Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1922-02-02
Some Aspects of the
Farmers Problems
(Reprinted from Atlantic Monthly
BY BERNARD M. BARUCH

buyers now are Of their buying posi-
tiOn.
Fifth: freedom to integrate the busi-
ness Of agriculture by means of con-
solidated selling agencies, co-ordinat-
ing and cooperating in such way as to
put the farmer on an equal footing
with the large buyers of his products.
and with commercial relations In other
Industries.
When a business requires specialized
talent, 1t has to buy 1t. So will the
farmers and perhaps the best way for
them to get 1t would be to utilize some
of the present machinery of the larg-
est established agencies dealing in
farm products. OF course, If he wishes,
the farmer may go further and engage
in fiour-milling and other manufactures
Of food products. In my opinion.
however, he would be wise to stop
short Of that. Public interest may be
opposed to all great integrations; but,
in justice. should they be forbidden to
the farmer and permitted to others?
The corporate form Of association can
not now be wholly adapted to his OBJ
iects and conditions. The looser CO.
operative form seems more generally
suitable. Therefore, he wishes to be
free, II he finds 1t desirable and feas-
ible, to resort to cooperation with his
fellows and neighbors, without run
ming afoul Of the law. To urge that
the farmers should have the same lib
erty to consolidate and coordinate
their peculiar economic functions,
which other industries In their fields
enjoy, Is not, however, to concede that
any business integration should have
legislative sanction to exercise monop-
olisAc power. The American people
are as firmly opposed to Industrial as
to political autocracy, whether at
tempted by rural or by urban industry
For lack Of united effort the farmers
as a whole are still marketing their
crops by antiquated methods, or by no
methods at all, but they are surrounded
by a business world that has been
modernized to the last minute and is
tirelessly striving for efficiency. This
efficiency is due In large measure to
big business, to united business, to in
tegrated business The farmers now
seek the benefits of such largeness, un-
ion and integratiOn.
The American farmer Is a modern Of
the moderns in the use of labor saving
machinery, and he has made vast
strides in recent years In scientific
tillage and efficient farm MANAGEMENT,
but as a business in contact with other
businesses agriculture Is a lone horse
shay" In competition with high power
automobiles. The American farmer Is
the greatest and most intractable Of
indiyidualists. While Industrial pro-
duction and all phases Of the huge COM
mercial mechanism and its myriad ac-
cessories have articulated and co-ordi-
mated themselves all the way from nat
ural raw materials to retail sales, the
business of agriculture has gone on In
much the one man fashion of the back
woods of the first part Of the nine
'eenth century. when the farrner was
obstruction Of their upward efforts.
We, as city people, see in high and
speculatively manipulated prices,
spoilage, waste, scarcity, the results
of defective distribution of farm prod
ucts. Should 1t not occur to us that
we have common interest with the
farmer In his attempts to attain a de-
gree Of efficiency In distribution cor.
responding to his efficiency in produc-
ton! Do not the recent fluctuations
In the May wheat option, apparently
unrelated to normal interaction of
supply and demand, offer a timely
proof Of the need Of some such stabil-
izlng agency as the grain growers have
In contemplation?
1t Is contended that, II their pro-
posed organizations be perfected and
operated, the farmers will have In
their hands an instrument that will be
capable Of dangerous abuse. We are
told that 1t will be possible to pervert
1t 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.
have no apprehensions on this point.
In the first place, loose organiza-
ton, such as any union of farmers
must be at best, cannot be so arbf-
trarily and promptly controlled as q
great corporation. The one Is a lum.
bering democracy and the other an agile
autocracy. In the secon, 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
undolng of the best laid plans that
attempt to foil 1t. In the third place
their power will avail the farmers
nothing If It be abused In our time
and country power Is Of value 70 its
possessor only so long as It g 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 be q
commonly beneficial purpose to realize
stability that will giva 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 a pros
porous and contented agricultural pop
ulation, we should be prepared to go
long way In assisting the farmers t.
get an equitable share of the wealth
they produce, through the Inaugural
tion 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 hi,
family, he Is remunerated less thai
any other occupational class, with tn,
possible exception of teachers. relI
gious and lay. Though we know thai
the present general distress Of tn
farmers Is exceptional and Is linke.
with the inevitable economic readjusl
ment following the war, 1t must b.
Il.