The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 22, 1918, Page 13

s 4 g IS e A E e ¢ _tion, April 5. Check Up on Although Federal Operation Is Not Yet Considered, the United States Will ' : ~ Make an Effort to Lower the Price of Flour b Washington Bureau, _Nonpartisan Leader GOVERNMENT expert is com- ing to the Twin Cities to in- vestigate the millers’ profits. ] The food aaministration is go- " ing to get the facts about the dends. That is the meaning of the letter which Food Adminis- trator Hoover has written to Dr. Frank W. Taussig, chairman of the United States tariff commission, naming Taussig as chairman of this special com- mission. He said that he believed that the millers had been patriotic and earnest in their desire to serve the country, but that so much complaint had been made at the manner in which the govern- ment’s -plan of food control was applied to the milling industry that he was glad to acquiesce in\ the request of the milling committee that some one should be empowered to consider how the plan has actually worked, and to suggest changes. This milling committee is made up of the flour millers. Their request that the present scheme of control of their business be looked into is due to the complaints chiefly of the wheat growers and the farmers who must buy mill feed. So sharp were the protests from ‘the farmers, and so continuous their demands for a re- duction in the millers’ profits, that something had to be done. The whole scheme under which the flour millers are supposed to be making only 25 cents a barrel on flour, when the farm- ers say the mills are making $1 a barrel, needed an overhauling. 3 NOT YET READY FOR GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP Hoover invited Doctor-Taussig and the rest of the special commission to go into the subject fully and to report recommendations. The commission held its first meeting, for organiza- Besides Doctor Tatissig it includes W. B. Colver of the federal trade com- mission, Judge William Glasgow of the food administration’s legal staff, W. W. Harrah, an -extensive grain grower of Pendleton, Ore., and Charles Espenshied, a retired flour miller of .St. Louis. Harrah represents the de- -partment of agriculture, and Espen- shied the milling interest. X ‘Both critical -and constructive work is wanted by Hoover from these five men. If his system' of regulation of the flour millers’ profits has been un- fair, either to the farmer, the miller or to the consumer, that fact should be established. If the commission can show him a better way of handling the milling situation, he wants to have them show it. When Doctor Taussig was asked whether it might be' that the com- mission would recommend government operation of the flour milling industry as an: improvement over the present scheme of regulation of profits; he said that he “agcarcely thought such a recommendation possible.” QUESTIONS FOR THE MILLERS TO ANSWER ST {rd _ While this commission is getting its facts on which to report, the enforcement division: of the food administration will also be busy with the flour millers. This division has sent out fo the flour millers throughout the country a question-’ naire, to be answered and returned within 10 ‘days, giving detailed information on their business. /This has been made necessary by the fact that the millers have not made proper reply to questions in the regular monthly reports which their license - calls for. K This -questionnaire asks, for i bnce:_ “4. (a) In starting your ptember inventory i+ 7 for sacks, did you put them in at actual cost price? > .. *(b) Did you put them in at their market N flour makers’ war-time divi- - National Nonpartisan league. farmer is the backbone of the nation, and that wh crushed beneath the load. g price, and if so, what did the advance over cost, if any, in dollars and cents amount to? “b. (a) Have you during the period, September 1, 1917, to February 28, 1918, charged up to any account any items of taxes paid, or any anticipated excess profit taxes? “(b) If so, state the amounts and in what ac- counts you have charged such items? - “1, Local taxes (state, county and city). “2. Federal income tax. _ “3. Federal excess profits‘tax. “6. Have you, during this period, charged to manufacturing, operating, general expenses or any other account, any of the following: “(a) Bad accounts—full explanation to be given in additional note. “(b) Depreciation—what was the amount charged off for the first eight months of 19177 “(c) Amount charged off for period, Septem- ber 1, 1917, to February 28, 19187 —Drawn especially for 'the Leader by John M. Baer The gangster politician, who has been given a soft iron pick by the corpora- tions that prey on the people, is making a mistake in trying to undermine the ’ “(d) What was the book value of the plant and equipment against which the ' depreciation was charged? : 2 “(e) Increases or newly established salaries. (This refers to salary incredses to general officers, managers or owners of the mills, and not to labor costs,.-wages or clerical hire).” o The millers are also asked the amount of their ¢ insurance, the amount charged off for interest-and discount, and why and whether any reserves were charged ‘“against general expenses. for losses or declines expected to' develop later in the year be- cause of shutdowns] failure to run full time, or other contingencies.” - Then the enforcement division asks what is the amount of the miller’s invested capital—first, as carried on his books; second, as reported to the ~federal government in its return.for the purpose of the excess profits tax. The letter sent with the " list of questions explains that the answers to these ks ' PAGE THIRTEEN YR TT A Ss o TTR TR 00 R RN s B N N T KR S BT | CHIPPING ON GRANITE | If he was not so silly, he would know that the en he falls, all will be 4% » questions about the capital invested “may aid the food administration in dealing with the adjustment of reasonable returns and of excess profits taxes.” There are nearly 10,000 flour mills in the United States. A small part of these do the bulk of the business. The Washburn-Crosby .concern makes from 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 barrels of flour each year, and the Pillsbury mills grind from 6,000,000 to 8,000,000 barrels, according to food administra- tion figures. All the mills in the country, big and little, grind a total of only 100,000,000 barrels. Regulation of the profits of the big mills in Min- neapolis and St. Paul, and the mills owned by the same interests in Buffalo and elsewhere, means regulation of the profits of the industry. If the Minneapolis milling concerns make“only 25 cents a barrel on flour, as they are under agreement with the government to do, the cost of flour everywhere in the United States will be a whole lot less than if they actually make $1 or $1.25 a barrel profit. Hoover’s enforcement division, through Director Boyden and his as- sociate, Alfred Brandeis of Louisville, brother of Supreme Court Justice Brandeis, has started its inquiry into the actual financial methods of the big millers in Minneapolis. Doctor Taussig’s special commission, created because of public distrust of the mill- ers, is going to see whether the en- forcement division has enough law back of it. In Union There Is Strength Vilas, Col. Editor Nonpartisan Leader:- I am sending you a copy of a letter I wrote to the editor of Western Farm Life of Denver. This paper was sent to each of our charter members (of the Grange) or to the head of each family. I am at a loss to know why such papers are used by the Colorado gang. I took a copy to the Grange meeting last evening and let those present who wished to sign it with me, and all present did so. You may publish the letter, which follows: “Editor Western Farm Life: Since reading your last issue we feel it our duty to tell you some things we think you should know. We are sure you do not grasp the situation among the farmers as it really is or you would not have written the article on ‘The Colorado Farmers’ Congress.” “The things you said in that article were too absurd for any editor to write, much less an editor of a farm paper. The Nonpartisan league offers in its program a solution for the most “difficult problems of the agriculturist and stockman and at the same time offers to the wageworker a fighting chance to buy at a figure more in keeping with' his income. “Now while the farmer sees all this and joins hands with his fellows to put through the program, you, having posed as a friend of the farmer, take sides with his enemies. Why did you not_take the time on the floor of the farmers’ congress to show the weakness of the League’s program? Or why not have offered a better-one? : ‘:‘A”lizrge percentage of the farmers here are now members of the Nonpartisan league and others are --being .enrolled daily. Therefore we do Hot welcome a paper that has-identified itself with our enemies. ‘We hereby request that your paper to the following names be discontinued: , “I. -‘F. THORNE, Vilas, Col. _“SADIE THORNE, Vilas, Col. “J. M. WILLIAMS, Springfield, Col. SH. 0. M’COLLUM, Springfield “C. D. LACY, Springfield . kel “W. M. WESTMORELAND, Springfield ' “W..R. CRAWEORD, Springfield ~. “W.8. HOCKETT, Springfield.” e