Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1922-09-28

lied industries, are considerably high
er than they were before the war,
whether we measure them in dollars
and cents or in purchasing power.
The fact is that the farmers of the
country, numbering almost one-third
Of our entire population, have borne
altogether the heaviest burden of de-
iation. They have endeavored to get
relief by all lawful means. They have
appealed to the Administration, to
Congress, and TO every other agency
which they thought might possibly
help them, but while making these eff
forts to avoid their heavy losses, they
have not stopped working. They have
kept on producing and in the face Of
extraordinary low prices they have
this year grown one of the largest
crops in the entire history of our
country.
Believes in Law.
The farmer believes in law and
order He believes firmly in govern
ment. He believes in fairness and jus
tice between man and man. He be-
lieves in working hard and producing
efficiently and he does all of these
things in which he believes.
The farmers wages are not paid reg
ularly every week or every month.
Instead he must receive his compensa-
ton at irregular intervals varying
from three months to year or more,
depending upon the nature of the crop.
Neither the rate of wages nor the
hours Of labor are agreed upon in adj
vance. The consuming public pays,
but it makes no agreement whatever
as to the amount it will pay.
The farmer is urged to produce
abundantly, but the price he receives
for what he raises is determined after
the amount of his production is known.
The buyers naturally drive the closest
bargain possible. The more the farm
er produces, the less the buyers want
to pay, and thus, strange as it may
seem, we have large production actual
ly penalized. Very often, in fact it is
the general rule, large crop brings
the farmer fewer total dollars than a
small crop, and what is more, often a
large crop sells at less than it cost
the farmer, on an average, to produce
it. The energy and the intelligence
with which the farmer produces his
crops, the number of hours he works
the expense he incurs in producing
crops-none Of these is considered in
determining the price he receives.
The farmer, therefore, works on faith.
He carries all the risks of weather,
heat and cold, of flood and drought,
of storms, of insect pests and plant
and animal diseases. He must plant
enough to make sure that there will
be food for all with the certainty that
at the same time in unusually favor
able seasons, the result may be a
large surplus and that this surplus
which cannot be hidden probably will
cause prices lower than the actual
cost of production. he farmer must
be willing to accept these low prices
with the best grace possible and ad-
just his living expenses to meet his
reduced income.
IF other national groups would work
as the farmer has done our economic
troubles would soon be over. Prices
would soon be adjusted to their nor
NAL relationships. There would be
work enough for everybody and just
wages for all. But there are many
people and groups of people who
think only of themselves and how
they can profit the most at the ex-
pense of the community at large and
especially at the expense of the
farmer. The farmer is sick and tired
of this sort of business. He sees no
reason why such disputes cannot and
should not be settled in an orderly
and lawful way without the Interrupt
tons of service which cost him, and
in fact all the rest of us, so dearly.