Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1911-02-23

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gentleman is that his time be extend.
ed five minutes.
Mr., Boehne. Mr. ChaiFnlan,{i f the
gentleman from Minnesota will CON
time himself to the subject under dis
cussion ! shall not object to his con
nuing, otherwise shall. under
stand the gentleman is discussing
lnroGity.
Mr. STEVENSON. | am discussing
the paragraph right here before us,
pertaining to the investigation OF
food prices.
The Chairman. If there is no oh-
lection, the gentleman from Mime
sofa will be allowed to proceed.
There was no objection
Mr.. Stevenson. Mr. Chairman, the
proposition here is as follows.
And the Secretary of Agriculture. is
hereby authorized to continue inyes-
legations on the cost Of food supplies
at the farm and to the consumer, and
to disseminate the results of such in
yestigations in whatever manner lie
may deem best.
Last year the Secretary of Agricul-
ture did investigate, and [ find that
he made report, one of the conclu-
sions of which is:
From the details that have been
presented with regard to the increase
of the prices of farm products be-
tween farmer and consumer, the CON
clusion is inevitable that the consuln-
er has no well-grourded complaint
against the farmer for the prices that
he pays.
That is, the farmer does not get
any more than he deserves, but the
margin between what the ultimate
consumer pays and what the farmer
! gets is stated here as being as high
as so per cent.
In the hearings before the Commit
tee on Ways and Means that have re-
Gently been held it is shown that even
on the matter of milk there is a diff
terence often of 200 per cent between
what the farmer gets and what the
consumer pays, SO that the conclusion
is inevitable that the combinations OF
middle men that the gentleman from
Pennsylvania referred to do exist and
do Influence the prices of com
modlties in this country. That
condition is not remedied, but is
aggravated, by the proposed legisla
ton to which I referred moment
ago. The result is that we are here
aDpropriating more than $4,000, 90,
Tor the encouragement of agriculture
and at the same session it is propos
ed that we shall pass measure, not
4 to cheaper the cost Of living. but ia
give the manufacturer of foodstufrs
cheaper raw material and thereby in
crease his profits. already exorbitant
Cattle are to be free but meats OF
all kinds are to continue dutiable, and
the same Will be the rule in other
lines. The American farmer, with
| his higher-priced land and dt:arer SUE
plies, will be at a considerable dis
advantage in his own market.
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ward of So per capita to maintain on,
Army and Navy and the other
! branches of the Federal Government
and yet the people across the line are
to have the full benefit thereof by ad
mission free to our markets. is it
| fair?
If it is our desire to legislate in the
interest of cheaper food, instead Of
taking away the home market of The
farmer which we are abouv TO do, we
should devise some way whereby the
distribution OF these commodities
! could be carried out without this, alb
normal profit to the middleman, and
that is what this provision in the an
preparation bill that we are now CON
sidering relates to. I certainly be-
Geve that if you carry out the PROVO
sition now pending in this House in
regard to introducing free comnlodi-
ties from Canada you are going to
strike a blow to agriculture that will
be felt Tor many years. The result
will be that the farmers of the coun-
try are not going to support any pre-
tective tariff. They will be joining