The Monroe journal., 1922-02-10
FARMERS BATTLE
BEEN NALOSINGONE
Conditions Have Grown Steadily
Worse Since 1890 When Free
Land Was Exhausted
RELATION OF TWO FACTS
No Political Panaeea Is Worth Any.
thing So Long As Land
Values Go Up

Why is il that farming. the great
est business in the United States an,
the most important one in the world
does not pay In this country and |
never stable? asks Frederick j. Has
kins. a noted newspaper correspond
ent.
That Is the question which Is the
oretically before the national farm
conference, but there is no evidenc'
whatever that the conference viii
shed any more light on the subJec
than the unemployment conference
did on the fundamental causes Of un
employment or than the disarma
/. ment conference did on the problem
of world peace, or than any othel
political conference ever sheds oil
anything.
II is an Illuminating experience L
read the political announcements oil
on the subject of the farmer ant
farming and then study the view
of any competent student of tn,
agrarian problem and compare them
II gives the innocent and unprejudic
ed investigator the impression tina
politics is largely the art of dodg
ing the facts.
II is true that there are more polit
ical and legislative remedies befor,
the public for solving the farm
problem than there are patent medi
cines for curing corns. The politi
clans propose a tariff on farm pro
ducts, they propose TO encourage CO
operative marketing, and they have
a dozen other projects for ameliora
ting the farmers lot Most OF then
have been tried before and none o.
them have made any large or perma
ment difference. Congress has beer
turning out large quantities OF leg.
islation for farmers at every session
for generations. and yet the condi'
tion Of the farmer has got steadily
worse every since about 1890.
II is not meant to imply that nons
OF the legislation passed and propos-
ed is of any value. but simply tc
point otfi the obvious fact that none
of II has worked any permanent
change In the general condition oi
the farmer. The only thing which car
be said is that every since the body
OF free public land in the United
States was exhausted which happen.
ed about or soon after 1890, farm
ing has beeih falling into more and
more precarious condition.
The Price of Land
1t Is not unreasonable to assume
some connection between the disap.
pearance Of free land the present un-
mistakable and Improbable condi-
dition of farming as business. Ever
since the free land was exhausted
the price of land has risen steadily
In the country and to astonishing
heights. The high price of land. we
are assured by all students OF the
problem, is the fundamental reason
why farming does dot pay, and they
assure us that II cannot pay until
those land values are somehow
brought down and stabilized. 1t must
be made possible for the man who
wants to farm to invest money III
land and make good return on the
investment. And II must be made
more profitable for the man who
owns land to stay on II and farm II
than to sell Il and go to the city and
invest money in something else.
These simple facts are always and
completely overlooked by Congress
and by the politicians generally. II
would be safe bet that there will
be no discussion OF this phase OF the
matter at the conference.
Every competent man In the de-
partment Of agriculture knows that
inflated and everrising land values
are the whole trouble with farming,
and half dozen have explained the
matter to the writer Of this article.
but don't quote me-" they al
ways ended up. Their jobs are poll
tical jobs.
The opinion that something must
be done about land values Is by no
means confined to so-called radicals.
Colleges and banks are not radical
institutions. Yet the gist OF the whole
matter is contained in some figures
compiled by the Iowa State College
of Agriculture and Published in one
OF it's market letters by the National
City Band Of New York.
A Typical Case
This study comprised. among
other things, an investigation OF
1876 farms devoted to the raising OF
oats. The average value OF the land
was found to be $3.50 per acre. The
largest item In the cost OF produc-
tion OF oats on this land was the in-
terest on the money invested In the
land at 1-2 per cent. All other
production costs came to s15.5S per
acre. The study shows that only two
farms OF the 1876 were oats produced
for less than the market price Of oats
which is "A cents bushel. In other
words all the other farmers were
raising oats at a loss. They could
vastly better afford to sell their land
and put the money and their time In
something else.
This is the way the thing works.
As the population Increases the price
of land rises steadily. inevitably.
The result is that the price OF farm