arture must depend
upon the special commodity and its ratio to the whole. When such a
concern obtains such dimensions that it can influence prices or
dominate public affairs, either with deliberation or innocence, then it
must be placed under regulation and restraint. Our people have long
since realized the advantage of large business operation in improving
and cheapening the costs of manufacture and distribution, but when these
operations have become so enlarged that they are able to dominate the
community, it becomes of social necessity that they shall be made
responsible to the community. The test that should apply, therefore, is
not the size of the institution or the volume of capital that it
employs, but the proportion of the commodity that it controls in its
operations. It is my belief that if this were made the datum point for
regulation, and if regulation were made of a rigorous order, this
pressure would result in such business keeping below the limit of
regulation. Thus the automatic result would be the building up of a
proper competition, because men in manufacturing would rather conduct a
smaller business free of governmental regulation than enjoy large
operations subject to governmental control. There are probably only a
very few concerns in the United States that would fall into this
category, and they should be glad of regulation in order to secure
freedom from criticism.

SPECULATION AND PROFITEERING

There are three kinds of speculation and profiteering in the food
trades. The first is of the inherent speculative character of foodstuffs
due to their seasonal nature. The farmer, more by habit than necessity,
usually markets the bulk of his grain in the fall. By necessity he must
market his animals at certain seasons for they must be bred at certain
seasonal periods, they must be fed at certain seasons, and thus they
come to market in waves of production larger than the immediate demand.
In perishables he must market fairly promptly as he cannot himself
maintain necessary special types of storage. Thus, the dealer must
speculate on carrying the commodities for distribution during the period
of short production while the farmer markets in time of surplus
production. While full competitive conditions might reduce the charges
for this hazard, there is a possibility of reducing the hazard by better
organization and, consequently, the charge for the hazard that is now
debited to the farmer. It is worth an