OF THE This book may be kept out TWO WEEKS only, and is subject to a fine of TWO CENTS a day there;/ the day indicated bej Library Bureau 13-723 DATE DUE CARD INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE • • • MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS Volume 1 Ml \) . TABLE OF COHTERTS 1. Statement concerning the institute. 2. Letter to Mr. Perkins relative to the institute. 1909. 3. The Institute and cooperative banking. 1909. 4. Resolution passed by the national grange. 1910. 2 copies 5. Price Fluctuations in the staples: their influence on the welfare of the state. 1910. 2 copies. 6. Its labors in behalf of economic betterment. 1910. 7. General introduction to the bulletins of the bureau of agricultural intelligence and of diseases of plants. 1910. 8. Heport of the delegation of the U.S. to the general assembly of the institute. 1911. 9. Message from the president of the U.S. concerning creation of institute. 1906. 10. Its influence on economic welfare. 1911. ll.Raiffeisen System of rural cooperative credit, its adaptation and adoption in the U.S. 1912. 12.L'Activite de l'Institut. 1912. 13. Le Present et l'Avenir de l f Institut. 1912. 14. Su Importancia para la America latina, en especial para Chile. 1913. If .Message from the president of the U.S. concerning the general assembly of the institute. 1913. 16. Board of Agriculture and fisheries. The Institute- Its objects and its publications. 1912. 17. The Landschaft. Co-operative rural credit. 1913. 18. Pamphlet concerning the institute. 1913. 19. The Way out of the rut. 1913. 2 copies. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/steadyingworldsp01unit TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) 20. Concerning the international year book of agricultural statistics. 1915, 1914. 21. Steadying the world's prices of the staples. 1914. 22. Proposal for an international conference on the regulation and control of ocean carriage by means of an international commerce commission. ...... 23'. Concerning the fourth volume of the International year-book of agricultural legislation. 1915. 24. Letter to Senator Hiram W. Johnson on the work of the institute. 1918. 25. Our foreign trade after the war. 1918. 26. Calendar No. 678. 63d Congress, ) SENATE. J Report %d Session. ) \ No. 778. STEADYING THE WORLD'S PRICES OF THE STAPLES. August 25 (calendar day, September 4, 1914). — Ordered to be printed. Mr. Fletcher, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. J. Res. 311.] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the joint reso- lution (H. J. Res. 311) instructing American delegate to the Inter- national Institute of Agriculture to present to the permanent com- mittee for action at the general assembly in 1915 certain resolutions, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass without amendment. The report of the House committee is hereto annexed and made part of this report. [House Report No. 1095, Sixty-third Congress, second session.] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to which was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 311). instructing the American delegate to the International Institute of Agricul- ture to present to the permanent committee for action at the general assembly of the institute in 1915 certain resolutions, reports the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. The International Institute of Agriculture, having its seat at Rome, Italy, is a permanent Government institution created by treaties signed June 7, 1905, between the United States and the following powers: Italy, Montenegro, Russia, Argentine Republic, Roumania, Servia, Belgium, Salvador, Portugal, Mexico, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Persia, Japan, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Greece, Uruguay, Germany, Cuba, Austria-Hungary, Norway, Egypt, Great Britain, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, China, Paraguay, and Turkey. Since the creation of the institute 14 other powers have become adherents, making the total number at this time 54 nations repre- sented in the institution. Confining its operations within an international sphere, the institute is authorized and directed, among other things, to submit to the approval of the Governments, if there be need, measures for the protection of the common interests of farmers, and it is under the subsection designated "f, " article 9, of the treaty referred to that it is proposed to instruct the American delegate to offer a resolution inviting the adher- ing Governments to participate in an international conference on the subject of steadying the world's price of the staple agricultural products. 2 STEADYING THE WORLD S PRICES OF THE STAPLES. If the invitation thus extended is accepted, a conference consisting of delegates or members named by each of the adhering Governments will meet in Rome to con- sider the advisability of formulating a convention for the establishment of a perma- nent international commerce commission on merchant marine and on ocean freight rates, with consultative, deliberative, and advisory powers. The committee held hearings on the resolution, the testimony taken developing the following facts: That of the entire ocean freight traffic, seven-ninths consist of bulk traffic, the greater proportion of which is the staples of agriculture. That two-ninths of the total ocean freight traffic consist of package traffic, includ- ing practically all manufactured articles. That while the freight rate on package traffic can not be changed by the carriers with- out giving 30 to 60 days' notice to shippers, the rate on bulk traffic maybe, and in fact is, changed without notice and fluctuates hourly. That the domestic price of the staples of agriculture is governed by the export price which fluctuates with the rise and fall of ocean freight rates on bulk traffic. That the world's price of the staples of agriculture can not be steadied until a fixed rate can be established on bulk traffic the same as package traffic. Independent of the abnormal conditions which now obtain, the ocean freight rates have increased within the past two years from 100 to 200 per cent and are controlled absolutely by a shipping trust which arbitrarily fixes the charge for carrying the staple commodities, and the burden of increased rates has been borne largely by the bulk traffic. The broad, international scope of the question is patent, and it is one of pri- mary importance to every agricultural nation in the world. The committee heard Mr. David Lubin, American delegate to the international in- stitute, whose testimony indicates that favorable action will be taken by the adhering Governments on the res.lution thus initiated by the United States. o 63d Congress, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENT ATI VES. j Report 2d Session. f j No. 1095. STEADYING THE WORLD'S PRICE OF THE STAPLES. August 18, 1914. — Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. Goodwin of Arkansas, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. J. Res. 311.] The ( ommittee on Foreign Affairs, to which was referred the resolu- tion (H. J. Res. 311) instructing the American delegate to the Inter- national Institute of Agriculture to present to the permanent com- mittee for action at the general assembly of the institute in 1915 certain resolutions, reports the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. The International Institute of Agriculture, having its seat at Rome, Italy, is a permanent Government institution created by treaties signed June 7, 1905, between the United States and the following powers: Italy, Montenegro, Russia, Argentine Republic, Roumania, Servia, Belgium, Salvador, Portugal, Mexico, Luxemburg, Switzer- land, Persia, Japan, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Greece, Uruguay, Germany, Cuba, Austria-Hungary, Norway, Egypt, Great Britain, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, ( hina, Paraguay, and Turkey. Since the creation of the institute 14 other powers have become adherents, making the total number at this time 54 nations represented in the institution. Confining its operations within an international sphere, the insti- tute is authorized and directed, among other things, to submit to the approval of the Governments, if there be need, measures for the pro- tection of the common interests of farmers, and it is under the sub- section designated "$," article 9, of the treaty referred to that it is proposed to instruct the American delegate to offer a resolution inviting the adhering Governments to participate in an international conference on the subject of steadying the world's price of the staple agricultural products. If the invitation thus extended is accepted, a conference consist- ing of delegates or members named by each of the adhering Govern- ments will meet in Rome to consider the advisability of formulating a convention for the establishment of a permanent international commerce commission on merchant marine and on ocean freight rates, with consultative, deliberative, and advisory powers. 2 STEADYING THE WOKLD S PRICE OF THE STAPLES. The committee held hearings on the resolution, the testimony- taken developing the following facts : That of the entire ocean freight traffic, seven-ninths consist of bulk traffic, the greater proportion of which is the staples of agriculture. That two-ninths of the total ocean freight traffic consist of package traffic, including practically all manufactured articles. That while the freight rate on package traffic can not be changed by the carriers without giving 30 to 60 days' notice to shippers, the rate on bulk traffic maj be, and in fact is, changed without notice, and fluctuates hourly. That the domestic price of the staples of agriculture is governed" by the export price which fluctuates with the rise and fall of ocean freight rates on bulk traffic. That the world's price of the staples of agriculture can not be steadied until a fixed rate can be established on bulk traffic the same as package traffic. Independent of the abnormal conditions which now obtain, the ocean freight rates have increased within the past two years from 100 to 200 per cent and are controlled absolutely by a shipping trust which arbitrarily fixes the charge for carrying the staple commodi- ties, and the burden of increased rates has been borne largely by the bulk traffic. The broad, international scope of the question is patent and it is one of primary importance to every agricultural nation in the world. The committee heard Mr. David Lubin, American delegate to the international institute, whose testimony indicates that favorable action will be taken by the adhering Governments on the resolution thus initiated by the United States.