The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-11-25
Insists Manufactured Products
Should be Restricted
REASONS FOR HIGH PRICES
Crops Were Short, Labor is Expensive
and the Farmers Necessaries Of
Life Cost More


the farmer the National Grange, in an
nual session here, issued a statement
tonight analyzing the high cost of liv-
ing and attributing the rising prices
of farm products to poor crops and
the increasing cost OF what the farmer
has to buy
If any embargoes are to be placed to
help the situation, the statement says
they should be on manufactured pro-
ducts, particularly munitions of war
Prohibition of gambling in foodstuffs
and provision Of more storage houses
under control of the farmers them
selves also are suggested
The statement says in part:
The American farmer, with cheap
lands and high priced labor, produces
many times as much per man as does
the farmer of any country in the
world The high price of farm pro-
ducts is due to several causes. Some
OF the most important ones are: The
climate conditions of this country dur
the past year were perhaps one of the
leading causes of crop shortage, re
during the yield to a more marked
degree than has been the case for any
previous year. For example the
wheat in the Northwest was a crop
failure. The corn crop was in many
sections a partial failure, as well as
the potato and vegetable crops.
".t must be borne in mind that the
high prices have struck the farmer in
whatever he buys, as much as it has
the city consumer. Farm labor is
scarcer and higher than ever before
in this country. Everything the
farmer buys. whether machinery fer
tilizer fencing, clothing or the neces-
saries of life, have increased in price
by leaps and bounds.
Our city cousins have changed
their method of living quite as much
as we have. Instead of buying in
quantities, as formerly. they live in
cramped quarters with a kitchenette
6 by and buy in very small quanti-
ties or live out of cartons and cans,
and many cases with little regard to
home economics.
THE fact that nearly one-haf of
the civilized world has left the field
OF production and entered upon the
work of destruction has increased the
demand for all kinds of products and
goods We believe that prices will be
high for several years, especially for
manufactured goods.
"As to the products of the farm, the
fixing Of prices is mainly by the law
of supply and demand in the markets
of the world. The farmer completes
with the cheapest paid labor on earth.
When he sells some of his products.
as he did only few years ago, at less
than cost, he gets no redress. no re-
duction in taxes nor in anything he
/ md it would be very unfair that
when he is getting a fair price for
some of his products to place an EN-
barge on what he produces to lower
the price and ultimately reduce the
supply.
"We further believe that while the
crops have been short, yet there is
plenty for all in this country and some
to sell But at the same time econo-
my should be practised along all
lines.
Gambling in food products should
be prohibited
There should be more storage
houses in the country and under the
control of the farmers themselves.
The American farmer is farming
as well as he can afford. He will in
crease the yields as he gets pay for
increased production. Increased pro
duction means increased cost and un-
less prices warrant this increase the
farmer cannot go ahead"