Jackson County sentinel. (Gainesboro, Tenn.) 1914-current, 1922-02-09

help them. ALI of us want to get back
permanently to 'normalcy;" but is 1t
reasonable to hope for that condition
unless our greatest and most basic In.
dustry can be put on sound and solid
permanent fOundationi The farmers
are not entitled to special privileges |;
but are they not right In demanding
that they be placed on an equal foet.
ing with the buyers Of their products
and with other industriesf
Let Us, then, consider some Of the
farmers grievances, and see how far
they are real In doing 30. we should
remember that, while there have been,
and still are, instances Of purposeful
abuse, the subject should mot be ap-
preached with any general imputstien
to existing distributive agencies Of De-
liberately Intentional oppression, but
rather with the conception that the
marketing Of farm products has net
been modernixed.
An ancient evil, ana q persistent
one, Is the undergrading Of farm prod
ucts, with the result that what the
farmers sell as Of one quality II re-
sold as Of q higher. That this sort Of
chicanery should persist On any in-
portant scale In these days Of bust.
ness integrity would seem almost In
credible. but there 10 much evidence
that II does % persist. Even a ]
write, the newspapers announce the
suspension Of several firms from the
New York Produce Exchange for sx-
porting to Germany as Ne. 2 wheat Q
whole shipload Of grossly inferior wheat
mixed with oats. chaff and the like.
Another evil 10 that Of inaccurate
weighing Of farm products, which, II
Is charged, Ia sometimes q matter Of
dishonest intention and sometimes Of
protective policy on the part Of the
local buyer, who fears that he may
weigh out" more than he weighs In"
A greater grievance Is that at pres
ent the Geld farmer has little or NO
control over the time and conditions
Of marketing his products, with the
result that he Is often underpaid for
his products and usually overcharged
for marketing service. The differ
ence between what the farmer re-
ceives and what the consumer pays
often exceeds all possibility of justl.
hcation. To cite 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 a melon,
the railroads got 12.7 cents for carry.
ing II to Baltimore and the consumer
paid one dollar, leaving 1913 cents for
the service Of marketing and It's risks,
as against 20.2 cents for growing and
transporting. The hard annals of
farm-life are replete with such com
mentaries on the cTudeness Of pres
ent practices.
Nature prescriSes that the farmers
goods" must Be finished within two
or three months of the year, while
financial and storage limitations zen.
orally compel him to sell them At the
same time. As rule, other industries
are in continuous process Of finish.
Ing goods for the markets; they dis
tribute as they produce, and they can
curtat production without too great
injury to themselves or the commu-
nifty; brit II the farmer restricts his
output, n n with disastrous conse-
quences, both to himself and to the
community.
The average farmer 10 busy with
production for the major part Of the
year, and has nothing to sell. The
bulk Of his output comes on the mar.
ket at 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 have
to entrust storage-in warehouses and
elevators-and the financial carrying
Of their products to others.
Farm products are generally mar.
keted 81 q time when there is con-
yestion Of both transportation and
cars and money are
scarce The outcome. In many In
Is that the farmers not only
sell under pressure, and therefore al
disadvantage. but are compelled to
axe further reductions In net returns.
n order to meet the charges for the
service Of storing. transporting, fnanc /
ne, and ultimate marketing-whIch /
charges they claim, are often exces
i've. bear heavily on both consumer
ind producer. and are under the con.
rol Of those performing the services
I Is true that they are relieved Of
be risks ~ changing market n
'e'ling - rnee but they sFp quite VIII