Norwich bulletin., 1920-01-31

High profits taken by middlemen for the mere handling of food prod ucts; and
 Lack of proper agencies of contact between the farmer and the ultimate consumer.
 Many of the replies, said one off, cial who had looked over them, prob ably as many as 50 per cent, indicate that the writers contemplate either leaving their farms or curtailing acre age because of the growing feeling against non producing city dwellers. Commenting tonight on the replies. Assistant Postmaster General Blakslee said
 Such a condition at T time when the predominant cry is for production and still more production cannot but constitute a grave menace" Before the senate committee he 1 characterized the situation as dis quieting and portentous of disastrous consequences This opinion was ex-
 pressed by MT. Blakslee after a mem 1 Der of the senate committee had re-
 marked that the replies seemed to have come mostly from a bunch of 1 bolsheyists,
 Excerpts from a number of letters.
 taken at random from the more than [ 1 department, showed the trend of ] tfounf,t anlo~e r le" "e+ a considerable
 proportion of the farmers of New 1sn7 idIi,t ti-~ l..-4Il. ', stS.Tn states, Georgia, and the eastern agricultural 1 section.
 "The time is very near" wrote a farmer at East Chatham, N. Y, when we farmers will have to curtan pro- duction and raise only what we need for our own use and let the other fel- ] lows look out for themselves. Labor unions are more to blame for the high prices than anyone else. People are trying to get pay for what they don't i earn"
 Declaring that the whole onus o>$ne | higil cost of living rests with the md dleman, a Missouri producer advocat- ] ed the establishment of municipal | markets to be. served by parcel post ! direct.
 T sell butter to the dealer for 45 | cents pound" his letter said, and 1 the same butter sells to the consumer 1 ton we lose nearly half and we lose
 money on the butter at the first price. 1 Such conditions are causing the farm | CTS to leave the farm by the thou sands
 l Declaring that he works 240 acre l farm without help Igfd that hundreds I of other farmers are doing the same, | a Revere, Mo-, man declared that the l place to start to lower the cost of liv- l ing is Co cut the wages in the city, 1 which have called our farm help there. We need them on the farm to help incSeese production, and then we
 can cut the cost of living" 1 His return for last year averaged one dollar a day for himself, White 1 Water, Mo-, man said. T hope soon
 to see the farmer and consumer going 1 hand in hand. If not, then I am quit | ting, for one. Work fourteen hours a ] day for s1 and let the middleman get 1 the biggest part of it? Not me- l The tendency away from the farm | to she city was blamed by another
 middle western farmer for tine high
 cost of living.
 q attribute it great deal" he 1 wrote. ito the good times in the cit ! ies. The young men can go to the
 city and get big pay for eight hours work, while farmers have to work 14
 to IS hours a day at hard manual la : bor. Declaring that while the farmer has to take what the commission man and
 retailer will pay, him for his product be is compelled to pay whatever the | dealer asks for is. clothes. farm ma
 chinery and other necessities. another
 farmer said:
 Farmers work from F to IS hours