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Show IS iBId GEINUOIffl' Fifty Millions a Month Toll Paid to the Speculators, Herbert C. Hoover Tells Senators. ACCEPTS CALL TO EXPLAIN FOOD BILL Makes Powerful Speech Favoring Legislation to Control Prices of the Necessaries of Life. WASHIXGTON", June 19. Food speculators specu-lators have been taking $50,000,000 a j month for the last five monthsa total of 1 a quarter of a billion dollars from the American people, Herbert C. Hoover to- j day told senators In explaining the pur- I pose of the food-control bill now before congress. Mr. Hoover, who is President Wilson's food administrator, went to the capitol today to-day by invitation to explain personally to i senators the government's food-control bill under consideration in both houses of congress. He attended an informal conference con-ference in the senate agricultural com- ! mlttee room arranged by administration leaders In the hope of removing senatorial sena-torial opposition to the legislation. Opposition Oppo-sition to the bill in the senate is determined, deter-mined, and it Is feared that unless this can be overcome the measure will not be enacted by. July 1, as urged by President Wilson. It is confidently believed that the bill will go through the house by the, .end of the week. Senate May Filibuster. Tho bill was tho unfinished business o" before the house and senate today and will be pressed for final disposition. Fears of a senate filibuster led administration leaders to prepare to employ the rule to limit debate if necessary. Mr. Hoover outlined broadly the question ques-tion of prospective food supplies. "The re;il question," he said, in a prepared pre-pared statement preliminary to senatorial senatori-al questioning, "is whether the shortage : will continue next year and what will be t lie needs of the allies and America. Despite De-spite the reduced consumption of the allies, al-lies, they will require larger amounts of cereals neNt year than ever before. The allies are more isolated in food sources. It lakes three tunes the tonnage and double tho trouble to get Australian wheat. Crop t allures In the Argentine give no hope of relief from there before next spring. "The allies are dependent upon North A m erica for the vast majority of their food imports. We should be ablo to supply sup-ply ijit per cent of the wheat they require. The other 40 per cent must be made up by further denial on their part and saving sav-ing on ours. VYe can increase our surplus. sur-plus. The situation for them next year mea ns increased privation. Without an adequate food 'supply no F,uropean population popu-lation will continue to fight and we snail find ourselves alone against Germany. Revolution a Food Riot. "The Russian revolution was a food riot and even yet that ally Is temporarily temporari-ly paralyzed. Responsibility rests on our government for failure of democracy through a shortage of food." Turning to domestic conditions, Mr. Hoover said this country had been experiencing ex-periencing "unprecedented prices and rampant speculation," citing how middlemen middle-men and all other persons in the distribution distri-bution processes have been purchasing increasing supplies to avert individual shortages. Mr. Hoover cited the canning trade as an example, where the entire output of vegetables and fish for 1917 lias been disposed dis-posed of already before It has even readied the canners. He predicted fur-V fur-V ther high prices. Thousands of men. he saiil, who hereufore have never owned a dollar's worth of foodstuffs are now speculating in necessities. Control Lowers Prices. "Tho average prices to the consumers In countries where food administration is now In effect are lower than those now prevailing in the lnited States," he said. "In Fnglund the pike of bread is even 2G per cent below the price we paw I believo that unless some anminlstratton of our food is taken we will look back at these prices as being moderate." Mr. Hoover denied that the bill established estab-lished a food dictatorship. He characterized character-ized the purposes of food administration as to mobilize the people in order to carry out the advice given them hv the government officials and to decentralize ttie functions of the administration In order or-der to centralize the functions of the food admin in t rat Ion Into the various states. A commission to tako charge of production pro-duction and distribution of dour, sugar and possthly a few other principal commodities. com-modities. Mr. Hoover said, Is being contemplated. con-templated. To Eliminate Speculation. "Provisions for the government to buy and sell commodities will be necessary for use only as to a very few prime commodities," com-modities," lie said. "The aim is to stabilize prices and thus eliminate speculation. spec-ulation. The balance wheel for stabilising stabilis-ing prices is gone. We need an artificial balance wheel. By setting up a wheat commission we can buy wheat, regulate Its storage and transportation and handle it until exported or sold In this country. If we do not do this, wheat prices may relapse on account of our not being able to store and carry it. with speculators securing the sole benefit and farmers bearing the loss. "We can contract tomorrow with the allies for a certain return for every bushel bush-el of wheat we can sell. By controlling prices at interior terminals we -can as-cure as-cure millers their supplies and simplify transportation." s to sugar, Mr. Hoover said American jjf refiners arc competing with the allies in r (Continued on Page Three.) ILLIOIS MDHTHLY IS 1 TOLL OF SPECULATORS (Continued from Page One.) Cuba aiW tjiat the proposed sugar commission com-mission could co-operate with the allied purchasers, the American refiners and Cuban producers, stabilizing and reducing prices as well as removing speculative incentives. The proposed appropriation of SlCO.miO.OOi) for government purchase of commodities, Mr. Hoover said, might prove too small, but is needed for banking bank-ing facilities. Would Reduce Sugaf and Flour. "Wo feel confident consumers' prices of sugar and Jiuur will be reduced, as well as j)lheis, through our co-operation with leaders of other trades," he said. "We must have power to - license gram elevators so that they may play their part In the teamwork of the government." govern-ment." Chairman Gore of the agriculture committee com-mittee and Senator Reed of Missouri, , leading the opposition to the bill, took a leading part in (juestionlng Mr. Hoover, j "The resort to these extraordinary pow- i ers is only because of the war?" asked ' Senator Uore. 1 i "To provide not only more food for the allies, but i'or ourselves," Mr. Hoover replied. re-plied. "Even had we not gotten Into the war, we would have been up against this : tremendous demand from hlurope anil probably driven to legislation to protect our own people." i Interested in Provisions Only. Mr. Hoover expressly disclaimed au-thorshtp, au-thorshtp, personal Inl'-rost or responsibility responsibil-ity for the bill's provisions extending to fuels, declaring he was only Interested in toorl. J'he provisions for commandeering lac-tories, lac-tories, mines and other plants, he added, would not be necessary In administering loot! questions. Senator Heed referred to a section "whl c ii h e co n t en d ed would p er m 1 1 the government to take from cribs and bins , grain stored there In excess of the j amount actually needed by the farmer, i and asked Mr. I loovor's opinion regarding regard-ing the enforcement; "Am tar as I am concerned I would not attempt to execute It as lar as the present pres-ent situation appears," replied Mr. Hoover. Mr. Hoover also said the food adrtdn-istratlon adrtdn-istratlon had no desire of regulating consumption con-sumption of food, rs is being done abroad, saying that should bo left to the voluntary will of the people. Senator Gore asked Mr. Hoover If he I would deny to the farmer the right to judne the amount of crops he should grow. Gore Asks Questions. "f the government guarantees a minimum mini-mum price," Mr. I louver replied, "we might not get the beneficial result for the farmer unless we also have tho power to limit Imports." Mr. Hoover said "possibly" the bill should be amended to give farmers the right, to determine their own production. "We don't propose to go to the extent of fixing consumers rations." Mr. Hoover Hoov-er added, "except as to hotels restaurants, restau-rants, etc., regarding the amount of bread portions to be served and the like. England did a foolish thing in trv-Ing trv-Ing to tlx maximum prices, a failure wherever tried." "Do you contend that under the bill you. can say to Senator Heed, for instance, in-stance, that he shall cat a soup bone or a steak on certain days'."' asked Senator Kenyon. "I don't think we have nnv such right, nor should we have It." Mr. Hoover replied re-plied tunpha'-ically. "Hut we should have the right to suggest the use of a soup bono a day ajtd see if we can reach any '.greement voluntarily." Aviator Reed insisted that legislation is jf t needed to secure such voluntary ar-Yemenis, ar-Yemenis, but Mr. Hoover s.d a law should authorize the food administration co that end. Bread Cheaper in Belgium. Mr. Hoover said that with all wheat imported, bread prices in Belgium were 60 pei' cent less than in New York City, while those in England and France are 30 to -10 per cent lower, with producers realizing the same prices. "Wc now have a high cost of living," he 'continued, "beyond the abilities of certain sections of the population to withstand with-stand and to secure proper nourishment from wage levels. Unless we can ameliorate ameli-orate tills condtion and unless we can prevent further advances in price we must confront further an entire rearrangement rear-rangement of the wage level, with all the hardships and social disturbances which necessarily follow. We shall in this turmoil tur-moil experience large loss In national efficiency ef-ficiency at a time when we can least afford af-ford to lose the energies of a single man. "We propose to mobilize a spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice In this country coun-try in order that we may reduce national waste. If democracy Is worth anything we can do these things by co-operation. If It cannot be done, it is better that we accept German domination and confess the failure- of our political ideals. "We have no hope of complete success, suc-cess, but we have hope that we shall succeed so far as to enable tills country and the allies to remain constant In this war." Warns Against Futures Law. Mr. Hoover denied that the millers have been the speculators in tin? grain market and said that what action they might have taken in that- regard was purely for self-preservation. Mr. Hoover warned against legislation to prevent dealing in futures. "If you pass legislation of this kind you might demoralize the trade of the country," he said. After four hours of que stioning. senators sena-tors had not finished quizzing Mr. Hoover, Hoov-er, and ho will appear again Friday morning. During the senate proceedings Senator Phelan introduced a bill designed to stimulate stim-ulate food production bv leasing lands withdrawn from public ent ry under irrigation irri-gation projects. Senator Sterling Introduced Intro-duced a food bill of his own eliminating tho government control features. The senate then took a recess until tomorrow. Tn the house tho debate on the food bill wandered off the suMect and Into conscription, the last presidential cam-pa cam-pa 1 k n and a tw other unrelated subjects. Representative Graham of Illinois, speaking In favor of the measure todav, submitted a comparative list of American Ameri-can and Pritish prices on staples received by hlni from Ambassador Spring-Rice on last May 19. Some of the English prices wore lower than the American prices, despite de-spite the fact. :is Mr. Graham said, "that England Is surrounded bv submarines." The prices follow: English beef. 44 'ents a pound; butter, -10 to cents a pound ; potatoes. $2.10 a bushel; bacon, IS rents a pound, and flour, SS.20 a barrel. The American prices on the same dav were : TVef, 12 cents a round ; butter. 424 cents a pound ; potatoes, 83.75 a bushel: baenn. 4," cents a pound, and flour, ? 1 7.60 a barrel. |