The Palatka news and advertiser., 1917-05-11

crate and price their products. Let us
make a few comparisons.
Corporations sell products, or SER
vice, manufacturers sell products, in
surance companies sell protection,
banks hire out money, railroads sell
service; and it matters not whether
product or service it is always at a
fixed schedule of prices. Why not the
farmer do the same. 1t is all right for
Rockefeller to fix the price of oil, Ar
mour to dictate the price of meat, the
Steel trust to sell nails and other hard
ware, the middlemen to dictate the
price of Irish potatoes and other Flor
ida products. These things are in ac-
cordance with fundamental economic
laws. Then why not let the farmer
put a minimum price on his product If
it does not violate the sacred laws of
trade for other vocatiOns to fix the
price of commodities, 1t certainly
would not for the farmer to put a pro-
fitable and uniform price on his pro-
duct; for there is no doubt the farmer
is underpaid and other vocations over
paid. The following figures given out
by the Government and compiled by
Mr. Rhodes, chairman National exec
utive board, Farmers Union, after
keeping one-third at home, the farm
ers of the United States market at
least about $4,000, 600, 900 worth of pro-
ducts. These find their way to the
consumer at the enormous price of
$4,000, 100000, or is added to the pro-
duce price on the way to consumption
$1,000, 900, 900; or it costs more to get it
from the producer to the consumer
than the producer is paid for it. We
could pay the transportation cOmpa-
MES, jobbers, wholesale and retailers
at least $1,000,000 more than they claim
they have received, lower the price 81,
500,000,000 to the consumer and pay
the farmer S1500 100000 more annually
for his product.
The farmers are asking by what au-
thority Mr.. Won Engelken, President of
Federal Farm Loan Bank of this dis
trict, Is asking the bankers to become
the Secretary and Treasurers of the
Federal Farm Loan Associations or
ganized under the Federal Farm Loan
Act. We regret it is necessary to dis
cuss this question, as we have bankers
that are giving the farmers fair treat
ment: others are not. In some places
they are charging the farmer as much
as 35 per cent. The farmers of Texas
are not the only ones who complain Of
being charged an unjust rate of inter-
est. North and South Carolina, Geor-
gia and Florida have reasoin to com
plain. The farmers have had wears of
experience borrowing money and pay
ing interest. AS class they have had
to pay a higher rate of interest than
the manufacturer and merchant. The
farmers are carrying an Indebtedness
of $4,000, 900, 900, and are paying S51O-
600 600 interest. s21O.O0 600 more than
manufacturers and merchants are pay
ing on the same amount. This cN-
plains why the manufacturer can pro-
duce $2N.Oo0.OOO.OOO worth of product
with 100000 men, while it takes 15,
100000 people to prodIc" $4,000, 10000
worth of products on the farm.
Woodrow Wilson said, the farmer
has not shared equally with thcr vo-
cations. He realized on account of tn"
inability of the farmer to borrow mon
ey the same as other classes. cities
were increased in population at the eX-
pcnse of the farmer. No one worked
harder to help the farmers to get the
rural credit bill to become n law than
our President Those who opposed it
We're the money lenders who have on
posed every law of this kind for the
benefit of the farmer for the past forty
years. Then with the unmistakahl"
facts of the past. why should Mr. Won
Encelkcn ut the bankers convention in
st. Augustine on the 7th of this month