Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1922-06-26
ssSone Aspects of the
Farmers Problems
BY BERNARD M. BARUCH

|
! production and distribution in accordance
| with consumption is recognized as wise
| management in every business but that
Of farming. Yet, L venture to say, there
| is no other industry in which it is so i'm
portant to the public-to the city dwelier
that production should be sure, steady,
and increasing, and that distribution
should be in proportion to the need. The
unorganized farmers naturally act blindiy
| and impulsively and, in consequence,
surfeit and dearth, accompanied by dis
concefting price variations, harass the
consumer. One year potatoes rot in the
fields because of excess production, and
there is a scarcity of the things that have
been displaced to make way for the ex-
pansion of the potato acreage; next year
the punished farmers mass their fields on
some other crop, and potatoes enter the
class of luxuries; and so on.
Let us, then, consider some Of the
farmers grievances, and see how far they
are real In doing SO, we should remenl-
Der that, while there have been, and still
are, instances of purposeful abuse, the
subject should not be approached with
any general imputation to existing dis
tributive agencies of deliberately inten-
tional oppression, but rather with the
conception that the marketing of farm
products has not been modernized.
The Undergrading Evil.
An ancient evil, and a persistent one,
is the undergrading OF farm products,
with the result that what the farmers
sell as of one quality is resold IS of
higher. That this sort of chicanery
should persist on any important scale in
these days of business integrity would
seem almost incredible, but there is much
evidence that it does so persist.
The difference between what the farm
er receives and what the consumer pays
often exceeds all possibility of justification.
To cite single illustration. Last year,
according to figures attested by the rail
ways and the growers, Georgia water
melon-raisers received on tie average rs
cents for melon, the railroads got 12.7
cents for carrying it to Baltimore, and tie
consumer paid one dollar; leaving 1913
cents for TIE service OF marketing and its
risks. as against 20.2 cents for growing and
transporting. The hard annals of farm
life are replete with such commentaries
on the crudeness- of present practices.
Selling Under Pressure.
Farm products are generally marketed
at time when there is congestion of
both transportation and fnance-when-
cars and money are scarce. The out
come, in many instances, is that the farm
ers not only sell under pressure, and
therefore at disadvantage, but are COM
PEELED to take further reductions in net
returns, in order to meet the charges for
the services OF storing, transporting, financ-
ing, and ultimate marketing = which
bear heavily on both consumer and pro-
ducer, and are under the control of those
performing the services. 1t is true that
they are relieved of the risks of changing
market by selling at once; but they are
quite willing to take the unfavorablej
chance, if the favorable one also is theirs
and they can retain for themselves part
of the service charges that are uniform, in
good years and bad, with high prices and
low.
Some farmers, favored by regional conf
pactness and contiguity, especially in Cali
fornia, already have found a way legally |
to merge and sell their products integrally +!
and in accordance with seasonal and local |
demand, thus improving their position |!
and rendering the consumer a reliable serv- !
ice OF ensured quality, certain supply, and |
reasonable and relatively steady prices.
They have not found it necessary to re-
sort to any special privilege, or to claim
any exemption under the antitrust legis- |
lation of the state or nation. Without |
removing local control, they have built !
up a very efficient marketing agency.
The Hard Job.
The grain, cotton and tobacco farmers,
and the producers of hides and wool, be-
cause of their numbers and the vastncss
of their regions, and for other reasons,
have found indignation a more difficult |
task; thoughthere are now sonie,th6ngaplls, /
Of farmers co-operative elevators, ware
houses, creameries, and other: enterprises
Of one sort and another, with turnover
of billion dollars year..
In view of the supreme Importance to |
the National we'll being of a prosperous
and contented agricultural population,
we should be prepared to so long way
in assisting the farmers to get an equitable
share of the wealth they produce, through
the Inauguration of reforms that will pro-
cure continuous and increasing stream
Of farm products. They are far from
getting fair share now. Considering
his capital and the long hours of labor
put in by the average farmer and his
family, he is renuncrated less than any
other occupational class, with the possible