The daily times., 1922-01-31
Some Aspects of the
Farmers Problems
BY BERNARD NJ BARucH
>4o
tReprinted Atlantic Monthly
(Reprinted from Atlantic Monthly
BY BERNARD M. BARUcH

Atlantic Monthly
Of their inability to, meet mofax.aee y
E, to pay current bills, end how, seeking
/, relief from their Ills, they are plan-
ming 70 form pools, inaugurate farm.
erS strikes, and demand legislation
abolishing grain exchanges, private
cattle markets, and the like, We ought
not hastily to brand them as economic
heretics and highwaymen,r and hurl at
them the charge Of being seekers of
| special privilege. Rather, we should
ask II their trouble IL not ours, and
see what can be done to improve the
situation. Purely from self-interest,
! If for no higher motive, we should
help them. All of US want to get back
permanently to "normalcy;" but is 1t
| reasonable to hope for that condition
| unless our greatest and most basic in
dustry can be put on sound and solid
permanent foundation? The farmers
are not entitled to special privileges:
but, are they not right in demanding
| that they be placed on an equal foot
ing with the buyers Of their products
and with other Industries?
Let US, then, consider some Of the
| farmers grievances, and see how far
they are real. In doing so, we should
remember that, while there have been,
and still are, instances Of purposeful
abuse. the subject should not be ap-
preached with any general imputation
to existing distributive agencies Of de-
lfberately Intentional oppression, but
rather with the conception that the
| marketing OF farm products has not
been modernized.
An ancient evil, and a persistent
one. IN the undergrading Of farm prod
ucts. With the result that what the
| farmers sell as Of one quality il re-
sold as of a higher. That this sort Of
chicanery should persist on any i'm
portant scale In these days of busis
| ness integrity would seem almost in
credible. but there is much evidence
that it does so persist. Even as
write, the newspapers announce the
| suspension Of several firms from the
New York Produce Exchange for ex-
porting to Germany as No. 2 wheat a
whole shipload of grossly inferior wheat
mixed with oats, chaff and the like
Another evil Is that of inaccurate
weighing of farm products, which, it
is charged, is sometimes a matter of
dishonest intention and sometimes of
protective policy on the part of the
local buyer, who fears that he may
weigh out" more than he weighs in"
A greater grievance is that at pres
ent the field farmer has little or no
of marketing his products. with the
result that he is often underpaid for
! his products and usually overcharged
! for marketing service. The differ
ence between what the farmer re-
/ ceives and what the consumer pays
| often exceeds all possibility of justi-
fcation. To cite a single illustration
Last year, according to figures attest
ed by the railways and the growers
Georgia Observation-Disclosures received
on the average rs cents for a melon
,, the railroads got 1877 cents for carry
! ing it to Baltimore and the consumer
paid one dollar, leaving 1913 cents for
the service of marketing and its risks,
| as against POP cents for growing and
, transporting. The hard annals of
farm-life are replete with such COM
mentaries on the crudepess of pres
ent practices.
Nature prescribes that the farmers
goods must be finished within two
or three months of the year, while
! financial and storage limitations gen.
orally compel him to sell them at the
| same time. AS rule, other Industries
are in a continuous process of finish
ing goods for the markets; they dis
i tribute as they produce, and they can
! curtail production without too great
| injury to themselves or the commu-
, nifty; but if the farmer restricts his
output, it is with disastrous conse-
quences, both to himself and to the
! community.
The average farmer is busy with
| production for the major part of the
! year, and has nothing to SELL The
| bulk of his output comes on the mar.
/ ket al once. Because of lack of stor,
. age facilities and of financial support,
| the farmer cannot carry his goods
| through. the year and dispose Of them
| as they are currently needed In the
| great majority of cases, farmers have
| to entrust storage-fn warehouses and
| elevatorS--and the financial carving
| of their products to Others
Farm products are generally mar,
| .leted at time when there is con
| 3-eStion Of both transportation and