NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VI 367 



sideration and discussion, a very frank statement by Mr. Hoover, he pro- 

 pounded some Questions for us to consider. He recited these conditions 

 and then he said, "Is it detrimental to this industry to have these prices 

 go so high that it v^^ill curtail too much the consumption? What will be 

 the effect if substitutes are used on account of these curtailments? Is 

 it advisable for the Government through the power invested in the Food 

 Administration and combined interests to fix a minimum price to establish 

 this industry?" We all agreed, there were some fifty men there, some 

 from our own part of the country and we agreed it was in danger. 



As I first said, it would be dangerous for that industry if a maximum 

 price were to be fixed, by reason of these high prices, substitutes would 

 be used for dairy products. The fact is, that once the substitute, and I 

 refer to the margarines, once they get in and are heing consumed by 

 people who do not know the danger from their use in the place of butter, 

 they are apt to remain and a great danger will result. That consumption 

 of the substitute undermines the vitality both mentally and physically 

 of the men and women of this nation. It is easy to appeal to oneself, to 

 say by buying something which you are led to believe is just as good as 

 butter and use it because it doesn't cost as much as butter, when you are 

 ignorant of the fact that butter has that element in it which your system 

 must have and the substitute has it not. Therefore, I say that it is 

 dangerous to have these substitutes come in and take the place of dairy 

 products in our systems. 



Then the next question was, "Is it wise for the Food Administration or 

 Government through its combined power vested in it to establish this 

 industry by fixing a minimum price at which the Government will purchase 

 all these pooducts and either export or store them pending a time so dan- 

 gerous to this industry as under production or over consumption. Under 

 production coupled with over demand puts the dairy industry on one hand 

 in a dangerous position. We saw the danger unless the dairy industry can 

 go on and produce subjected to ourselves and the danger that I have 

 referred to and we therefore said we believed it would be a wise thing for 

 the Government during the war to use its combined power to establish this 

 industry at a minimum price. The Food Administration has no more 

 power to fix a maximum price than if it were our power. The Food Ad- 

 ministration is vested with authority to purchase supplies necessary for 

 our boys and to purchase supplies for our Allies on the other side. It can 

 establish this industry by fixing a minimum price. A committee was 

 appointed to determine what would be a fair price at which to fix this 

 minimum price — fair to the industry and fair to the consuming public; 

 that is, fix a price at which the industry can afford to produce the product 

 not for the purpose of profiteering but to produce at a cost plus the 

 minimum profit on the one side under which the industry can live and on 

 the other to encourage the consuming public to take it at that price. I 

 may be wrong in my viewpoint but I have just got to feeling men, so far 

 as this industry is concerned, that I don't want to see a single man on a 

 farm anywhere obliged to produce that product at any loss. I want to 

 see him get cost and what is fair beyond it, but personally I have just got 

 to feeling that so far as I am concerned, if I can go through this crisis 

 and save my cows and save my farm and come out intact and uninjured 



