Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1922-02-02


ucts. Should 1t not occur to us that
we have common interest with the
farmer In his attempts to attain a 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 a timely
proof of the need Of some such stabil-
izing agency as the grain growers have
in contemplation?
1t Is contended that, If their pro-
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 1t 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, a loose organiza-
must be at best, cannot be so arbi-
trarily and promptly controlled as
great corporation. The one Is a lum-
bering democracy and the other an agile
autocracy. In the second place, with
all possible power Of org lnization, the
farmers cannot succeed to any great
extent, or for any considerable length
nf In, fv{n ~
law Of supply and demand works in
various and surprising ways, to the
undoing Of the best laid plans that
attempt to foil It, In the third place,
their power will avail the farmers
nothing If it be abused. In our time
and country power Is of value to it's
possessor only so long as it is not
abused It is fair to say that l have
seen no signs in responsible quarters
Of disposition to dictate prices
There seems, on the contrary, to be a
commonly beneficial purpose to realize
a stability that will Civ, 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
ulation, we should be prepared to go
a long way in assisting the farmers to
get an equitable share of the wealth
they produce, through the Inaugural
ton of reforms that will procure a
continuous and increasing stream of
farm products. They are far from get
ting a fair share now. Considering
his capital and the long hours of labor
put in by the average farmer and his
family. he is remunerated less than
any other occapational class, with the
possible exception OF teachers, reli
gious and lay Though we know that
the present general distress of the
farmers is exceptional and is linked
With the inevitable economic readjust-
ment following the war, it must be
remembered that, although represent
ing one-third of the industrial product
and half the total population of the
nation, the rurai communities ordi
narily enjoy but fifth to quarter of
standing the taste Of prosperity that
the farmers had during the war, there
Is today a lower standard of living
among the cotton farmers of the South
than in any other pursuit in the countey
In conclusion it seems to me that the
farmers are chiefly striving for gen
orally beneficial Indignation of their
business, of the same kind and charac-
ter that other business enjoys If 1t
should be found OH examination that
the attainment of this end requires
methods different from those which
other activities have followed for the
same purpose should we not sympa-
thetically consider the plea for the
right to cooperate, if only from our
own enlightened self interest, in OBJ
tanning an abundant and steady flow of
farm products?
In examining the agricultural situa
ton with a view to its Improvement,
we shall be most helpful If we main
tain a detached and judicial viewpoint,
remembering that existing wrongs may
be chiefly an accident of unsymmetri
cal economic growth instead of a crea-
ton of malevolent design and conspira-
cy We Americans are prone, as Pro-
fessor David Friday we'll says in his
admirable book, Profits, Wages and
Prices to seek criminal intent be-
hind every difficult and undesirable eco
nomic situation" can positively as
sert from my contact with men Of
large affairs, including bankers, that,
as whole, they are endeavoring to
fulfill as they see them the obligations
that go with their rover Preoccupled
with the grave problems and heavy
tasks Of their owl immediate affairs,
they have not turned their thoughtful
personal attention or their cOnstruc-
tive abilities to the deficiencies Of agri
cultural business organization. Agri-
culture, 1t may be said, suffers from
Their preoccupation and neglect rather
than from any purposeful exploitation
oy them. They ought now to begin to
respond to the farmers difficulties
which they must realize are their own
On the other hand, my contacts with
the farmers have filed me with respect
for them-for their sanity, their pa
tience. their balance. Within the last
year, and particularly at meeting
called by the Kansas State Board Of
Agriculture and at another called by
the Committee OF Seventeen, | have
met many of the leaders of the new
form movement. and | testify In all