Herbert Hoover to Woodrow Wilson
Title
Herbert Hoover to Woodrow Wilson
Creator
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964
Identifier
WWP19111
Date
1917 July 10
Description
Herbert Hoover writes to Woodrow Wilson regarding the wheat situation.
Source
Hoover-Wilson Correspondence, Hoover Institution, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, California
Publisher
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum
Subject
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964--Correspondence
Language
English
Text
Dear Mr. President
In response to your request I send you herewith the following notes compiled by myself and my associates upon the present situation with regard to wheat.
1.The 1917 harvest promises to yield 678,000,000 bushels. The normal internal consumption and seed requirement, (assuming a carry-over of same volume in 1918 as in 1917), amounts to about 600,000,000 bushels; thus leaving a theoretical export balance of 78,000,000 bushels. The conservation measures are already having a marked effect and it is not ttoo much to hope that the national saving may be 80,000,000 to 100,000,000 bushels, and therefore the export balance increased to, say 158,000,000 to 180,000,000 bushels.
2.The experience this year in the rampant speculation, extortionate profits and the prospect of even narrower supplies than 1916 harvest and carry-over, must cause the deepest anxiety. No better proof of the hardship worked upon our people during the past year needs to be deduced than the recitation of the fact that the producer received an average of $1.51 per bushel for the 1916 wheat harvest, yet wheat has been as high as $3.25 at Chicago and the price of flour has been from time to time based upon this speculative price of wheat, so that
[INCOMPLETE]
In response to your request I send you herewith the following notes compiled by myself and my associates upon the present situation with regard to wheat.
1.The 1917 harvest promises to yield 678,000,000 bushels. The normal internal consumption and seed requirement, (assuming a carry-over of same volume in 1918 as in 1917), amounts to about 600,000,000 bushels; thus leaving a theoretical export balance of 78,000,000 bushels. The conservation measures are already having a marked effect and it is not ttoo much to hope that the national saving may be 80,000,000 to 100,000,000 bushels, and therefore the export balance increased to, say 158,000,000 to 180,000,000 bushels.
2.The experience this year in the rampant speculation, extortionate profits and the prospect of even narrower supplies than 1916 harvest and carry-over, must cause the deepest anxiety. No better proof of the hardship worked upon our people during the past year needs to be deduced than the recitation of the fact that the producer received an average of $1.51 per bushel for the 1916 wheat harvest, yet wheat has been as high as $3.25 at Chicago and the price of flour has been from time to time based upon this speculative price of wheat, so that
[INCOMPLETE]
Original Format
Letter
To
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Files
Citation
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964, “Herbert Hoover to Woodrow Wilson,” 1917 July 10, WWP19111, Hoover Institute at Stanford University Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.