The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1922-01-25

ing with the buyers of their products
and With other industries?
Let us, then, consider some Of the
farmers grievances, and see how far
they are real. In doing so, we should
remember that, while there have been.
and still are, instances Of purposeful
abuse. the subject should not be ap
preached with any general imputation
to existing distributive agencies Of de-
liberately Intentional oppression. but
rather with the conception that the
marketing Of farm products has not
been modernized.
An ancient evil. and a persistent
one. II the u~ndergrading OF farm prod
ucts, with the result that what the
farmers sci! as of n quality Is re
sold as OF . higher. That this sort Of
chicanery should persist on any i'm
portant scale In these days Of bust.
ness integrity would seem almost in
credible. but there Is much evidence
that It does 50 persist. Even a. |
write, the newspapers announce the
suspension Of several firms from the
New York Produce Exchange for ex-
porting to Germany as No. 2 wheat 4
whole shipload OF grossly inferior wheat
mixed with oats, chaR and the like.
Another evil n that Of inaccurate
weighing Of farm products, which. It
ID charged, Is sometimes 4 matter Of
dishonest intention and sometimes Of
protective policy on the part OF the
local buyer, who fears that he may
"wefgh out" more than he weighs in"
A greater grievance Is that at pres.
ent the leld farmer has little or NO
control over the time and conditions
Of marketing his products. with the
result that he Is often u%nderpaid for
his products and usually o~vercharged
Tor marketing service. The differ
nee between what the farmer re-
ceives and what the consume pays
often exceeds all possibility OF JUST.
ficatiOn. To cite a single Illustration,
Last year, according to figures attest
ed by the railways and the growers,
Georgia watermelon raisers received
on the average rs cents for q melon.
the railroads got 12.7 cents for carry.
Ing It to Baltimore and the consumer
paid one dollar. leaving 79.8 cents for
the service Of marketing and its risks.
40 against 20.2 cents for growing and
transporting. The hard annals OF
farm-life are replete with such rom
mentaries on the crudeness Of pres
ent practices.
Nature prescribes that the farmers
goods" must be finished within two
or three months Of the year, while
financial and storage limitations gen
orally compel him to sell them 1T the
same time. As a rule. other Industries
are In a continuous process OF finish
Ing goods Cor the markets; they dis
tribute as they produce. and they can
curtall production without too great
injury to themselves or the commu-
nifty but II the farmer restricts his
output. II ID with disastrous conse-
Quences, both to himself and to the
community.
UB-9vu1ge farmer Is busy with
production Cor the major part OF the
year, and has nothing to sell. The
bulk OF his output ome on the mar
ket 1t once. Because Of lack OF stor-
age facilities and Of financial support,
the farmer cannot carry his goods
through the year and dispose OF them
as they are currently needed. In The
great majority Of cases, farmers hal We
to entrust stOrnge-in warehouses and
eievators-and the financial carrying
Of their products to others.
Farm products are generally mar
keted at q time when there Is q con-
gestion Of both transportation and
dnance-when cars and money are
scarce. The outcome, In many in-
stances. Is that the farmers moi only
sell under pressure, and therefore at
4 disadvantage. bnt are compelled to
take further restrictions IN net returns,
In order ( meet the charges for the
vDFUlxe Of storing. Transporting. inanc.
In md ultimate marketing (which
ehasxo they claim. { often exces.
nm bear heavily on both G.. 1suuaer
~ pgodncef. and ara under Tho con,
frot e. fheoo psrforming the services
4 sfrue tl,at they m relieved 81
~ = chanGfn9 nm kot 81
s&aN1aS.SAA ~aa, $50 49, go 80. 4 M