WHEAT CONFERENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21578, 24 August 1933, Page 9

WHEAT CONFERENCE

COMMITTEES AT WORK CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS LONDON. Aug. 22 An official communique states that considerable progress has been made both by the Advisory and the Technical Committees of the Wheat Conference. v The chairman of the Advisory Committee, Mr. F. McDougall, says he considers the basis of the operations of the committee is to hold a watching brief over the development of an international wheat agreement. The Technical Committee to-day discussed a number of points in connection with the proposed agreement, including questions relating to the price at which the importing countries should reduce their wheat tariffs. It is expected that both committees will submit reports to a full meeting of the conference to-morrow afternoon. GAMBLING IN GRAIN SPECULATOR'S CRASH TOP-HEAVY OPERATIONS CHICAGO. Aug. 14 Surprising facts are being disclosed by the Government inquiry into the recent debacle on the Chicago and other wheat exchanges. One report alleges that two members of tho Business Conduct Committee of the Chicago Board of Trade were actually the brokers for "Doc" Crawford, tho Now .Orleans dentist, whose gigantic top-heavy operations were the main cause of the market breakdown. They lent him assistance in providing margin to buy many millions of Jwshels of grain for which he could not pay. Crawford at one stage of his operations was reputed to bo worth £7,000,000, but his gambling took him too far, and ho crashed, ending with nothing. His crash brought the rest of the market tumbling. The investigators insist that new market regulations must bo framed to prevent gamblers "eetting-in" over their heads. *