Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-04-23

| below those of ours. 1t Is evident
that it needs to be corrected, and
| whenever this can be done then a
| good part of the difficult situation
| by which we are at present confront
ed will very quickly adjust itself.
In the meantime it seems to me we
! have to face the issue as it exists
and make the very best of the situa-
ton, and like the soldier, carry on" "
! There is an evident shortage of
! from 25 to 80 per cent of farm Ia
Dor. Eight to fifteen per cent of the
| land which has been cultivated in the
| various states is idle. There are
a million unoccupied farms in the
| United States. Presumably about
100000 900 acres of land will remain
| That is enough to produce a bill
| 1ion-bushel wheat crop, one and a
| half times our average cotton crop,
or eighteen to twenty million bales
| of cotton, or corn crop approx
mating 3,00O,000,000 bushels. If
| these figures are correct the income
| of our farms even at present prices
is obliged to be cut down between
one and two billion dollars in 1921.
| The food supply of our country is
bound to be minimiZed. l take it
that this is a situation that con-
f, Germs everyone, and that we should
all put our shoulders to the wheel to
encourage agricultural production
| and to support and encourage the re-
| adjustment of the labor supply to the
needs of our agriculture.
The loss of farm labor in Georgia
has been less than in some other
sections. In many respects this is a
fortunate situation. Let US guard as
carefully as we may our farm labor
supply. Those who would relieve the
present condition by moving a lot of
people back from the city to the
country are in error. They would
not be satisfied there in the first place.
and in the second place it is like
trying to put a square plug in a
round hole. We have two million
people in the open country in Geor-
gia, and under a wise and conserva-
tive policy of management we should
be able to build our labor supply
back to normal in a comparatively
short time. 1t is of the utmost i'm
portance to do this as soon as prac-
ticable.
We can also help the labor situa-
ton materially by increasing the
use of power machinery. The tractor,
for instance, enables one man to do
the work of three men. The intelli-
gent use of fertilizer will add the
same as the labor of one man to
every farm. Unfortunately, there is
a disposition to restrict credit very
materially for these purposes. be-
leVe tnlS TO De an unWlSe pOllCy
at the present time. Taking the
United States as whole, we still
expect one man to endeaVor to
scratch over in some way seventy
five to ninety acres. He cannot do
this on any eight-hour basis, because
there is only a certain period of
time in which he can make a crop,
and then a sixteen-hours a day sched-
uIe is essential. He cannot hope to
cultivate as much land as indicated
without the use of the best machin-
cry he can obtain and a plentiful
supply of fertilizer. The man who
agitates an eight-hour basis for the
farm, but lives in the city. is strik-
ing at the fundamentals of his own
prosperity and happiness. The indi-
vidual who advocates the over-re-
striction of credit for the purposes
indicated at this time intenSifies the
chances of our having an Inadequate
supply of food in this country for
another year. Abundant food and
reasonable living costs mean happi-
ness and prosperity for all classes of
society.
This brings us to a consideration
Of the situation in Georgia. Like
Will Erwin's Japanese school boy, I
rise to inquire if we are broke.
There are those who believe we are
and have allowed their pessimism to
becloud their judgment. They have
spread gloom through the commun-
ity in which they live. This is all
wrong. There are 10000 farms in