When the present Food Administration was created in August, 1917, the
1917 crop, in so far as productiveness was concerned, had already been
planted and partly harvested. The available foodstuffs it produced were
not sufficient, on the basis of normal consumption, to feed the people
dependent on it, and the question of conservation became paramount. So
far, "wheatless days," "meatless days," and appeals for food
conservation have tided the nation over a dangerous period. The fixing
of prices under a Presidential proclamation has greatly aided,
speculation in wheat has been wholly eliminated, and the prices of flour
and bread have been stabilized at a reasonable level.
Hand in hand with food conservation has gone the gradual control of
industry of all kinds in order to concentrate the nation's resources for
the purposes of war. The prices of metals necessary to war industries
have been brought down by negotiation. Coal and fuel oil are controlled
by Government agents, and it is not believed that the suffering caused
by the fuel scarcity during the Winter of 1917-18 can be repeated.
The Government has taken over control of the railways and a number of
coastwise steamship lines. It now operates 260,000 miles of railway,
employing 1,000,600 men, and representing investments of
$17,500,000,000.
The War Trade Board, created for the purpose of cutting off supplies to
Germany through the adjacent neutrals, has developed into a powerful
economic weapon in the execution of the nation's war policy.