The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1922-01-27


capablelOf dangerous abuse. We are
told that 1t win be possible to pervert
it 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. y /
have no apprehensions on this point.
In the first. place, a loose organlZa-
must be. at best, cannot be so arbi-
trarily and promptly controlled as
great corporation. The one is lum-
bering democracy and the other an agile
autocracy. In the second place, with.
all possible power of org .nization, 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 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 its.
possessOr only so long as 1t is not
abused. 1t is fair to say that / have
seen no signs in responsible quarters
Of a disposition to dictate prices.
There seems, on the contrary, to he
commonly. 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 pros.
porous and contented agricultural pop:
ulatien, we should be prepared to go
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 oecupationai 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 thelitofal population, of the
nation, the ruralS communities ordIL'
narily enjoy but, a fifth to a quarter OF
the net annual national gain. Notwith-
standing the taste of, prosperity that
| the farmers had duringythe war; there
Is today lower; standard of living
among the cotton farmers of the South
| than in any other pursuit in the country,
In conclusion it; seems to me that the
| farmers are chiefly striving for a gen
orally beneficial Indignation of their
business, of the same kind and .,charac-
ter that other business enjoys. If it
should be found ons examination that
the attainment of this. end requires
methods different from those which
other activities have followed for the
same purpose should We not symna-
thetically consider the plea for the
right to cooperate, IL 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,m 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-
lessor David Friday. well says in his
admirable book, Profits. Wages and
Prices" to seek a. criminal intent be-
hind every difficult and undesirable eco
nomic situation" / can positively as.
sert from my .eOpta ct. with men Of
large AFFAIRS including bankers, that,
as a, whole they are endeavoring to
fulfill as they see them the obligations
that go with their powers Preoccupied
with the grave problems and heavy
tasks of their own immediate affairs,
they have not turned their thoughtful
personal attention or, their censtruc-
tive abilities to the deficiencies of agri
cultural business organization. Agri-
culture, 1t. may be said,s suffers from
their preoccupatfon and neglect rather
than from any purposeful exploitation
by them: They ought 6now to begin TO
respond to- tire farmers difficulties.
which they must realize are their own.
On the other hand, my contacts with
the farmers have filled me with respect
for them-5fort their sanity, their pa
thence, their balance Within the last
year. and particularly at a meeting
called by the Kansas State Board of
Agriculture and ateanother called by
the Committee of Seventeen, have
met many of the leaders of the new
farm movement, and l testify in all
sincerity that they are endeavoring to
deal with their problems, not as pro-
motors of a narrow class interest, not
as. exploiters Of the hapless consumer,
not as merciless monopelists, but as
honest ment bent on the Improvement
of the common veal.
We can and must meet such men
and such a cause half way. Their
business is our business-the nations
business.