Norwich bulletin., 1918-01-23
"PRoFITEERs.'
Are the Connecticut Farmers Receiv. ing Unusual War Profits?

Every now and then during the past year. and especially frequently of late, some individual or group of indiYid- uals. with an axe to grind, break out in public speech, and usually into newspaper prominence, proclaiming that the farmers or certain classes Of farmers, of the country are the cause Of the high cost of food, are reaping unusual profits, and apparently are spending much of their time running around the country in high priced au- tomObileS.
 The executive committee of the Con- necticut Vegetable Growers Assicoa- ton desires to emphatically dispute such statements or imputations, and to put before those in authority in our government and the public generally, a true statement of the agricultural 1 conditions in Connecticut, which, no | doubt are quite similar to those in ! most Of our eastern states. It wishes i to announce it's endorsement of the i demand made last summer by the ; dairymen for the increased price for milk production and to deny that this 1 has resulted in unfair profits to the dairy farmer at the entire expense of the middleman and the consumer
 There is no class of men more loy- l times of unusual need, than are the
 farmers of this and other states. No set of men in moderate means in any kind of occupation or business will continue to work or do business with out at least some financial reward. Ir7 the past the farmers more than any .i other class of men have been doing this Today, under the unusual wal
 conditions, they are asked to grow certain crops when it often means 2 financial loss to them, and they can
 rot and will not keep this up unless they make enough on their operations
 as whole to more than compensate
 them for their loss. It is well fol
 those in authority and the public ir
 general to bear this in mind, else an.
 other year the food situation ma,
 grow worse rather than better through the failure of growers to grow. profit Hess crops.
 I Whit is the situation that has faced ithe Connecticut vegetable grower tn,
 past year. and to a certain extent tn, fruit grower as well?
 1st. He was asked to increase hi crop production (already adequate t, local market conditions), which is 0 a kind for which there is no foreigl exportation to. take care of the exces and thereby increase or keep up tn
 price, and to do this that we mish
 lessen the consumption of our ex
 portable crops, grown elsewhere
 which were sure of an unglutted mar ket and a profitable return.
 2nd. He was brought in n1arke
 competition with excessive productio, : of similar crops grown elsewhere. !, 3rd. Local competition with hir through individual society, and fac ; tory gardens was encoura ged to tn y utmost as a way for showing one S patriotism.
 ol 4th. He had to pay greatly in s creased prices for his seeds, his fer s tilizers and for machinery and horse = if he bought any. His artificial fer :, tilizers in most cases lacked the ele h ment of potash so essential to a flu
 crop production.
 p 9th. His labor situation was mo: e unusual and critical General farl e labor is the. lowest paid labor on tn r market, because there is the least pro Il fit in farming of any business. Wit l, a greatly increased demand elsewhel y the farmer was the one who WE = shorthanded because he could not pa Il the increased competitive price tn: e resulted. Then, too, the draft toe n away labor that ought to have bee '- available, and is threatening to nal l. more serious inroads. in the futur e To meet this the farmer had to en e ploy day laborerS that came to har = occasionally, schoolboys, students, WI ,e men. criminals from the jails, colore