The Ordway new era., 1922-01-20


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 timely
proof of the need of some such stabll-
izing agency as the grain growers have
in contemplation?
1t Is contended that, II their pro-
posed organizations be perfected and
operated, the farmers will have in
their hands an instrument that will be
capable OF dangerous abuse. We are
told that 1t will be possible to pervert
1t to arbitrary and oppressive price
fixing 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, loose organiza-
tlon, such as any union OF farmers
must be at best, cannot be SO arbi-
tiAiHS anu promptly tOntTOiIcu us
great corporation The one Is lum-
bering democracy and the other an agile
autocracy. In the second place, with
all possible power of org ,nlzation, 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
| undoing of the best laid plans that
attempt to foil It, In the third place.
their power will avail the farmers
nothing II it be abused. In our time
and country power Is OF value to Its
| possessor only go long as 1t Is not
abused. 1t Is fair to say that l have
seen no signs In responsible quarters
Of disposition to dictate prices.
There seems, on the contrary, to be
| commonly beneficial purpose to realize
stability that will Civ? 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 wel-being of a pros
| porous and contented agricultural pop,
ulation, we should be prepared to go
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 a
| continuous and increasing stream OF
farm products. They are far from get
ting fair share now. Considering
| his capital and the long hours Of labor
| put In by the average farmer and his
/ family, he Is remunerGted less than
| any other occupatlonal class, with the
| possible exception Of teachers, rell-
| 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 be
remembered that, although represent.
ing one-third of the Industrial product
and half the total population of the
nation, the rural communities ordl-
narily enjoy but fifth to quarter OF
the net annual national gain. Sotwith-
standing the taste of prosperity that
the farmers had during the war, there
Is today 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 a gen
orally beneficial integration Of their
business, of the same kind and charac-
ter that other business enjoys. II 1t
| 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
tanning an abundant and steady now of
| farm products?
| In examining the agricultural situa
| tiop 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 a 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" l 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 60 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