The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-03-30

s 0ur attentiOn i6 sn0W directed III
the recent inercase i'll tKe prices .
farm products This Increase started
about The middIe of last january
cording 10 THE above table, IL Tie past
year had been an average year, there
would have been left lii the hands of
the farmer about the middle vi Jannss
ary approximately 40 percent BE the
crop. However, the last year has not
been an average year and it ii safe 10
assume that the percentage iii the
hands Of the farmer at that time was
much less. Drastic Def1ation has
debated the farmer to the last notch.
Due to the extremely low price for
his products during last Fall when he
was faced with the necessity Of pay
ing the debts he had contracted to
produce the crop, he had / sell his
cht.p much faster than usual, because
it brought 50 much less and his cred
itors were IN such condition that they
had to push him to the sale Of his
products. The result was that it is
extremely doubtful if at the middle
of January the farmer had more than
20 per cent of his last years crop on
hand. He has been selling ever sirce
that date. If this were a normal year
he would now have about IS per cent
of his crop on hand. Under prevailing
conditions it is extremely doubtful If
there is lore than IL percent of the
crop now in the farmers hands. So
then, where is the real benefit to the
farmer if prices for farm products do
soar 1t is a strange fact that farm
products usually advance in price at
the season Of the year when the
greater proportion Of the crop has
left the hands of the farmer and is in
the hands of the s%peculator.
Our present financial system has
been advertised as the best system on
the face of the earth. 1t has been said
that under it a panic is impossible.
The condition through which we have
just passed and are passing did not
constitute a panic. 1t is true that it
did not constitute a bankers panic.
But, the people Of this country have
experienced one of the greatest pan
les in our history. The system is un-
doubtedly a great system for the
bankers. It has proved ruinous for the
people. Tt is the first time in our his
tory that the people have experienced
a panic but the bankers have not
However, a great many of u State
bankers were on the verge and would
have gone under had the manipulators
of the Federal Reserve System dared
push them a little farther. Such a
play with public sentiment would
have proved dangerous.
This great financial system has not
been able to extend the necessary
credits to the farming interests OF
this country to enable them to hold
their products until the time when
they could take advantage of the in
crease in price. On the contrary, those
who have administered our financial
system have been engaged in a sys.
tenn TO deflation that has necessarily
driven the farm products out of the
hands of the producer into the hands
of the Spectator. Now the speculato1
is to reap the benefit of the price in
crease, The farmer, as usual, is left
to his own commiseration.
This is always the case. The money
and credit Of the country is SO con.
trolled and dominated as to make the
markets what they please. The law OF
supply and. demand does not govern
the marketing of our agricultural
products. The manipulation Of au1
money and credit governs. The farm