Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-09-08

IN marketing, Thru cooperative as
| sociations the route between tho pro-
Queer and the consumer can and
| must be shortened. Wasteful effort
can and must be avoided I'M
necessary expense can and must be
| eliminated. ut Is to the advantage
| of all Of our people that every pos
| sihle improvement be made In our
| methods Of getting the products OF
our farms into the hands of the
people who consume them. The
| legitimate functions of the middle
man may continue to be performed,
| by private enterprise, under condt-
tons where the middleman is nee
essary and gives his skill to our
joint welfare. The parasite In dis
tribution who preys on both pro-
| Queer and consumer must no longer
| sap the vitality OF this fundament al
! life.
Scientific Study.
Third. the republican party pledges
| itself to scientific study of agrieul-
tural prices and farm propuction
costs. both at home and abroad. with
view TO reducing the frequency
| of abnormal fluctuations here. Stab
tlization will contribute to cverybodys
confidence. Farmers have complain
ed bitterly Of the frequent and violent
fluctuations in prices of live stock.
They do not find fluctuations-such
fluctuations the products of other
| industries. In general way prices
| of farm products must so up or down
| according TO whether there is a
plentiful crop or short one. The
| farmers raw materials are the fer
ti1ity OF the soil, the sunshine and
the rain: and the size OF his crops is
| measured by the supply Of these raw
| materials and the skill with which he
| makes use of them. He can not
control his production and adjust 1t
to the demand as can the manufac-
turer. But he can see no good req
son why the prices of his products
should fluctuate so violently from
| week TO week. and sometimes from.
day to day. We must get better
understanding OF the factors which
Influence agricultural prices. with a
view OF avoiding these violent fluctua-
lions and bring about average prices.
which shall bear a reasonable rela
do not offer any quack remedies In
| this matter, but we do pledge. our
selves to make a thorough study of
the disease. find out what causes 1t.
and then apply the remedy which
promises cure.
To Stop Price Fixing.
Fourth. we promise to put an end
to unnecessary price fixing OF farm
products and to considered efforts
arbitrarily to reduce farm product
prices. In times OF national crisis
when there is a known scarcity OF
any necessary product. price control
for the purpose OF making fair dis
tribution of the stores on hand may
be both necessary and Wise. But
we know that there can be no re-
peal OF natural laws--the eternal
fundamentals. The history OF the
last three thousand years records the
folly OF such efforts. II the price
Of any farm product, for example. is
arbitrarily fixed at a point which
does not cover the cost of production.
the farmer is compelled to reduce
the production of that particular
crop. This results In q shortage
which in turn brings about higher
prices than before, and thus In
tensifies the danger from which 1t
was sought to escape. In times past,
many nations have tried to hold
down living costs by arbitrarily fix
Ing prices Of farm products. All
such efforts have failed, and have
usually brought national disaster.
Vain and Useless.
Government drives against food
prices such as we have experienced
during the past two years are equally
vain and useless. The ostensible
purpose of such drives is to reduce
the price the consumer pays for food.
The actual result Is unjustly to de-
press for a time the prices the farm
er receives for his grains and live
| stock, but with no appreciable re-
duction In the price the consumer
pays. Such drives simply give the
speculator and the profiteer addi-
| tional opportunities to add to their
exactions, while they add to the un-
certainty and encouragement under
which the farmer is laboring during
this period OF reimbursement.
Fifth. we favor the administration
OF the farm loan act 80 as to help