Evening star., 1922-12-08

TIME Secretary Of Agriculture
Henry Wallace, is the most
inveterate optimist in the
cabinet. He tells US that the
fact that farmers are leaving their
farms twice as fast this year as ever
before. is a hopeful sign." for this
shifting will be normal again only
when there il a proper adjustment Of
prices, a change that is already TAX
ing place.
Mr.. Wallace evidently reads poetry.
and knows the good adage:
Never despair;
THE darkest day,
Live till tomorrow.
Will have passed away.
The fact that the desperate one
may also pass away" in the mean
time. is mere detail. Be an opti-
mist! Agriculture, above all occupa-
tions. demands that its workers be
optimists. to a degree of enthusiasm
that no crop failures. no slump IN
prices. no pests. no railroad strikes.
no sickness nor any disappointments
can dampen their hopes for the NOR
row. Their taxes amount to 9.S per
cent of their incomes. Bully! Then
the income will net less. and SO the
taxes ought to be less, next year. The
higher the taxes. the better for the
optimist, for they take away that
which causes taxes.
Wages of men working in the or
ganiZed industries are still from So
to 100 per cent higher than the pre-
war average. while farm incomes are
below pre-war level. Rut that is en-
couraging. too, for the farmers mar
ket. therefore. is solid and prosper
Gus, and since his own income is
down. he is not tempted to become
spendthrift especially while prices
for all things he would buy are sky
high.
X X X X
Speaking sincerely. this being an
agricultural optimist has its draw
backs. We may as we'll face the
facts: The trek away from the farm
is a serious indication that agricul-
ture is tottering, and will fall unless
something radical is done to relieve
Farming is business, just like
manufacturing. Merely increasing the
borrowing credit at bank is not going
to keep the factory running perma-
nently, unless, by the use of that
credit. net profits begin to show in
the statement. Nor is agriculture go
ing to entiee the former farmers back
to the old farms away from their city
jobs at good wages. unless IT can pc
made to pay them as well as do the
city Jobs. In all farm economy, we
must keep that fundamental clear be-
fore us.
All deep discussion as to credits is
a waste Of brains, SO long as year
after year. farm debts grow. We
need legislation making Illegal the
charges of middlemen and frefghts
above reasonable percentage on
what is paid the producer. 1t is just
Subsidized" as that any form of
commerce to carry abroad the sur
plus of the farms receive a subsidy.
The farmers subsidy need never
be real subsidy; all that is needed
is protection against the unreason-
able spread between the farm field
and the consumers table. That
spread can and should be limited by
law. and when the excess middlemen
find it improbable to continue in the
compensation allowed them. to para
phrase Mr.. Wallace. that will be "a
hopeful sign, since it means a more
rapid readjustment." The departure
of the parasites will soon be replaced
by cooperative measures bringing
the farm closer to the consumer. The
present system mas grown CNeFcOm-
plicated and parasitical.
X
The Secretary of Labor. Mr.. Davis
tells US that the immigration quotas
permissible under the present law
for England. Wales, Scotland. Ire
land. sweden, Denmark. Holland and
Germany were not half exhausted.
In other words, the law would have
admitted from those countries twice
as many as wanted to come, and the
only would-be immigrants who were
barred were from the undesirable ma
tionalities. He therefore believes
that the recent agitation for lib
eralizing the law comes from en-
ployers who are uniformed as to the
facts.
+ X X
For years the picture of utter loss
has been best told in the story of the
pup in a crate at an express office,