The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-08-16
A Minimum Price

Country people are sometimes derided for making the weather so large a part of their conversation, and yet there Is no other class so- helplessly dependent upon weather conditions as the farmer. An untimely frost, extreme rains, or persistent drouth may ruin the crops and render the seasons work of no avail Sometimes hailstorm lasting but a few minutes may destroy the growing corn of an entire neighborhood, and 40 kinds of bugs, beetles and worms lie in wait for the distracted farmer and come upon him like thief in the night, even as the locusts descended upon the Egyp- tians.
 When the weather is unusually favor able and bumper crops are raised, prices are often ruinously low and the farmer stands to lose a large part of his just reward; while in season of high prices resulting from crop failures he has noth- ing to sell The happy medium affords him the most satisfactory returns.
 Nevertheless, when American farmers were asked by the President to speed up production, they periodically responded t1 the call, and the results promise to be tremendous In normal times our farms produce sufficient for our needs and leave something for export, and the bal ance is very nicely adjusted. In abnor- nal times like the present, when great crop yields are urged, the gain or loss to our farmers depends upon the war Tn Europe Tn view of the uncertainty as to the termination of the conflict to urge the farmers to undertake the ut- most possible production without afford ing them some measure of protecton would be grossly unjust. Fertilizers are high and in some lines impossible to secure at any price. Labor also is high and difficult to secure, and feed for live stock is excessive in price, While the farmers are admonished to conserve their herds and flocks.
 Everything the farmer buys-his gro ceries provisions, clothes, implements, tools live stock, etc, has gone way up, so that even at the present high line of prices for produce it is doubtful if he will be as well off as in normal years. Already in many sections we have heard of strawberries, peas and other perish ables rotting on the vines because the prices obtained did not pay for the pick ing.
 In view of these conditions the govern ment should come to the relief of agri- culture by guaranteeing minimum price for all farm staples, not only for this year. but for the next three or four years, so that the farmer be not ground between the upper and neither millstone. The British government was sometime ago obliged to adopt the minimum price method of keeping agriculture alive in Great Britain. The farmers there not being able to meet the uncertainties of the abnormal conditions produced by the war, preferred to let their fields lie fall low, so that production instead of in- creasing to meet the war needs actually fell off, until the government came to the rescue by adopting the expedient of a minimum price for the staple crops, and thus saved the situation
 The American farmer is more than willing to do his bit, and is ready to take an ordinary business risk; but he should not be required to shoulder responsi- bilities that would inevitably ruin him if the war were suddenly to cease espe- cally since manufacturing, commerce and banking are enjoying prosperity on account of the war.
 The charge that fixing a minimum price for agricultural products would be an act of favoritism on the part of the government is unfair. The farmer, under ordinary circumstances, asks no odds, nor is he given any though his business is extra hazardous. It is only when he is subjected to an extraordinary risk that he asks for professionalism Jour nal.