Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-12-07
RELIEF FOR FARMERS.

If the Harding administration does put forward some pa
that will prove of benefit to the farming population OF the Unite
indicate, it will be welcome relief to Montana even though tn
remedial legislation takes the form OF farm loans with a tre
farm loans.
this time. The farmers have a grievance, a real grievance agaIhs
the present administration and against the previous admlnlsIra
ton, such as no other class-working men, manufacturers, OF pro
fessional people have ever held against our executives and law
makers.
for us and to execute them, but this fact does not preclude ou
right to criticise their public actions thereafter, and in this ar
tide we are exercising our constitutional rlght Oh crltlclslhg th
men whom we helped to elect.
Just to refresh our memories, let us turn to the days of the
liberty loans. when billions of dollars were raised to prosecute the
war, when the Wilson administration fixed the price of wheat IL
order that the farmers might not join in the exorbitant profits
which manufacturers in every line were making. The liberty
loans produced over twenty billions of dollars. Where was this
billions to France, England, Russia and Italy: We did but not III
money. The loan was spent here for munitions of war, clothing
N' The liberty loans stripped the strictly agricultural sections
of this country of ready money which went to swell the profits OF
of the west and the cotton growers of the south. True the farm
ers received an advanced price for their wheat but this seeming
clothing, groceries and machinery which he was compelled TO buy
The money subscribed for liberty bonds never came back. The
interest and bills for help and machinery. The bulk of the bill
lions of the liberty loans were spent in the manufacturing dis
tricts of the east where manufacturers, craftsmen and the pub
lie in general shared in the profits and where the ability to buy
sixteen dollar silk shirts and twenty-five dollar shoes sent the
in no profits from war ventures, who gave up their wheat and
meath msdt ~ of tSs;r 81 Children Ire y : ENDANGERED ac a"1 The Agricultural sec
lions shared in the draft until the farms were almost without
workers, they shared to the last dollar in the liberty loans and
drives for special funds. they shared in the misery, suffering and
privations, but in the profits they shared not at all.
The Wilson administration expected and demanded that ev-
cry farmer plant every available acre in wheat, raise every head
of cattle to maturity and fatten every hog they could find feed for
They fixed the price of wheat and compelled the farmers to mar
ket every bushel of wheat not needed for seed, then when the
farmer could no longer protect himself, allowed the spectators
to boost the price of bran, shorts and chopfeed up to $50 a ton.
In this instance the administration took no chances but the
more land the farmer put into wheat the more he stood to lose and
as matters turned out, the more land ne put INTO wheat the more
he did lose. Acting on the stringent demands of the directing
authorities and not wishing to appear as slackers, many Montana
farmers lost fortunes.
For Dame Nature was unkind and the returns from these
fields of wheat in most cases did not pay the expense of produc-
ing it. Then to add to the discomfort of the farmer came that
summer when there was no hay to feed the stock, no grass on the
ready money in the country. Previous war years had appropri
ated that, and the coming winter, when ii was necessary to pay
farmer to the utmost. And then the bottom dropped out. Cattle
which 1t had cost $50 to winter were worth $50. Nothing the
come to the rehet OF the farmers during TINS terrible winter Dld
they charter special trains to ship in hay? Did they make any
which could not be exceeded? They were too busy quarreling
among themselves and planning a new campaign.
By a series of acts the Wilson administration placed the
farmer at the mercy of the spoilers and broke him.
As yet the Harding administration has not done one con-
structive thing to alleviate this condition.
Yet while the farmer is struggling with the burden of indebt-
edness accumulated in the last five years. we read in every paper
of a melon cutting by this corporation, an Notwithstanding is
sue of stock by another corporation, a bonus paid by that.
We repeat; the last administration, assisted very largely by
ricultural interest of the country, assisted in their ruin and now
the Harding regime have finally discovered something is going
They are going to lend him money if he can give satisfactory Sc
surity, and let the conditions that have worked havoc with him in
the past repeat the operation. We would like to use a few pro-
remarks in commenting on this plan of permanent relief for
farmer, but think it wiser to confine ourselves to discreet
English.
Most farmers have wheat to sell, cattle to sell, hogs to sell,
poultry to sell. The amount of wheat to be carried over to the
year by the nation is alarmingly small, according to govern
experts, the supply of cattle in the country is seventy per
cent of pre- war times, hogs are eighty per cent and poultry are
scarce in the congested sections of the east and west.
Still the price paid for fat steers on the Chicago market has
been responsive to the law of supply and demand. The trans
portation system is almost broken down, since recently a train
load of fat stock was nine days on the road to Chicago. Consider
ing the quantity on hand, the price of wheat is unaccountably low,
added to which there are no cars for its transportation, and con-
sequently no market.
Poultry Is q drug on the market in Montana with an active
elsewhere and not a poultry car nearer than st. Paul,