NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 405 



I notice that the matter has come to such a pass now that Mr. Armour 

 proposes that he himself draft a bill which will be fair to the producer, 

 consumer and distributer. I am waiting with a great deal of interest to 

 see what that bill is like. It might be a splendid bill. Mr. Armour has 

 gotten to a time of life where he certainly is not dependent on what he 

 makes from day to day for a living. He might get up a bill that would 

 be the crowning act of his life; that would be altruistic of his nature; 

 at any rate, I would like to see the bill. 



I hope the members of this association will study the Kendrick bill, 

 and if they can see their way clear to support it, I hope they will do 

 everything in their power to see that the bill is passed at this session of 

 congress. It is a matter of nation-wide importance. There should be no 

 hiatus in the regulation of this great industry between the time peace is 

 signed and the new legislation is put into effect. 



We are told by Mr. Hoover there are something like 20,000,000 tons 

 of our products which are needed between now and the next harvest in 

 Europe, to take care of the hungry people over there. A great many of 

 those people are starving, as you know. Some form of regulation is 

 vital, if these food products are to be distributed economically, without 

 chaos, speculation and profiteering. Just the minute the food control 

 law goes out of effect, that condition is going to prevail in this country, 

 unless some legislation is enacted to take the place of this system. Our 

 live stock alone that are to be exported will probably amount to over 

 2,000,000 tons, and the very people whom these bills aim at are the largest 

 dealers, not only in live stock and products, but in many other essential 

 food products that will be required for export. It seems to me we merely 

 have to state the condition to recognize the tremendous necessity for 

 some form of legislation. The forces of production and distribution need 

 mobilizing as they never were before, to feed these starving people on 

 the other side. Famine, you know, is the mother of anarchy, and if 

 anarchy spreads in Europe, and unrest prevails -over there, the real de- 

 mocracy for which we fought, for which our sons have died, will be de- 

 feated, and we will have made the sacrifice in vain. 



I think the legislation recently passed in congress the appropriation 

 of $100,000,000 to purchase essential food supplies in Europe, was one 

 of the best pieces of legislation ever enacted, and that ought to be followed 

 up by further appropriations. This country ought to be backed up by the 

 Allies coming in and helping finance and distribute the surplus of food 

 supplies to the starving people in Europe. 



Now, gentlemen, during the three years I have been connected with 

 the work of the Market Committee, I have been deeply interested in it, 

 not only from the standpoint of the welfare of our own industry, but 

 because it is a great big, man's game. There are hundreds of millions 

 of dollars involved; there is a principle involved, and that principle is 

 whether the live stock industry in this country shall be handled on the 

 basis of a democracy, treating with a financial oligarchy. Are you going 

 to handle it yourselves, or are you going to be dictated to and let a small 

 group of monopolists run the business? In my own mind, I never had 

 any doubt as to what the outcome will be. I felt, when the live stock 



