The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1922-03-09

speculatively manipulated prices,
spoilage, waste, scarcity, the results
OF defective distribution of farm prod
ucts. Should 1t not occur to us that
we have a common interest with tho
farmer in his attempts to attain de-
gree of efficiency in distribution cor
responding to his efficiency in produc-
ton! Do not the recent fluctuations
In the May wheat option, apparently
unrelated to normal interaction Of
supply and demand, offer timely
prsof Of the need Of some such stabil-
lzlng agency as the grain growers have
In contemplation?
1t IS contended that If their>sDro-
posed organizations be perfected and
operated, the farmers will have in
their hands an Instrument that will be
capable of dangerous abuse We are
told that it will be possible to pervert
1t to arbitrary and oppressive price
fixing from its legitimate use Of order
ing and stabilizing the flow of farm
products to the market, to the mutual
benefit of producer and consumer.
have no apprehensions on this point.
In the first place, loose organiza-
ton, such as any union of farmers
must be at best, cannot be 80 arbi-
trarily and promptly controlled as a
great corporation. The one is lum-
bering democracy and the other an agile
autocracy. In the second place, with
all possible power of org snization, the
farmers cannot succeed to any great
extent, or for any considerable length
Of time, in fixing prices The great
law Of supply and demand works in
various and surprising ways, to thel
undoing of the best laid plans thatI
attempt to foil it. In the third place,
their power will avail the farmers
nothing If 1t be abused In our timei
and country power Is of value to It's
possessor only so long as it Is not
abused. 1t is fair to say that l have
seen no signs in responsible quarters
Of a disposition to dictate prices
There seems, on the contrary, to be
beneficial purpose to realize
a stability that will give an orderly
and abundant flow of farm products
to the consumer and ensure reasonable
and dependable returns to the pro-
ducer
In view of the supreme Importance
to the national well-being Of a pros
porous and contented agricultural pop
Ilation, we should be prepared to go
4 long way in assisting the farmers to
get an equitable share of the wealth
hey produce, through the Inaugural
ION of reforms that will procure q
continuous and increasing stream Of
arm products. They are far from get
ing a fair share now Considering
lis capital and the long hours of labor
tut in by the average farmer and his
amily, he IS remunerated less than
ny other occupational class, with the
ossible exception Of teachers, reli-
ious and lay Though we know that
he present general distress of the
armers is exceptional and is linked
nth the inevitable economic readjust-
lent following the war, it must be
that, although represent
lg one-third of the industrial product
nd half the total population Of the
alton, the rural communities ordi-
arily enjoy but fifth to a quarter Of
he net annual national gain Notwith-
landing the taste of prosperity that
lie farmers had during the war, there
today a lower standard of living
mong the cotton farmers Of the South
ian in any other pursuit in the country
In conclusion, it seems to me that the
rmers are chiefly striving for a gen.
ally beneficial Indignation of their
lsiness, of the same kind and charac-
r that other business enjoys If 1t
lould be found on examination that
e attainment of this end. requires
ethods different from those which
her activities have followed for the
me purpose should we not sympa-
etically consider the plea for the
yht to cooperate, if only from our
7n enlightened self interest, in OBJ
lining an abundant and steady flow OF
rm products?
In examining the agricultural situa-
n with view to its Improvement,
shall be most helpful if we main
in detached and judicial viewpoint.
that existing wrongs may
chiefly an accident Of unsymmetri-
economic growth instead of a crea-
n Of malevolent design and conspira-
We Americans are prone, as Pro
sor David Friday well says in his
mirabe book, profits, Wages and
ces," to seek a criminal intent be-
ID every difficult and undesirable eco
mic situation" I can positively as
t from my contact with men OF
ge affairs, including bankers, that,
a whole, they are endeavoring to
fill as they see them the obligations
t go with their power Preoccupied
h the grave problems and heavy
ks of their own immediate affairs,
Y have not turned their thoughtful
sonal attention or their cOnstruc-
, abilities to the deficiencies Of agri-
-ural business organization Agri-
ture, it may be said, suffers FROM
lr preoccupation and neglect rather
n from any purposeful exploitation
them They ought now to begin to
bond to the farmers difficulties.
oh they must realize are their own.
n the other hand, my contacts with
farmers have filled me with respecN
them-for their sanity, their pa
ce. their balance Within the last