The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 11, 1918, Page 10

‘fl4‘5fiEEgWUU,IIIIIlII—f'ftnl1 i n. A N\ < 2SS SN 2\ prices of the things which he must purchase. The president then went on to urge an extension of the price-fixing bill. SHOULD MAKE ZONES IN PRICE FIXING “This is required as a national necessity, for more | Wheat is needed to win the war and the farmer cannot increase his production so long as he is com- ' pelled to buy bran at $40 a ton or pay excessive | prices for farm machinery. I believe the administra- | tion wants to reduce‘other: prices, but certain great if | profiteers are unpatriotically resisting its efforts, ‘léz ”}4” \u L\ \\ H“f i phf AT Wi gl""‘ \ /MIWQ o'— X0 f! AW QN i VA7 \ : / { I 0,, Congress should at once extend and strengthen the price-fixing bill and give the president power to curb these profiteers and reduce prices in all directions, “Another thing that I think is unjust is the ques- tion of basing all prices on the Chicago. market. This practically penalizes a wheat raiser because of his geographical position. In my opinion the country should be divided into zones and the price made’ $2.20 a bushel for delivery at the principal city in each of these zones., : ; “As it is; the wheat raiser in Idaho, Washington or Montana only gets $2 a bushel, while the wheat raiger in illinois gets $2.20 a bushel. A farmer in PAGE TEN —Drawn expressly for the Leader by Congressman John M. Baer Montana may raise the finest milling wheat, but the cost of the freight to Chicago is deducted from his grain, even if his wheat is sold and milled and consumed within ten miles of his farm. A farmer in Illinois, however, can haul his grain to Chicago and-get $2.20 a bushel for wheat of inferior milling value. This is wrong. The country should be divided into zones and the price at the central ‘markets in these zones, whether they include Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, Wash;ngton, Montana or Minnesota, should be exactly the same as the price paid in Chicago. The injustice of the present system is obvious and it should be remedied.” 2