The St. Johns herald., 1922-02-02

sidered measures. It may be that the farmers will not aAow the business sagacity and develop the wise leader. ship to carry through sound plans; but that possibility does not justify thG obstruction of their upward efforts. We, as city people, see in high and Speculatively manipulated prices, spOilage, waste, scarcity, the results of defective distribution of farm prod ucts. Should 1t not occur to us that we have a common interest with the farmer in his attempts to attain a de gree of efficiency in distribution cor responding to his efficiency in produc- tiOn? Do not the recent fluctuations In the May wheat option, apparently unrelated to normal interaction of supply and demand, offer a timely proof of the need of some such stabil- izing agency as the grain growers have in contemplation?
 It Is contended that, If their pro- posed organizations be perfected and operated, the farmers will have in lASAA AdhAS ull llldl WILL UO capable of dangerous abuse. We are told that 1t will be possible to pervert 1t to arbitrary and oppressive price liking from its legitimate use of order Ing and stabilizlng the flow of farm products to the market, to the mutual benefit of producer and consumer. have no apprehensions on this point.
 In the first place, a loose Organiza- ton, such as any union of farmers must be at best, cannot be so arbi- trarily and promptly controlled as great corporation. The one is lum- bering democracy and the other an agile autOcracy. In the second place, with all possible power of org :nizatiOn, the farmers cannot succeed to any great extent, or for any considerable length of time, In fixing prices. The great law of supply and demand works in various and surprising ways, to the undOlng of the best laid plans that attempt to foil It. In the third place, their power will avail the farmers nothing If 1t be abused. In our time and country power is of value to its pOssessOr only so long as 1t is not abused. It is fair to say that I have seen no signs in responsible quarters of a disposition to dictate prices There seems, on the contrary, to be commonly beneficial purpose to realize a stability that will giv1 an orderly and abundant flow of farm products to the consumer and ensure reasonable and dependable returns to the pro ducer.
 In view of the supreme importance to the national well-being of a pros porous and contented agricultural pop ulatlon, we should be prepared to gc a long way in assisting the farmers tc get an equitable share of the wealth they produce, through the inaugura tion of reforms that will procure 8 continuous and increasing stream Ot farm products. They are far from get ting a fair share now. Considering his capital and the long hours of labor put in by the average farmer and hi: family, he is remunerGted less thar any other OccupatiOnal class, with the possible exception of teachers, reli giOus 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, 1t must b' remembered that, although represent ing one-third of the industrial product md half the total population of thu nation, the rural communities Ordi narily enjoy but fifth to quarter O. the net annual national gain. NOtwith standing the taste of prosperity tha' the farmers had during the war, ther' Is today a lower standard of living among the cotton farmers of the SOutl than in any other pursuit in the country
 Tn conclusion, 1t seems to me that th' farmers are chiefly striving for gen orally beneficial integration of theli business. of the same kind and charac ter that other business enjoys. If I should be found on examination thG the attainment of this end requires methods different from those whicl other activities have followed for th' same purpose should we not sympa thetically consider the plea for tho right to cooperate, if only from ou own enlightened self interest, in Ob taInlng an abundant and steady flow O farm products?
 Tn examining the agricultural situa tion with a view to its improvement we shall be most helpful if we main tain q detached and Judicial viewpoint remembering that existing wrongs ma! be chiefly an accident of unsymmetri cal economic growth Instead Of crea tion of malsvolent design and cOnspira cy. We Americans are prone, as Pro feaaor David Friday well says in hll