The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-03-30
WALLACE TEIf
FARM SITUATION
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
OUTLINES DANGERS
TO FARMERS
SUGGESTS MANY HELPFUL POLICIES
Denies that Farm Measures Passed
BY Congress Are "Class
legislation"
BY Henry c. Wallace

by en- -. w silltCe
Editors Note-Henry c.. Wallace,
secretary of agriculture, is in a posi-
ton no other human being can occupy,
the executive head of the governments
vast activities in and for the farming
industry. He senses the cause of
much of u trouble and offers a series
of suggestions that may help clear up
an ever d%arkening situation.
Most of the epoch-making machinery
the plow, the corn planter, the two
horse cultivator, the mower the reap
er and the steam thresher. were in
vented prior to the Civil war, but it
was not until after 1860 that these
implements came into wide use. They
were especially adapted to the great
prairie country, where the farmer
could urn a furrow starlight away for
a mile or more. With the wooden
pillow, the sickle and the fail a weeks
labor of one man vas required to pro-
land. With the improved implements
the same amount of wheat could be
produced on the same amount Of land
in one and one-half days. Better ma
chinery and larger teams multi
piled man labor by four.
The increase in the domestic and
foreign demands for food was one of
the most important factors in stimu-
lating agricultural production. Our
urban population in 1860 stood at 16
per cent of the total; by 1900 it had
risen to 40 per cent of the total.
Cheap food and cheap transportation
greatly stimulated our. industries and
also gave us access to foreign mar
kets, more especially the countries OF
western Europe filled with large in
dustrial population. The improve
ment in transportation and the cheap
ness of our food stuffs opened to us
the markets Of the world.
AS a result Of this extraordinary
combination of forces the production
of crops per capita Of agricultural
workers was increased by about SIS
per cent, and production per capita
of total population increased about 80
per cent. We became the largest sur
plus producing country in the world.
Naturally such conditions made for
an extensive type Of agriculture. The
richest large body of land in the world
was either free or very cheap and the
best farm machinery in the world was
to be had. Labor was not plentiful,
therefore, the tendency for the indivi.
dual to cultivate the maximum acreage
which did not give the greatest yields
per acre but which did result in the
highest yield per man.
Early in the twentieth century it
became evident the tide was turning
in agricultural production as related
to domestic consumption. Our per
capita production was showing IN.
mistakable signs of decline. City
population was increasing far more
rapidly than rural population. In the
twenty years following 1900 urban and
village population increased by &C..
600, 600, while rural population increas.
ed but 300, 900. In 1900 urban and
village population was As per cent of
the total; in 1920 it was 60 per cent
During the ten years 1910 to 1920,
the cities and villages of the North
had increased in population by 23 pei
cent, while the increase in the open
country in the same region was but
Is per cent.
With the coming or peace and the
inevitable period of reconstruction the
unusual foreign demand for our agri
cultural products subsidized. The seas
we're opened and South America and
Australia, which had been bottled up
were able to deliver their accumulated
surplus. For a year and a half Amer
lean agriculture has been undergoing
a very serious depression due to the
production of more foodstuffs than
we can use ourselves and more than
we can sell at a fair price. Farm
crops have been selling for very much
less than the actual cost Of produc
ton and very much below the prices
which prevailed during the five pre-
war years; also they have been selling
for very much less relatively than
other basic commodities. That is but
another way Of saying hat the wages
of farmers are far lower now than the
wages of any other group. This has
resulted in a condition which, il con
tinued, will within a relatively short
period impose a heavy burden upor
domestic consumers. The farmer can
not continue to produce at a loss. De
creased production will result in
prices so high that city consumers
will complain bitterly.
During the next twenty years. either
consciously or unconsciously the
Vrc,kad Ctafoc will odpnf fairly dofiuitr