63-c- Wheat

Following each other in rapid succession, the distressing spectacles of the Disarmament Conference at Geneva and the World Economic Conference at London soured the world's stomach for conferences in general. Delegates of 21 nations reassembled in London last week to talk about wheat, and the world Press regarded the beginning of their deliberations with marked skepticism--for the first three days with considerable justice. The framework for an international agreement to cut wheat production for two years by 15% in each of the great exporting countries--Canada, U. S., Australia, Argentina--had been drawn up early in the summer by U. S. Delegate Henry Morgenthau (TIME, July 3 et seq.). Now the wheat importing nations seemed to be doing everything possible to wreck it by insisting on their rights to maintain quota restrictions and subsidies for their farmers. Suddenly came the miracle. An international conference actually agreed to do something, accomplished something, was ready to sign something, all within five days. Delegates of the four exporting countries agreed to limit their combined wheat exports for 1933-34 to 560,000,000 bushels, in the following year to cut exports 15% below the average exportable production of 1931-33. The importing nations agreed to reduce their wheat tariffs and quotas as soon as the international price of wheat reaches 63.08 gold cents a bushel (89-c-Roosevelt) and stays there for four months. They also promised not to take any further government measures (subsidies, bonuses) to increase domestic production. The Conference decided to set up an advisory committee of sleuths to see that the pact is lived up to in the separate countries.

London newspapers gave much credit for the agreement to white-haired U. S. Delegate Frederick E. Murphy, publisher of the Minneapolis Tribune, whose "Minnesota Plan" has saved Minnesota farmers from themselves by teaching them the advantages of diversifying crops. President Roosevelt holds him in high 'regard for another, more intimate reason. Publisher Murphy, too, has overcome a great physical handicap. For 20 years he was humpbacked, straightened his spine by special exercises at the age of 48.

Delegate Murphy wrote about the wheat agreement for the Associated Press. Excerpts:

"We feel certain we have made the greatest single move which could be achieved for the restoration of world prosperity. I will go further and say that without this agreement no other combination of events could restore universal prosperity. . . .

"We have taken the trouble to study the history of wheat as far back as the records go. We have followed this golden grain through thousands of years into antiquity, and out of this fascinating research has come this outstanding indisputable fact: wheat always has been the index to the price of all other commodities. The fat and lean years of every nation have always been dependent upon wheat."

The New York Times went further, hailed the wheat pact as the beginning of the end of expensive economic nationalism: "Some day it [the wheat conference] may even be looked back upon as a turning point, marking a change of heart in post-War Europe."

If Delegate Murphy did most of the persuading at the London wheat conference, he had strong aids. Premier Bennett of Canada and Delegate Tomas Le Breton of Argentina backed him to the hilt. Mr. Bennett was particularly helpful in bringing Australia into line, as was U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Wallace with his studied announcement last month about pouring wheat from the U. S. Northwest into Asia, which is Australia's natural market. Every delegate of each of the 21 nations was all too well aware of one brief set of facts:

The world has at the present time the greatest stock of stored grain in history, nearly a billion bushels. Some 40% of that, as much wheat as in Canada, Australia, Argentina and all other exporting countries combined, is in the elevators of the U. S. The policy of the normally importing nations--France, Italy, Germany--of learning to feed themselves through farm bounties and wheat quotas has been successful to the extent that France this year will raise 30,000,000 more bushels of wheat than Canada, Germany 10,000,000 more than Australia. But it has been tremendously expensive and troublemaking. At the famed Tours Wheat Fair in France this summer almost no domestic buyers could be found to bid at the fixed price of $1.65 per bushel for French wheat. Accordingly French farmers have been dumping their subsidized wheat at British ports while French housewives wailed at the price of flour.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.