Abilene weekly reflector., 1922-11-02
FOREIGN CREDIT
AFFECTS KANSAS /.
FARM PROFITS /
Additional European
Buying Power and
What It Means

&c. c. Iseley, one Of the LEADING
business men Of western Kansas, re-
siding at Dodge City, has written TO
the Renector this series OF articles
which are well worth careful consid
eration),
In orr hast paper we discussed
briefly the dependence Of the Ameri
can farmer on European markets ant
the necessity for restoration OF sta
bility over there.
OF course. there Is another solu'
ton to ILLS Of agriculture. Forty pei
cent Of our wheat growers can quit
the game and go to raising turkeys
or enter some other line that is more
profitable than wheat. The moving
picture busines is about the best
business going now: maybe there IL
room there for our too numerous
farmers. Something like this has
already occurred in the cattle bust
ness, and It is already on much bet
ter footing than it was year ago
In making the change, however, mil
lions Of acres Of grazing land are
without cattle and growers of corn
and hay are wondering If their pro-
ducts will find a fair market this
season.
This solution does not appeal to
the farmer nor to the business de-
pendent on our present agriculture.
This solution is case of letting the
disease run its course and this pro-
cess of readjustment and dislocation
Of industry will mean that for nj"
teen or twenty years or during the
active lifetime of most Of us in agrl-
cultural states all our affairs will be
confusion and disorder.
On the contrary America has room
for almost unlimited agricultural ex-
pansion. We can almost double our
farm production by better methods
and by opening up and retaining
undeveloped lands.
Europe needs and will want to buy
our surplus if she can. Every VIDE
awake merchant spends part OF his
time trying to help his customers
find a way to buy his merchandise.
1t might be worth our while for us
to try to help our big customer fnd
a way to buy our stuff that he needs
so badly. Our big competitor, Rus
sia, is out Of the way and probably
will not be real competitor for hve
or ten years. We must get busy
before Russia recovers.
Europe must pay for the goods
she buys here in gold, in goods
shipped to us, or on credit.
We ought not to receive more
gold. We already have half OF the
worlds stock Of that metal now. She
needs all she has and part OF our
stock to restore her currencies to
gold basis. Until she gets her cur
rencies on a gold basis she cannot
recover stability which is so neces-
sary for aiding our agricultural re-
cOvery. Besides this there Is not
enough gold in all the debtor coun-
tries to pay one-tenth of their exter-
nal debts.
We can receive manufactured
goods in exchange for our products.
Our own manufacturers and Ameri-
can labor would object strenuously.
ff we let the bars down Immediate
ty and receive unlimited shipments
Of foreign goods our own establish
ments would be destroyed. and our
domestic market would be shot to
pieces. However, we will finally
have to receive and be glad to receive
normous quantities Of foreign goods,
but that must be a gradual process
and the farmer Of today cannot wait
hat long.
We get a little help now from emil
grants in America who send their
,oor kin in Europe some money.
Tourists going over to see the war
orn battle fields spend great sums.
From these two sources milliOns of
iollars are annually sent to be spent
n Europe and the money helps them
'ver there buy our surpluses.
Our last resource then is fur
her extension of credit. Our most
prominent bankers and fnanciers
ealizing this need have gone abroad
0 study this problem, and find many 7
In the first place 1t is {
vrong and impractical for any
nJney to be lent by our government. I