The Washington times., 1921-04-16

. TO END WASTE.
Association Of Producers Would
Cut Middlemen's Profits,
Hapgood Finds.
By NORMAN HAPGOOD.

The week now passing has been
momentous. The President has out
lined his policies, at home and
abroad.
The Knox resolution amended to
suit the President, has been intro
duced, and internatioal lawyers are
disputing busily about whether it
can effect other than a psychological
one. These are great events.
FARMERS IN BAD WAY.
But they are not all. Here in wash
ington something else has happened.
Occasionally / imagine that our prog
ress is destined to grow less out of
political enactments than out OF the
voluntary undertakings of groups Of
citizens.
The men in the United States who
actually grow our food are in a bad
way They cannot sell this food for
what 1T cost them. This week the
most energetic farm association in our
country has gone to the bat against
wasteful marketing and against our
old friend the high cost of living.
1t is the same crowd who organized
the drive against the same evils last
week in Chicago. Those who have
been meeting here are the representa-
tives of the American Farm Bureau
Federation.
That association has a million and a
half members. IL is made UP, on the
whole. of the richest and most intelli-
gent farmers in each county.
The convention in Chicago. organ
ized by this group, committed itself
to the marketing of grain on a large
scale directly by the farmers them
selves.
WAR ON GRAIN EXCHANGES.
War was openly declared on the
grain exchanges, and the necessary
storing In warehouses is to be con-
Quoted by farmers organizations to
cut out profits of the middlemen and
speculators and give the benefits to
the producer and the consumer.
To perfect that plan required six
months. To execute il, the organizers
hope to begin with the crop OF this
year.
This week in Washington the farm
ers took up two other items in the
nations food. Tney appointed com
inIttee to take up the question of
marketing livestock, and another
committee to take up the question of
marketing fruit.
Both problems are harder than the
grain problem. Wheat does not eat
Wnlle IL IL DeiHS StOTeu OF nnoNeu
CUttle eat their heads off. 1t is ex
rected that where the grain plan re-
ouired six months, the livestock plan
will require at least year.
In addition to the committee on
marketing live stock independently of
the big packers (Which committee
was appointed here this week., there
will also be committee to work out
plan for the marketing of the fruit.
The perishableness of the commodity
is the underlying difficulty in the
| fruit plan. The basis of the planning
will be what has already been ac-
complished in California.
Nor is that all More informally
| the farmers took up the railroad prob
lem. 1t affects them as directly as IL
uoes anybody.
SO conservative are these men that
a year ago they largely favored the
Esch- -Cummins bill. Today most Of
them expect the roads to be mostly in
the hands of receivers next summer
They think IL part of their business
as citizens and shippers to look into
| the future.
The plan that I have moro than
once outlined, that is being carefully
| handed around among solid people in
| terested. but not published. has been
| before the farmers. They have given
| IL a favorable reception and have
gone into such exact questions as
whether when the railroad securities
are taken over by centralized, Gov
ernment-backed organization, the old
securities should be paid for at mar
ket value or on the basis of ten years
average earnings, which is the Euro
pean precedent