Mountain advocate., 1922-04-14
Some Aspects of the
Farmers Problems
By BERNARD M BARUCH
(Reprnted from Atlantic Monthly
(Reprinted from Atlantic Monthly
By BERNARD M. BARUCH

undolng Of the best laid plans that
attempt to foil II. In the third place.
their power will avail the farmers
nothing II 1t be abused. In our time
and country power Is of value TO Its
possessor only so long as II Is not
abused. II 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 a
commonly beneficial purpose to realize
a stability that will givl an orderly
and abundant flow Of farm products
to the consumer and ensure reasonable
and dependable returns to the pro-
ducer.
In view If the supreme Importance
to the national well-belng of a pros
porous and contented agricultural pop
ulatlon. we should be prepared to go
a long way in assisting the farmers to
get an equitable share Of the wealth
they produce, through the Inaugural
tion OF reforms that will procure
continuous and increasing stream OF
farm products. They are far from get
his capital and the long hours Of labor
put in by the average farmer and his
family, he Is remunerated less than
any other occupatlonal class, with the
possible exception of teachers, rell-
glous and lay Though we know that
the present general distress of the
farmers Is exceptional and Is linked
with the Inevitable economic readJust-
ment following the war, II must be
remembered that, although represent
ing one-thlrd Of the Industrial product
and half the total population of the
nation. the rural communities ordl-
narily enjoy but a fifth to a quarter of
the net annual national gain. NOtwlth-
standing the taste Of prosperity that
the farmers had during the war, there
Is today a lower standard Of living
among the cotton farmers Of the South
than in any other pursuit In the country.
In conclusion, 1t seems to me that the
farmers are chiefly striving for gen.
orally beneficial integration OF their
business, Of the same kind and charac-
ter that other business enjoys. II II
should be found on examination that
the attainment Of this end requires
methods different from those which
other activities have followed for the
same purpose should we not sympa-
thetically consider the plea for the
right to cooperate, II only from our
own enlightened self interest, in OBJ
talning an abundant and steady flow OF
farm products?
In examining the agricultural situa
ton with a view to Its Improvement,
we shall be most helpful II we main-
tain a detached and judicial viewpoint,
remembering that existing wrongs may
be chiefly an accident Of unsymmetri-
cal economic growth instead Of crea-
ton OF malevolent design and conspira-
cy. We Americans are prone, as Pro-
fessor David Friday well says In his
admirable book, profits, Wages and
Prices" to seek criminal intent be-
hind every difficult and undesirable eco
nomic situation" / can positively as
sert from my contact with men OF
large affairs, including bankers, that,
as a whole, they are endeavoring to
fulfill as they see them the obligations
that 20 with their power. Preoccupied
with the grave problems and heavy
tasks of their own immediate affairs,
they have not turned their thoughtful
personal attention or their construc-
tive abilities to the deficiencies Of agri-
cultural business organization. Agri-
culture, 1t may be said, suffers from
their preoccupation and neglect rather
than from any purposeful exploitation
by them. They ought now to begin to
respond to the farmers difficulties,
which they must realize are their own.
On the other hand. my contacts with
the farmers have filled me with respect
for them-for their sanity, their pa
tIence. their balance. Within the Inst
year, and particularly at a meeting
called by the Kansas State Board of
Agriculture and at another called by
the Committee OF Seventeen. l have
met many of the leaders of the new
farm movement, and / testify In all
sincerity that they are endeavOrlng to
deal with their problems, not as pro-
moters of a narrow class interest, not
as exploiters OF the hapless consumer,
not as merclless monopolists. but as
honest ment bent on the Improvement
Of the common veal.
We can and 1t meet such men
and such cause half way. Their
business Is our buslness-the nations