Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-03-01
AMERICAN FARMERS.
LOST FIVE BILLION
IN SLUMP Of PRICES.
EY HARDEN COLFAx
Ueased Wire Service to The Journal.)
Conrripht 1901

EE HARDEN COAEAA
U-eased Wire Service to The Journal.)
Copyright, 1929
WASHINGTON, Feb. &c. - Five
billion dollars is the sum which the
American farmers nave lost as a
result of the drop in the prices of
farm products and foodstuffs in the
last few months. The sum has not
been lost in actual dollars, but it
represents the amount by which the
farmers of the United States are
poorer than they would have been
if the slump had not occurred.
This is the deliberate judgment of
Edwin 7. Meredith, secretary of ag-
riculture, who urges that practical
assistance and encouragement be
given the farming industry this
year.
THE farmers will not likely grow
as large crops this year as they did
last year, he said IN an exclusive
interview today. Their paintings
will probably be sufficient, however,
to avert serious shortage in food
stuffs."
Depreciation in farm values, and
in food commodity prices, with the
higher costs for farm machinery
and supplies, is not the only dis
couraging factor in the planting Of
crop this year. Higher costs of
transportation are materially affect
ing the distribution of American
grown products and are opening up
the big markets of this country to
exploitation by the agricultural pro-
Of ~ k~,sz>
creasing the financial difficulties
with which the food producing IN
terests here are contending.
Reduction in 1921
The greatest reduction in crop
planting this year is expected by
Mr.. Meredith and his assistants to
result from the unwillingness of the
tenant farmers cultivating thou
sands of acres, TO incur larger obli-
cations for planting and cultivation.
Many of the tenants have already
left the farms as a result of the
slump in prices, and have sought
employment in other industries. A
still larger number will be drawn
away if there is an industrial re-
vival before the time for planting
comes, and the industries make bids
for additional workers.
Thousands of farm tenants will
flock to the cities in these circum-
stances because of !. their losses last
year" says Mr.. Meredith, "and leave
many farms without tenants to Gull
tivate them. 1t will take from many
of the farm owners the labor supply
with which they expect to cultivate
their crops this year and result in
the necessity of paying higher wages
at time when the agricultural bust
ness is laboring under deficit of
five billions of dollars from last
year"
The way out Of the situation. says
the secretary, is in the adoption of
permanent and comprehensive ag-
ricultural policy, which will restore
confidence in the farming business,
and put it on a profitable basis. Fail
ure to do this. he believes. will cause
increases in the importation of for
eign foodstuffs-already assuming
alarming proportions under the high
Ell transportation co is and the I'M
favorable difference in the trade bal
ances Of the country.
''The. purpose of department
policy" Mr.. Meredith says would
be that of bringing down the. haz-
ards of the farming business to the
lowest possible point, and making
profits in food production more Ger
tain, This is the only way in which
the city resident can be- protected
from the prospect of diminished
1000 supply. ana the prospect Oh
higher prices for food"
Recent surveys of the agricultural
department show that the country
is now consuming the largest volume
of foreign grown foodstuffs in it's
history. and that the value of the
foreign imports of foods greatly eX-
coed the value of the exports from
the farms.
The American farmer-described
by the experts of the department of
agriculture as the most effective in
the world is meeting with the stern
est competition in the home markets
that he has ever known. and virtu-
ally finding himself in the position
this year he must produce "cheap"
crop and possibly the smallest crop,
the country has known.
Need for Policy
Mr.. Meredith believes that Ameri-
can farming must be made more
attractive to Americans. The Amer
lean farmers of the past, he declares,
have been the most progressive in
the world, using the most modern
machinery and the best and latest
methods in crop production. The
substitution of the native American
farmer by peasant type from Eu-
rope, he asserts. must mean a de-
terioration in the quality Of food,
and and higher prices of supplies
for the consumers. T
Mr.. Meredith expresses the belief
that IF there is not a revolutionary
change in the farming methods of
the country within the next IS years
with the adoption of a permanent
agricultural policy, and the placing
Of the farming business on a stable
and attractive foundation the coun-
try will reach the point where it
will depend upon the foreign coun-
tries for it's principal food.
1.-THE great central plateau of the
United States is the most fertile spot
in the world he says. at exceeds
the Nile valley in it's productive pos
sibilities. These broad acres, with
the other acres Of the country under
cultivation, are capable of feeding
from 200 to 800 millions of people.
But to realize their full productive
value, we must evolve an agricul-'
tural policy that means continual
progress and increasing stability in
the farming business"