Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1917 — PRICE OF WHEAT $2.20 PER BU. [ARTICLE]

PRICE OF WHEAT $2.20 PER BU.

Wilson Sets Figure for 1917 | Crop After Conference. LONG DEADLOCK IS ENDED | Hopes Action Will at Once Stabil. iae and Keep Within Moderate Bounds Flour and Bread Prices. ; ~ ‘ " '■ ■■. ' ' ' Washington, Aug. 31. —The price or I the 1917 wheat crop will be $2,20 pen bushel. ° Thia was announced by President Wilson last night, following the submission to him of a report unanimous--17 adopted, after several days of deadlock by the Garfield price fixing committee of the food administration. The president declared that the price l specified, applying to what is known as No. 1 northern wheat at the Chicago terminal, would be rigidly enforced by the government. Members of the price-fixing committee ended their deadlock at five o’clock and at once went in a body to the White House, where they confrred with the president. A reduction in the price of flour will be announced within a day or two. A committee of millers co-operating with the food administration has agreed tentatively that the millers will limit their profit to 25 cents a barrel. Flour ha* sold at about sls a barrel when the price of wheat soared to $3. The fixing of the price of wheat at $2.20 13 expected to cut the price of flour possibly to sl2. The millers’ committee is meeting In Nets York and will agree upon a stable price without delay. The of licensing elevators arranged by the food administration becomes effective on Saturday, The $50,000,000 grain corporation, organized by the food administration, will at once begin to purchase and sell as much grain as necessary to prevent any fluctuation in the price. President Wilson's Statement. President Wilson’s statement was aS follows: "The White House, Washington, Au* gust SI, 1917. “Section 11 of the food act provides, among other things, for the purchase and sale of wheat and flour by the government and appropriates money for the purpose. The purchase of wheat and flour for our allies, and to a considerable degree for neutral countries also, has been placed under the control of the food administration. I have appointed a committee to determine a fair price to be paid in government purchases. The price now recommended by that committee —$2.20 per bushel at Chicago, basic graded—will be rigidly adhered to by the food administration. "It Is the hope and expectation of the food administration and my own also that this step will at once stabilize and keep within moderate bounds the price of wheat for all transactions throughout the present crop year, and, in consequence, the price of flour and bread also. The food act has given large powers for the control of storage and exchange operations, and these powers will be fully exercised. "An inevitable consequence will be that financial dealings cannot follow their usual course. Whatever the advantages and disadvantages of the ordinary machinery of trade, it cannot function well under such disturbed and abnormal conditions as now exist. |ln its place the food administration now fixes for its purchases a fair price, ,as recommended unanimously by a commltti’e representative of all interests and all sections, and believes that thereby it will eliminate speculation, make possible the conduct of every operation in the full light of day, maintain the publicly stated price for all, and through economies made'possible by stabilization in the control better the position of consumers also. "Mr. Hoover, at his express wish, has taken no part in the deliberations of the committee on whose recommendation I determine the govern- ' ment’s fair price, nor has he in any way intimated an opinion regarding that price. "WOODROW WILSON.” Report of Committee. The report of the price-fixing committee follows: “To the President of the United States: “The undersigned committee has been asked by you to recommend the price which the government should pay for the 1917 crop of wheat. “In its deliberations the committee has kept constantly in mind the three following factors: "1. The fact that the United State* la at war. "2. The need of encouraging the producer. "3. The necessity of reducing the Cost of living to the consumer.

“The normal laws of supply and demand have been violently interfered with and congress has undertaken to offset this disturbance by conferring extraordinary powers upon the president to stabilize prices. Each of the foregoing factors grows out of conditions which have received the careful attention of the committee.”