Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-08-12
BETTER WHEAT PRICE
ASKED FOR FARMER
Senate Committee Holds STAN
ddrdS Do Producer Craze
Injustice

Washington, Aug. 12.-(By A. P.)-
Demands that changes be made in gov
! price guarantee act 80 as not to penal
ize every grower of wheat" were made
in a statement prepared by Chairman
Gronna and representatives of farm Or
ganizations and approved today by the
Senat" agriculture committee.
Chairman Gronna announced that a
I committee would be named to present
the demands to Julius II. Barnes, prPsi-
! dent of the United States grain corpor-
alton and representatives of the Depart
m"nt of Agriculture in the hope of hav-
ing modified various government regu
lations by which it was charged 1.-THE
producers are dcfrauded and the con-
sumers receive no benefit"
Fear Injury to Agriculture
In the statement designed to give the
/ farmer S side Of the high cost of living
| question, the Senate committP said il
believed grave injustice was being done
the farmer and might CONTINUE to ac-
cumulate and seriously iniure not only
agriculture. but the entire nation as
we'll"
''While entirely sympathetic with the
hardshipS which present prices cause the
people of the city," said the statement.
FARMERS Individually and through their
organizations are no less concerned with
their own economic situation.
The powerful machinery of the gov
ernment is now being set in motion to
apprchPnd and bring to justice those
who ar" guilty of conspring to restrain
trade and secure undue profits 1t must
be remembered that this drive is now
coming at time when the great staple
| products Of the farm are going to mar
kct and that in selling the wheat crop.
for instance. the farmer is selling his
entire seasons labor
Profits Are Pyramided
''ThiS is an experience with which the
farmer is very familiar and he instinct
ivcly connects it with the interests
which in the past have pyramided their
profits upon his production at the be-
ginning of the marketing season.
| Julius b. Barnes, of the United
States Grain Corporation. openly states
his policy to resell wheat, curtail our
foreign shipments and use the resale
of wheat to help control the domestic
market price against further advances
The result of such policy. together with
! the maninulation of system of grades
and standards. has been to reduce ma
/ tcrially the farmers income and to
deny him access to 4 !ree market where
he can secure actual cost of production.
Farmers Income Only S31s.22
1--WE believe city people should know
that the average annual labor income
of the farmer, including that of his
wife and children. as shown by the last
federal census. was only $31S.22.
"They should know that, owing to
manipulation in administering the
grades and standards. together with the
: damage done by hot weather to the
maturing crops, the winter wheat pro
duccrs are receiving as low as S1.15
/ per buShPl for their wheat--nOt the
500 which Mr.. Barnes gives as
theoretical avpragc-and that this years
/ crop may average not more than 81. 80
! Oer buShel net.
"In the production of wheat, as In
other crops, labor enters in the last
analysis as the chief item of cost. and
city people should realize that the eff
fort that is being made by the authority
of the government to restrict or still
further reduce the price at the farm
musd inevitably lead TO denying the
farmer living wages.
May Get Less Than SIS
We at this time shall insist on
change in the wheat standards so as
not to penalizc every grower of wheat.
Hundreds of millions of bushels of
wheat have been shriveled by extreme
heat this season, which, under the pres
ent grading and discount rules, may not
average the producer 81 80 per bushel.
Authoritative investigators have
found such wheat to be of the highest
milling value, and it is unthinkable
that farmers should sustain a loss of
from fifty to seventy five cents per
bushel by reason of the arbitrary stand
ards that have been established,
This wheat in large measure will go
into the production of the best patent
hours and be sold to the consuming
public at prices based on No. wheat.
The producers are thereby defrauded
and the consumers receive no benefit"