Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-11-08

that land is commonly held at a price based upon
what it may be worth in the future, due to changed
conditions, and not what it will produce now.
Thus, if man buys hundred acres of land for
S10,0 he will do exceedingly well to make a
net profit of 81 600 year by farming it. If his
time is. considered to be worth only $500 year,
he has then made his Investment only SAGE
about per cent. He could invest it in first
mortgage city real estate and make twice that
amount This case is hypothetical, but typical. 1t
is usual to say that the farmers thousand dollars
is worth more than the amount in the city;
that he feeds his family with the products of the
farm, and so on. But this is sophistry. Figuring
in every possible factor of profit, the fact remains
that the farmer cannot make both day wages and
fair return on his investment. The natural
suit is that he quits farming and goes to a city
Or else he stays from force of habit, farming as
best he can financially crippled. Or else he sells
his farm and rents land, which enables him to
make more money but quickly exhausts the land
which he does not own, and about which he
nothing.
The problem of distribution is not so simple.
1t is generally admitted that the farmer does not
get his share. Even now with the prices he gets
for staples regulated by the government, he oft
en- does not get his share, though he sometimes
gets enough to make him temporarily prosperous.
The "middeman" and the "profteer'' are gen.
orally blamed for the farmers losses in distribu-
tion. There is lot much in this. The middleman
is generally necessity, and the pTofiteer myth.
The trouble is that the forces of distribution are
organized and the farmers are not An organized
force will always and inevitably exploit
organized force.
For these reasons, then, the farmer is quit
ting the farm. Even now, when farmers pop
ularly supposed to be making money hand oyer
fist, there is steady flow of young from the
country to the cities The fact that thousands of
young countrymen would rather run street cars
and work behind lunch counters than farm shows
about how attractive farming is to them.
All serious students of the problem have long
recognized this state of affairs. They have seen
plainly enough that farming is losing game
much more plainly than have most farmers. They
have realized that will not stick to oc-
cupation which holds forth so little hope of
terial comfort leisure. And they also realize
that it will not help to give the farmer free
turtium seeds, free literature free hog cholerS
1t will help, but will not solve the prob
lem for the government to lend him money. The
only thing that will solve it is to give him the land
at such a price that he make fair return on
his investment. That is fundamental necessity for
any business.
The administration plan is simply recognition
of these facts, with a special reference to the re-
turning soldier For unless considerable per-
centage Of these soldiers enabled to cultivate
the land instead of going to the cities for work,
the future for food production in America is not
bright.
The details of this administration plan, SO far
they are worked out, will be presented in
second article.