THE FOOD CRISIS AND AMERICANISM 63 



Sugar and cotton are war essentials, the same as 

 wheat and wool. The producer's price on the latter 

 two are restricted; on the former two, it is unre- 

 stricted. Why, if not because the cotton and cane 

 fields are owned by the " planters " the forefront 

 and bulwark of Southern aristocracy, and have been 

 for a hundred years; the wheat fields and pastures 

 owned by farmers field hands ? High price of cot- 

 ton in 1914-15 was $10.38. High price 1917-18, 

 $34.10 approximately 230 per cent, increase. Av- 

 erage price of wheat 1914-15, $1.165; Gore Amend- 

 ment as passed (and vetoed), $2.40; approximately 

 130 per cent, increase. 



I have taken at random nine Northern States, 

 which, in 1915, produced an aggregate of 649,949,000 

 bushels of wheat. The average consumption per cap- 

 ita in those States was 6.24 bushels. Ten Southern 

 States, taken at random, produced in 1915, an aggre- 

 gate of 77,800,000, with the average consumption per 

 capita in those States of 4.54 bushels. Why should 

 those Southern Congressmen, representing people who 

 produce and consume so little and who had so little 

 knowledge of wheat growing, so over-whelmingly 

 defeat this measure? Neither from a standpoint of 

 consumption nor the standpoint of production were 

 they justified in exercising such arbitrary power. 

 It has been the votes of those least qualified to 

 know, and least disposed to care concerning the 

 matter, that have usually defeated every bill for 

 the " Betterment of Agriculture." These Congress- 

 men being familiar with those industries, were, in 

 my opinion, doubtless justified in preventing any re- 



