Bisbee daily review., 1920-02-03
SAYS FARMERS
 WANT \ CHANCE


 l tion of useless employees in non-pro-
 ductive business, the speeding up of
 all lines of industry commensurate
 with the present activity of the farm
 CTS, and determination of retailers and ! jobbers to exact only reasonable profit were recommended as a solu- ! ton for the high cost of living prob | lem by Edwin T. Meredith on taking 1 the oath of office as secretary of agri- culture The high cost of living problem, he asserted, cannot be solved i through the efforts of one class, but all business and labor must recognize the solution as a common duty, "or ! less and less will there be of farm | produce to. divide among the whole people, and higher and higher will go the price of that which is produced.
 "The farmers of America" said Sec retary Meredith, "are willing to as sume their part of the responsibilities as American citizens in meeting any problem threatening the welfare and stability of our country, but this high cost of living problem is a mutual one and they ask that it be approached ! by all the people as common prob lem. They ask that those engaged in distribution eliminate the lost motion and not put so great a burden upon production that there is upon it today. In other words, they ask that there be an adequate number of producers l. of wealth, and this includes property and food of all kinds, and only such number of distributors as is necessary to perform the services required. They .ask that the banks, railroads, whole sale houses, retail establishments, factories, all of which are vitally nee fessary to the farmer and recognized by him as such, be speeded up along with him, that the work now done by three men may be done, if possible, by two and the burden of transporta- ton and distribution be thereby light ened
 Business men must look to the operation of their establishments no matter in what line they may be en- gagged, and see that no useless em- ploys is retained to add to the cost of distribution of what the farmer now duces. Useless employees must be re- lease from non-productive work that add to the sum total that may be dis tributed among all Let us have six tenths of what a man can produce each day for each of us, rather than have four-tenths in production and six tenths in distribution, which gives us only four-tenths of what man can produce each day for each of us.
 The farmer asks that the laborers in the mines, the factories and the mills, who are also real producers along with the farmers, make an eff frr-ff 1,I. t.s~
 is just as little labor expense as possi- ble in each article turned out by their hands, thereby helping the farmers of America, who. in turn, will help the laborer. Given this, and the manufac turers, jobbers and retailers taking reasonable profit and recognizing the harm that must ultimately come from profiteering upon the farmer, the question of the high cost of living will largely solve itself to the perma- nent good of all concerned
 On the other hand, if the whole country. all business and all labor. does not recognize this as a common problem and do those things which give the farmer a fair compensation for his efforts and do those things which make farming remunerative, pleasant and as attractive as other lines of endeavor, the conditions will not improve. On the contrary, more and more will the young men leave the farms, more and more will the older men become discouraged, and less and less will there be of farm produce to divide among the whole people for their sustenance. and higher and higher will gO thC nrica of that which is produced"