Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1922-06-23
THE PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN
FARMER

Z. S. department Of agriculture. has
summarized the plight OF the Ameri-
can farmer i'm the following force
full article.
The most serious difficulty in the
present situation is the plight of the
farmer Food, as we have seen.
represents almost half the cost of
living OF the average wage earners
family. The increase in the cost of
food to the consumer is less than the
increase in the cost of shelter. cloth
ing, fuel and light, or sundries.
Nevertheless, the consumer is now
paying for food about ~ per cent
more than in 1914. The farmer who
produces this food is not getting this
increase. It is due to extra costs
between the farm and the retail buy
er, In those states which produce
the great surplus of agricultural
products, farmers sold their 1921
crops at prices no greater than pre-
war prices, and in many cases CON
siderably below. Farm prices now
are higher than last fall and winter
when the bulk OF the crops were
sold, but even now are not much
above pre-War prices. In February
last the farmer sold corn for % per
cent below the pre-war average. oats
II per cent below, wheat 9 per cent
above, eggs % per cent above, but
ter 26 per cent above, beef cattle
per cent below, hogs Is per cent
above. Prices are higher now than
in February. but the bulk of these
crops were sold by the farmer at
prices lower than those named for
February. In the case of fruits and
vegetables, the increases in whole
sale and retail charges have been
very large. Take Texas cabbage.
for example. In April, 1921. the
producer in Texas received $500
per ton The cost to transport ii
to Chicago was $26.3O per ton. The
cabbage retailed at cents per
pound, or $40 per ton. OF this 7
cents which the consumer paid. the
producer received .35 of one cent.
the railroad received 1.32 cents. the
retailer received 5,23 cents.
The farmer, therefore, not only is
not to blame for the increased cost
Of food to the wage Garner, but is
worse off relatively than the wage
Garner, because his income is down
to prewar while the cost of the
things he must buy is so per cent
or more above pre-war costs This
condition has caused serious trou-
BILE. About 40 per cent of our peo-
pie depend upon the soil directly for
their living. Their income consists
OF what they get for their crops and
livestock. With prices of crops and
livestock down to the pre-war level
and prices of the things farmers
must buy from 30 to Is per cent or
more above pre-war levels, the pur-
chasing power of the 40 per cent
who live upon the land is so reduced
that all business is affected adverse
ly. A striking illustration of the
relation between prices of things the
farmer needs to buy and prices of
farm crops is presented by the Con-
gressional Commission of Agricul-
tural Inquiry, Four standard farm
implements are the gang pillow, corn
binder, grain binder and farm wa
gon. At a certain town in Nebraska.
the cost of these four implemnts
August l 1914. was SASS, which
was the value of 79S bushels of corn.
On October 10, 1921, the purchase
price of these same four implements
was 1924 bushels of corn, and on
January 3, 1922. 30S3 bushels of
corn This difference in purchasing
power of corn is due in part to the
lower relative price of the corn and
in part to the great advance in
freight rates on both corn and the
implements in question For exam
pie, the freight charge on these four
implements from the place of manu-
fatcure to the farm in central iii
nois and the freight charge on the
corn necessary to pay for them was
S71.60 in 1913. while in 1921 this
freight charge was S265.2G. or al
most four times as much Many
other equally forceful illustrations
/ could be used to show that the farm
er is suffering more severely than
any other group of our people be-
cause Of the increase in the cost of
living The relatively low prices OF
farm crops present the greatest diff
iiculty in the way of establishing a
general price level 60 per cent above
the pre-war level, because prices of