Ohio.
One of the questions Mr.. Vorys
asked was this: In view of the
serious drought in the winter wheat
belt in the United States, do you feel
that it is safe to export as much as
500,00000O bushels from the 1947
crop?"
Counting on Food Drive.
= Mr.. Loyett replied the Agriculture
Department has told the State De-
partment that overall export avail
abilities can be estimated at 520,-
600, 900 bushels of grain" and that
with the additional savings by the
food campaign sit is quite possible
that exports in excess of 520,000,000
bushels of grain will be achieved. y
The Herter group has warned OF
the danger that the United States
may over export" and it said grain
shipments under the stopgap aid
program should be cut. For Italy
alone the committee suggested cut
of about 100000 bushels as well
as cuts in shipments to France and
Austria, and other recipients of aid
under the s597, 100000 interim plan
The Citizens Food Committee on
Thursday, two days after the State
Department letter had been sent to
the Capitol estimated savings OF
grain by industry, the armed forces
and poultry raisers at from 95 900, 900
to 12l,000,000 bushels, if the pledges
of savings are carried out.
The Agriculture Department ear
lier had estimated that grain fed
to livestock will be down some 75.-
100000 bushels, although this is at
tributed more to the high price of
grain than to the food-saving drive
Rain Raises Wheat Prospects.
In another letter to the House
Committee, over the signature of C
Tyler Wood, deputy to Assistant Sec
retary of State Thorp, the depart
ment said that recent rains in the
Midwest wheat belt have raised next
years crop prospects.
LAS long as these prospects re-
main and as long as the need is real
and undisputed," Mr.. Wood wrote,
I'VE feel it is essential that fnan-
cial provision at least be made for
the minimum figure of $4,000 tons
Ito italy, which measures food needs
and not availability at the moment.
Otherwise, if some of the possibili-
ties for increased supply should de-
velop, we would not be in posi-
ton to take advantage of these pros
pects.'
Mr.. Herter, in testifying before
the Senate Foreign Relations Com
mittee on his committees findings,
said that while he felt grain exports
should be limited he did not advo-
cate a cut in the S597 .00O,0 900 fgure
asked by the administration.
Chairman Bridges of the Senate
Appropriations Committee has made
1t clear his group wants complete
inventory of the grain picture before
it votes to appropriate any funds for
the stopgap aid program.
Anderson to Testify Monday.
Secretary of Agriculture Anderson,
who will be the first witness before
the committee on Monday, is likely
to be less hopeful of next years crop
than the State Department.
In testifying Friday before the
Joint Committee on the Economic
Report, Secretary Anderson asked,
Who among us is willing to venture
a guess as to how large-or how
small-that harvest will be?" Nor
mally, the first crop estimate is made
around May l.
Some officials Of the wheat belt
States have been saying next years
wheat crop may be down 100000
bushels from this years total.
The State Department plans to
send substitutes to both Italy and
France if the grain is not available,
Mr.. Woods letter made clear.
R1lt in the case of Italy. he said
although substitutes can be found
for up to 100000 tons of grain on a
caloric basis, the cost would be about
two and one-tenths times as great.
If $3O,OO0OOO were spent on sub
stitutes to equal calorically. 100000
tons of grain, it would replace about
10000 tons of grain on a dollar
basis.
The substitutes would be pulses,
soya flour, sugar, canned fish, soups
horse meat and canned meat from
Mexico. Pulses are edible seeds
such as peas and beans and, in this
case, are mostly garbanzos or chick
peas.
Herter Groups Position.
Such a substitution, the State
Department said, would provide
valuable additions to the diet" but
would not fully compensate from
a morale standpoint" for cut in
the bread ration in Italy. Similar
substitutes would be sent to France
If the grain is not available.
The Herter Committees position
is that prospects for next years har-
vest are so poor that not only
should the totals contemplated for
shipment abroad be cut but that
the current rate of shipment should
be slowed down.
I'm fact the committee said. at
may very well be questioned whether
much of Europe is not eating toe