FARMERS' PART IN WORLD WAR 83 



fore the outbreak of the war and to a certain 

 extent repay those who had had short crops for 

 two years previously. Their complaint was not 

 that they should be guaranteed a profit at the 

 expense of the bread consumers, but that the 

 costs of production had been considered in con- 

 nection with other industries by the adoption 

 of the cost-plus system which enabled other in- 

 dustries to pay high wages and still maintain 

 their usual margins of profit. If cost-plus was 

 fair for manufacturers they contended that it 

 should be fair for farmers. 



When the subject of wheat control came up in 

 1918, Congress made an effort to raise the price 

 of wheat to $2.40 per bushel by passing a bill 

 to that effect but it was vetoed by the Presi- 

 dent. The increase in freight rates which had 

 occurred in the meantime, since the crop of 1917 

 had been marketed, was presented as another 

 argument why a better price should be offered 

 farmers for wheat. 



This agitation over the price of wheat would 

 have probably passed without serious effect 

 upon farmers had not the charges of profiteer- 

 ing and hoarding developed in the city press. 

 The answer to these hoarding charges is now 

 clearly shown by the statistics of wheat held 



