Jandart 4, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



9 



of the profits of the packers — has been 

 taken. 



As a result of the work of the Food 

 Adnunistration the skj'ward movement of 

 prices has been cheeked, and for some of 

 the most essential commodities such as 

 wheat, the product of wheat flour, and 

 bread, there have been actual reductions in 

 price. Also prices have been stabilized. 

 Dealing in futures for the most essential 

 products has been prohibited and hoarding 

 and speculation prevented. 



The Fuel Administration Law 

 One section of the Food Administration 

 act authorized the control of fuel. Under 

 this section the President appointed H. A. 

 Garfield Fuel Administrator. The maxi- 

 mum price of each kind of coal and coke 

 at its source has been fixed. Moreover, 

 the margins which are allowed to the job- 

 bers and to the retailers have been limited, 

 and thus the price of coal to the consumer 

 has been controlled. Therefore for coal, 

 the price control occupies the full field 

 rather than the zone between the producer 

 and the retailer as in the case of wheat. 

 The Fuel Administration has also con- 

 trolled wage contracts with the miners. 

 "When a considerable advance of wages was 

 approved, it was made a part of the contract 

 that the miners should be penalized $1 a 

 day if they declined to work or ceased to 

 work during the time the contracts into 

 which they had entered remained in force. 

 The distribution of coal and coke has 

 been controlled as completely as the price. 

 The coal has gone for the purposes and to 

 the various districts in accordance with the 

 decisions of the Fuel Administration. The 

 amount of coal which goes abroad is also 

 controlled. Thus the amount a&signed to 

 Canada is the quantity received last year 

 plus the same percentage of increase as 

 that obtained bj' the United States. 



The prices have not been fixed exclu- 

 sively upon the basis of the heating power 

 and the location of the coal, but in part 

 upon the basis of the cost of production. 

 In many instances this gives the poorer 

 mine which is unfavorably located a higher 

 price per thermal unit than the rich mine 

 favorably located. This practise is in com- 

 plete contravention to economic theories 

 accepted before the war. The owner of a 

 better property gained all the advantages 

 of cheapness of operation and convenience 

 of transportation. 



Had the Fuel Administration so decided, 

 it would have been possible under the law 

 for the government to become the exclusive 

 buyer and seller of the coal for the coun- 

 try. Had this method been used, the coal 

 mined would have been sold to the Fuel 

 Administrator by the operator at a fair 

 profit. The coal then his property would 

 have been pooled and sold at prices de- 

 pendent upon its value, taking into account 

 its thermal power and other qualities and 

 its position in the country in regard to 

 freight. The prices fixed would have been 

 sufficient to cover its cost, including that of 

 administration. 



The Shipping Board and Emergency 



Fleet Corporation Boards 

 The United States Shipping Board has 

 requisitioned all cargo ships and tankers 

 registered under the laws of the Ignited 

 States of not less than 2,500 tons total dead 

 weight capacity, and all passenger steamers 

 of not less than 2,500 tons gross register. 

 These vessels, thus requisitioned, have in 

 general been leased to the companies which 

 before have been operating them, the com- 

 panies receiving a definite compensation 

 based, for freight boats, upon dead weight 

 ton capacity, and for passenger vessels upon 

 the number of passengers which they can 

 carry. The vesesls are to sail on routes and 



