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Show HOOVER SUSS FBOS ffllLEOS Allied Relief Head Says High Costs Due to Speculation. European Warehouses Full ; of Supplies; Warns U. J S. of Glut. PARIS, Monday, Sept. 1. A distressing era o speculation in foodstuffs In the United States and throughout the world's primary food markets is largely responsible responsi-ble for high food costs, in the opinion of Herbert Jlooevcr, elsilrman of tho interallied inter-allied relief organization, who, on tho eve of his departure for tho United States, ffranted the Associated Press an Interview Inter-view today. AV'harves and warehouses in northern European ports aro overflowing with foodstuffs, food-stuffs, sent by merchants from ail over the world, Mr. Hoover .said. These merchants, mer-chants, he declared, had "gambled" on sales in Poland, C'zechp-fcHovakia, the Balkan states and Germany at high prices, but these states have only a depreciated local currency and many commodities are In danger of spoiling, as the central European Eu-ropean market for foodstuffs is limited to the ability of tho peoples to .buy on credit. "This year's speculations," Mr. Hoover said, "are due, in my opinion, chlefl to the belief of food merchants and manufacturers manufac-turers that when the blockade was ro-nioved ro-nioved there would be an enormous demand de-mand for foodstuffs and other commodities commodi-ties in central and eastern Europe. This speculation was not due to any important ehortago, at present, of actual supply. This speculative fever, which was not confined to foods,- was greatly stimulated by the long delay in the removal of the blockade until the peace treaty was signed at Versailles." Supplies Plentiful. Responding to an inquiry as to how food speculation could be checked in America, Mr. Hoover replied: "Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer is on the right track when he endeavors to break down speculation. The situation is one that may well cause anxiety also from another point of view. We are now coming into a flood of production of foodstuffs food-stuffs in the northern hemisphere and will again have a great surplus in the United States. If, in the meantime, Europe Eu-rope has not food credits to purchase the coming winter's supplies, we are likely to have a glut and prices may fall below be-low the cost of production to American farmers. "The present high prices of food are not ' due to overexports to Europe from the United States during the past year. That can be demonstrated by the fact that we enter a new harvest with larger stocks of previous years' production than at this time last year. "The law of supply and demand," he continued, "is not working normally and probably will not for another year. "We will have a largo surplus next year and must have a prosperous farming community com-munity if we are to have the world fed in the future and maintain stability at home and abroad. "It could also have been possible to have prevented great speculation had wo retained an embargo on exports and thus kept the world's speculators puzzled as to the government's action." Credits Are Urged. Appearing today before the subcommittee subcommit-tee of the congressional committee on war expenditures, Mr. Hoover said he believed be-lieved it imperative for the United States to extend to Europe credits of from $3,000,000,000 to $4,000,000,000 for a year and a half or two years In order to provide pro-vide a market for the American surplus and save Europe from disaster. The credits, Mr. Hoover declared, should be Is.sued to established European merchants, mer-chants, under guarantee of their own governments, gov-ernments, and a guarantee in turn should be given bv the United States to the American merchants in interest. He discouraged dis-couraged the idea of general control of the transactions by the governments, urging the necessity of preserving the regular commercial organizations. |