Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-31
HOW WILL PEACE
AFFECT FARMER
AND HIS FUTURE?
Period Following War Will
Be Most Critical For
Agriculture

Tor the dlSposltlon OF SoidierS wnen
/ they return from the war. One of
these measures calls for the survey
of swamp lands.
| The question is being asked:
Where are most OF the swamp lands
| of the United States located? The
answer is obviously known TO all, in
| the states of Louisiana, Mississippi.
| Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and
contiguous territory.
If the initial step in providing for
| the returning soldiers is to be the
/ spending of government money in
/ reclaiming waste swamp lands of the
! south. western and northern farmers
are asking where they come in.
Such a measure, though not yet
passed, would be apt to become a law
/ in line with the policy of the present
| Congress, which has framed legis-
| lation and appropriated money large
ly for the benefit of the south. 1t
| is universally commented upon here
/ that the southern domination of
[ Congress permits no opportunity to
pass to score an added advantage for
/ its own favored section of the coun-
| try.
The southern Democratic machine
/ is running Congress, despite the fact
that it represents the smallest section
| of the country in population, wealth
and industry.
Tired of Sectional Legislation
So far there has not been any out
standing protest against this fact,
but now when the question of Re-
construction is uppermost, Republi-
can leaders assert that it is time for
the country to know just what it will
mean 10 give the Democrats control
of the next Congress
If the Democrats control the next
Congress as they have controlled the
present Congress, the passage OF the
! measure to survey waste swamp
lands will probably be merely pre-
lude to legislation extremely sec
tional and partisan in its applica-
| ton.
There would be no objection to the
reclamation of swamp lands, per Sc,
as such proposition is entirely con-
sistent with the we'll established ma
tional policy of conservation. But
the record of the present Congress.
which is controlled by nine southern
states, has been one which is not cal
culated TO inspire confidence in its
ability to view things from a broad.
national stand point.
AS proof of this. only two very
glaring examples of, its bitter parti-
sanship and extreme sectionalism
need be given. One is the persistent
refusal Of the Democratic Congress
to fix the price of cotton in the
face of its eagerness to fix the price
of all northern products whether of
the field. mine or factory. The other
has been the gross favoritism shown
toward the southern states in the To-
cation of army camps and canton
ments, and the expenditure of vast
appropriations in southern states and
districts for no other reason, that
is apparent, than the mere fact that
such districts are the homes of Dem
ocratic leaders.
When Farmer Will Need Help
The prospects for the American
farmer after the war is not con-
sidered by economists TO be rosy
unless the farm products of this
country are adequately protected
now. And such is not the case. The
American farmer has been guaran-
teed only s2.20 bushel for his 1919
wheat crop, despite the fact that ag-
ricultural experts, and a special COM
mission appointed to investigate the
whole subject, recommended the
minimum guaranteed price of S2.46.
4IllS COIlullSSlOH stated IldI even at
S2.46 bushel, the farmer could not
make a cent of profit. The argu-
ment against increasing the guaran-
teed price of wheat runs as follows:
II peace is declared before the har-
vest of 1919, the world will be able
TO draw upon the granaries of South
America, Australia and India, which
Will Immediately increase the visible
supply of wheat in such q degree as
to cause q radical breac in its price.
1t is asserted that undN' such condi-
tions the government e5uld not af-
ford to guarantee the farmer a price
for his wheat higher than the pre-
vatling market prices.
This explanation is an excuse
rather than an argument, for under
such conditions the farmer would be
far more in need OF q guaranteed
price than he now is. The stress of
the reconstruction period will be
harder to sustain than the stress of
war. The danger of a reconstruc-
tion period is not that prices may be
too high but that they may rapidly
tumble to such a low level as to
bring about panic and dire distress.