The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1915-01-21
THOSE WICKED FARMERS.

%comonting on the recent happen
insa Id The wheat pits of the various
grain EXCHANGES Of the United States,
the New York World says
Naturally the farmers are blam-
Cd Tor the rise in the price of wheat
To which The New York Herald re-
forts:
Not exactly. They are only blam-I
ed for wickedly taking advantage!
of their opportunity t. sell their,
wheat at high prices
The New York Worlds attempt to
charge the price OF wheat to some
effort q conspiracy on tho part o.
the farmers is { coa.em.pnble effort
70 develop class feeling AGAINST them.
Whist lias the farmer to do with
the price Of waeat2 Who consuIts
him as to what should be paid for
it? Has anybody ever heard Of the
farmers combining in such u way
Is to compel the payment OF any
price they might demand for their
products?
When the price of wheat goes
down, has the New York World ever
said that the farmers are to be Civ
en- credit for lowering it? If they
are TO be denounced for any increase
in the value of their crops. certainly
they should be commended when
the price goes down.
The fact is that there is no class
of producers in the country who have
less to say about the prices of their
output sthan has. the farmer. The
figure at which he sells has not beer
computed upon any element of his
cost OF production. If he has a short
crop while some other parts OF the
world have a big crop, he must sell
at low prices and take his loss.
World supply and hat alone deter
mines the price of his crops, at least
when every particle of the protective
tariff @ his produce has been re.
moved. as was done by the present
administration.
And yet, Notwithstanding the fact
that he has no chance of knowina
what his crops will be worth when
he sows them, the farmers of the
United States have increased the to-
tai value of farms in this ountr,
from $4,000, 600, 900 in 1850, ia
$40, 600. 10000 in 1914 and have
developed the output of the farms
from $2,212,0 5000 in 1880 tc
s9.750.0O0, 900 in 1914. Is there any
other industry in the United States
that can show any such d%evelonmen1
without in any degree controllina
the price at which its produets arc
sold9
The New York World knows very
we'll that it is the European war aat
that alone that has forced up the
price of wheat. President Wilson
knew just as we'll that this is the
case when he ordered the attorney.
general to endeavor to find somabod,
to prosecute because wheat is selling
at its present price. IT the president
of the United States feels called up.
on to punish somebody when farm
prices so up, he certainly is under
obligations to reward or subsidize
somebody when they go down. The
s president is guilty of class discrim-
ination in his attitude toward farm
products and has been from the III.
eeption of his administration. Be-
cause he is a II only and be
cause his associations have been with
consumers only, he apparently be-
lieves that the producer is entitled
to no consideration And particular
" was this true of his attitude to.
ward the farmers, as shown by his
lnsistent demand that all tariff be
removed from all farm crops. TIE
government s1a.,l.l consider that the
people OF ,.a United States must be
producers before they can be con
snlners. They must have something