Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-06-09
THE FARMERS STORM CoNGREss-By Frederic J. Haskin

ITTAsHINGTO4 D. c., June a. The
w most highly organized effort in the
history of the country on the part
| of the farmers to make Congress understand
what they want and give it to them is now
under way here.
OF course of the farmers have always fill
| ed a large amount of space in the Con-
gressional Record and there has never been
any such thing as a Congressman who was
not friend of the farmer. But this frien /
| ship has heretofore taken the form of CIV
ing the farmer what Congress thinks he
| ought to have rather than what he wants
The farmers have been the most inarticulate
| and unorganiZed of all factors in the pro-
| duction and distribution of the necessities
of life in this country, which is one reason
why American agriculture is in such a pre-
| carous state.
| The last few years have seen number of
attempts on the part of farmers to get to-
gether. One of the most successful of these
| is the American Farm :,ureau Federation.
| which Is said to represent over million
| farmers in 81 states. It has an office here
! in Washington, and watches Congress close
ly. This organization is getting out ques-
tionaire, which is designed ostensibly to
| learn the sentiment of the farmers on a
number of legislative projects. In reality the
| federation probably knows what it's mem
bers think on all of these subjects. 1t prob
| ably helped them find out what to think.
This QUESTIONABLE, therefore, is chiefly a
means of enabling the farmer members Of
| the federation to lift up their voices in uni
son and show Congress what 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
block" of % senators has been organized for
the purpose of putting through legislation the
farmer wants.
The questions in the QUESTIONABLE all
have to do with problems of farm credit,
| taxation, freight rates, good roads, the pack
| ers and cooperative marketing They do
not touch upon the question of land tenure
which lies at the bottom of the whole food
| production problem. The trouble with Ameri-
can farming is summed UP in the case of a
| farmer in Iowa, who in 1915 figured that he
was making less than per cent year on
the value of his land. He sold the land for
1925 acre and invested the money at 6
per cent. He could not afford to go on farm
| ing. But now he wishes he had kept his
! land, because the value of it has risen to
about $500 acre, with the rise in food
prices.
Land Values Boost Prices
In word, farm land has speculative
value in this country which always rises
just little faster than the value of the COM
! modities that land produces. man who
owns good farm can usually make more by
| selling his farm and putting the money into
something else than he can possibl-- make by
Inc result IS LnaC the more 1nLol1-
| gent farmers sell out, and the more intelli-
| gent young men leave the farm and come to
| the city.
Until this simple situation is remedied
the rural population will continue to decrease
and will food production. This fact is
recognized by tha Farm Bureau Federation
according to Mr.. E. B. Red it's Washington
representative He says that the federation
| is formulating a policy with regard to land
tenure which will be announced in due
course It will certainly be received with in
| terest
| Meantime, the federation is out to settle
certain accessory matters connected with
| farm finance and the distribution of farm
| products. 1t estimates that the farmer now
gets 38 per cent of every dollar the con-
sumner spends for food. 1t believes that he
should and can get more than this without
raising the price of the food to the consumer.
This is the end sought in all the legislation
| the farmers are urging upon the present con-
gress, and the ground is pretty well covered
in the federation QUESTIONABLE. The follow
| ing is summary of the answers which the
| farmers will return to the questions.
| They want commodity financing based on
| bonded wareho 4se receipts. This is now in
effect with regard to cotton. The farmers
want a similar system to apply to grain, to-
| bacco, hay, apples, potatoes, and all other
| crops that are not perishable and that can be
| accurately graded. The chief legislation
needed is a law enabling the department of
| agriculture to establish the grades. When
| this is done and the warehouses are in OPP
Grafton, 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