Preliminary Note on the Organization of the Food Administration

PRELIMINARY NOTE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FOOD ADMINISTRATION The one prime object of our war food administration must be to induce the export of the maximum surplus of foodstuffs to our Allies. From this arises the necessity to eliminate every waste and conserve every resource conceivable and to control the flow of foodstuffs in such a manner as to facilitate transportation and to prevent excessive prices. To implement these objectives we must ramify widely into the commerce and habits of the country but with the least necessary interruption of the existing economic machinery. The proper conception of organization is to centralize authority and ideas and to decentralize execution.
For purposes of organization we may divide the various phases of food administration into three branches:1. Department Divisions, primarily for the organization of effort to stimulate and control proper food use, conserve food supplies and prevent waste.2. Commodity Executives. Bodies concerned with actual commercial operations of buying and selling, directed to stabilizing prices and co-operating with our Allies in supplies.3. Advisory Committees, to solve special problems for guidance of the executive side.I.DEPARTMENTAL DIVISIONSIn a broad way this portion of the work develops itself into three phases–– the elimination of waste, the better utilization of supplies, and the repression of evil commercial practices. It is proposed to accomplish as much as possible by stimulation to voluntary effort decentralized into the states as much as is feasible. Nevertheless some repressive regulation must be used and the existence of power to do thise latter will stimulate the former.CONSERVATION DIVISIONIt is proposed to engage in the study, through various existing institutions and associations, of the waste and economy of food products and to propagandize these matters systematically and on a large scale. This sections's work becomes in a large sense an educational proposition and as a foundation must organize as many as possible of the women and men of the country engaged in preparation of table food.
An appeal is made to the women of the country to do a national service by enlisting as actual members of the Food Administration, receiving a pin and house-tag as evidence of their membership, and giving a pledge to accept advice from the Administration so far as their circumstances permit. It is proposed to state concretely the services which they are to perform, such as to use a large vegetable diet during the summer, to install a corn-bread day, etc. etc. It is also proposed to make use of every organization and institution in the country which can lend itself to crdeate public sentiment and to lead to voluntary action in this direction.
Aside from these voluntary actions in the homes, there is a large field for national economies in the restaurants, hotels, clubs, dining cars, and ships. These objectives can be accomplished mainly by voluntary effort but to some degree by restriction. Where restrictions are necessary it is preferable that they should be as much as possible delegated to State officials. FOOD UTILIZATIONThis section is primarily to make a study of the better national use of food materials, to study food values, to provide for the zonal utilization of foods and feed stuffs, to plan for substitute foods and to recommend general economies and better commercial practice. Under this come such items as the restrictions of cereals in brewing and distilling, the substitution of straw and wood materials for cereals in the distillation of industrial alcohol, the wider utilization of cotton seed products, the use of peanuts as cattle food, the restiriction on waste in commercial and manufacturing practices, etc. etc.STATE ADMINISTRATIONS––It is desirable to decentralize the whole administration into the hands of the states everywhere that it is possible and to induce the states to set up a proper Food Administration with certain powers in supplement to the Federal action. Practically every state has now some rudiment of food administration upon which a better war structure can be built. In order tto co-ordinate with the State administrations it seems desirable to have appointed a Federal Commissioner for each state, some citizen of position who will act as a volunteer for the war and whose duty it will be to co-ordinate the work of the State administration with that of the National administration.
The ideal labor for the State administrations will be of four different orders.1. To secure power to enforce certain remedies for waste and consumption of the sumptuary order, such as the elimination of waste on hotel menus, the elimination of bread returns to bakers, etc.2. To furnish the Federal administration with concrete information as to the import and export food requirements of the state. The Federal Administration would then co-ordinate these requirements between the different states and put them into communication with each other with a view to shortening the chain of handling foodstuffs between the producing and consuming centers.3. To reinforce the stimulation of householders and others to economy; by insistence upon consumption of local products so as to save transportation, etc.4. The maintenance of inquiry into the hoarding of supplies with a view to furnishing information to the Federal Administration.CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS.It will be necessary to establish certain men whose duty it will be to secure close cooperation with the Department of Agriculture in order that there may be no duplication of effort in conservation measures; with the Department of Commerce in the regulation of exports of foodstuffs; with the State Department in co-operative food relations with the Allied governments and neutrals; and with the Department of Labor in questions appertaining to the distribution trades. , and with the In each of these cases it is desirable to agree between the Food Administration and the department concerned, on some officer who will be a permanent link between the departments.REGULATION OF HOARDING––It is necessary to set up a division under the administration of some leading lawyer who will cooperate with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission and State food administrations in the prosecution of hoarders, and in this division will lie the handling of speculation and option trading in produce exchanges.COMMODITY EXECUTIVES It is our view that the price question must be foirst attacked in the direction of endeavoring to stabilize prices; that the point of stabilization should be set at such a level as will stimulatde production to the maximum; that the stabilization of prices should not be established by a legal enactment but by aa series of commercial operations and that through stabilization we can effect very large savings to the consumers, for it should greatly diminish the growing margin between producer and consumer due to war conditions and speculation.
As an example we may take the “Grain Executive.” It is our idea to create an executive body with a board of directors under the chairmanship of the Food Administrator embracing as members representatives from the grain trades, from the banks and with some membership representing the community at large. The Executive would have a president, vice-presidents, secretary and treasurer, with branches in various centers, all of whom should be volunteers and chosen from such members of the community as will command respect and confidence. By agreement with the Allies and by the use of the embargo act against neutrals it should be possible to place in the hands of this body the entire purchase of grain for export purposes, and through the use of this power to a considerable degree stabilize prices. It appears to be the view of the railways, grain trade, of the agricultural communities, that it would be desirable for this body to pool the whole of the interior terminal elevators so as to get the matximum use of their capacities and the most economical use of transportation facilities, and to purchase the whole of the wheat, barley and rye flowing into these terminals, selling it out again to the mills on the one hand and to the export trade on the other. These purchases to be made from the country elevators and commission merchants and the grain to be resold without profit except in the case of neutrals. It is possible that an extra price should be made to neutrals which should cover the entire expense of operation and probably the whole of storage and insurance on these grains, domestic as well as Allied. It is our feeling that if in the decision of the government the neutrals must have foodstuffs from this country, and this as a result of our own reduction of consumption and the reduction of exports to our Allies, that neutrals should be compelled to give us some compensation for the high price which they are charging us for their shipping. The handling of the whole of the grain at the terminals in this manner would greatly facilitate many transportation questions and would insure a regular flow to our own millers and Allies. In consequence of the stability of supplies the millers would not need to engage themselves in forward transactions either by buying wheat or selling flour, and it would be possible to make a price margin between the producer and the consumer in the neighborhood of 60%. It would not be proposed in the first instance to engage in transactions in the distribution of cereals for domestic consumption other than wheat, barley and rye and to confine the activities of the grain executive in other grains to exports only. It might be necessary at a later stage to enlarge its functions in the latter cereals, in which case it will be necessary to split this executive into a wheat executive, a corn executive, etc, etc., but this situation will probably not arise.In the stabilization of prices it is necessary that the grain executive should have instructions from some independent body as to the price level which it is desirable to maintain, and it is thought to create such an engine through an advisory committee on prices as described later on.
A similar executive body would need to be set up to control the sugar quezstion and to eliminate competition between ourselves and our Allies in the raw sugar market. By the joint purchase of raw sugar with our Allies we could greatly reduce the prices which we are at present paying and through agreements with the refiners as a condition of their supply of raw sugar we could deflect these savings to the public. Such an arrangement would eliminate the whole of the gambling in raw sugar and stabilize prices at one level throughout the year. Morevover, the sugar executive can take in hand the recruiting ointo this country of sugar from places Similar executives would probably need to be set up with regard to meats and other important commodities. This, however, requires careful study and discussion with the various elements in the community.ADVISORY COMMITTEEA number of advisory committees will be necessary of which the following seem at the present moment to be the most pressing.PRICES––It will be necessary to assemble the best thought of the country from the various organizations concerned with farm and other produce, from the consuming communities and from our men skilled in economies to consider what price levels in various food commodities would be desiralble from the point of view of stimulating maximum production and at the same time making the load on the consumer as light as would allow the attainment of these ends. Various commodity executives could thus be given a range of prices toward which their stabilizing efforts could be directed.ACCOUNTING––The commodity executives in acting for the Allies and in certain cases purchasing for domestic consumption, would be engaged in large commercial operations and it would seem therefore desirable to have a committee which could advise on the best method of securing audit and inspection of their operations in such as manner as to safeguard public public confidence. Such a committee would be appointed from the representatives of the accounting associations and the banking communities, with possible collaboration with the Federal Reserve Board.BANKING AND CREDITS––The commodity executives will probably need to establish credits and in addition to this it will probably priove necessary, owing to the fact that our forthcoming harvest must move more slowly than usual owing to restrictions of exports, to devise some method to assist the distributors with credits to enable them to hold grain until later periods in the year. This committee will need to be of the best banking skill in the country together with possibly representatives elected by the Federal Reserve Board, the Farm Loan Board and other institutions whose position and information enables them to assist materially in the necessary deliberations.WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION––The participation of women on a national scale in food conservation is imperative and it would seem desirable to inaugurate some advisory committees representing particularly the institutions and organizations which have been for many years engaged in the problems of domestic economy and national service. Such committees would furnish ideas and advice to the Conservation Division. The Woman's National Council of Defense will be available in working out the broad conservation problems before the women of the country.ADVISORY COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE––This admirable body has already in existence acting committees on various phases of research and commercial efficiency, etc., and it is proposed to co-operate with them so far as they have the time to such service.]]>