The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-06-08
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsgIN. Director.
washington, d. o.
THE FARNrERs, STORM CONGRESS-

| nlOSI nlElliy CrBd-A1ZeC S1AoIl III e4AS
history of the country on the part of
| the farmers to make congress under
stand what they want and give it to
them Is now under way here.
OF course the farmers have always
filled a large amount of space in the
Congressional Record and there has
| never been any such thing as con-
| gresham who was not a friend of the
farmer. But this friendship has here
| tofore taken the form of giving the
! farmer what congress thinks he ought
! to have rather than what he wants.
| The farmers have been the most in
articu1ate and unorganized of all fac
tors in the production and distribution
| of the necessities of life in this coun-
| try, which is one reason why Ameri-
| can agriculture is in such precarious
state.
The last few years have seen a
number of attempts on the part of
| farmers to get together. One of the
MOST successful of these is the Amerf-
can Farm Bureau Federation, which
| is said to represent over a million
farmers in thirty-seven states. 1t has
an office here in Washington, and
watches congress closely. This organ
| ization is getting out a QUESTIONABLE,
| which is designed ostensibly to learn
| the sentiment of the farmers on q
number of legislative projects. In
reality the federation probably knows
subjects. 1t porabably helped them
find out what to think This Dues
| tionnaire, therefore, is chiefly a means
| of enabling the farmer members of
| the federation to lift up their voices
| in unison and show congress what q
noise they can make. 1t is interesting
| TO note that at the same time this
| QUESTIONABLE was sent out, the news
appeared that an agricultural bloc
OF twenty-five. senators has been or
gained for the purpose of putting
thru legislation the farmer wants
The questions in the QUESTIONABLE
all have to do with problems Of farm
credit, taxation, freight rates, good
roads. the packers and cooperative
! marketing. They do not touch upon
| the question of land tenure which lies
at the bottom of the whole food pro-
| duction problem. The trouble with
American farming is summed up in
the case of a farmer in Iowa, who in
| 1916 figured that he was making less
! than per. cent a year on the value
| 1925 an acre and invested the money
! at 6 percent. He could not afford to
go on farming. But now he wishes
| he had kept his land, because the
/ value of it has risen to about $500 an
| acre, with the rise in food prices.
Land values Boost Prices.
In a word, farm land has a specu-
|
ways rises just a little. faster than the
| value of the commodities that land
! produces. A man who owns a good
| farm can usually make more by SELL
ing his farm and putting the money
| into something else than he can pos
| sibly make by farming. The result is
| that the more intelligent farmers sell
| out, and the more Intelligent young
/ men leave the farm and come to the
| city.
Unfit this simple situation is rene
died, the rural population will con-
| tinue to decrease and so will food pro-
! duction. This fact is recognized by
! the Farm Bureau federation, accord
| ing to Mr.. E. B. Reid, it's Washington
| representative, He says that the fed
Grafton is formulating a policy with
regard to land tenure which will be
announced in due course. 1t will Ger
| tainly- be received with interest.
| Meantime, the federation is out to
| settle certain accessory matters con-
nected with farm finance and the dis
tribution of farm products. It esti-
mates that the farmer now gets 80 per
cent of every dollar the consumer
spends for food. It believes that he
should and can get more than this
to the consumer. This is the end
sought in all legislation the farmers
are urging upon the present con gfess,
and the ground is pretty well covered
| in the. federation QUESTIONABLE. The
following is summary of the answers
which the farmers will return to the
questions.
They want commodity financing
based on bonded warehouse receipts.
This is now in effect with regard to
cotton. The farmers want a similar
system to apply to grain, tobacco, hay,
| apples, potatoes, and all other crops
that are not perishab1e and that can
be accurately graded: The chief leg
islation needed is law enabling the
/ department of agriculture to establish
the grades. When this is done, and
the warehouses are in operation, the
farmer will be able to deposit his
wheat in the warehouse and borrow
money on it to put in the next crop.
Thus he can hold his wheat for q
rise in the market. Under the present
system, 70 pet. cent OF, the wheat crop
is out of the farmers hands in three
months. After that it begins to rise
. in price.
Farm Credits.
They want personal rural credits.
This means the provision of state or
government funds which the farmer
can borrow on his general personal
| credit, instead of merely on his land,
as under the present federal farm
loan act. 1t would mean that, he could
| borrow from the government at a low
| rate of interest what he now borrows
from the bank at a high rate. The
| farm ers also want to be able to bor-
row money on their livestock. They
want the limit on federal land bank
mortgage loans raised from SO. 900 to
i SIS, 900. They want authority grant
ed the federal reserve board to classify
, rediscounts so AZ to give prior C;Jnsii
eratioa to loans for basic producti5n
of all kinds.'' This means, in brief
that farmers should have first call OIL
government funds.
In matters of taxation, the farmers
want the excess profits tax continued
| They are against the sales tax, know
ing that they will have to pay It on
} what they buy, and that they cannot
pass it along on what they sell. They
want a constitutional amendment pro-
} hibiting the issuance of all tax free
securities.
with regard to transportation, the
farmers want lower freight rates
They want farm-to-market roads