The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1922-02-17

, OF defective distribution of farm prod
( ucts. Should it not occur to us that
| we have a common interest with the
farmer In his attempts to attain de-
gree Of efficiency in distribution cor
responding to his efficiency in produc-
ton? Do not the recent fluctuations
I in the May wheat option, apparently
unrelated to normal interaction of
supply and demand, offer timely
proof Of the need OF some such stabil-
izing agency as the grain growers have
in contemplation?
1t IS contended that, If 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 it will be possible to pervert
it to arbitrary and oppressive price
fixing from its legitimate use Of order
ing and stabiliZing the flow of farm
products to the market, to the mutual
benefit of producer and consumer.
have no apprehensions on this point.
HI tht LIS IL lOOSe OISdUlZd-
ton, such as any union of farmers
must be at best, cannot be so arbi-
trarily and promptly controlled as a
great corporation. The one Is a 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
undoing 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 it Is not
abused. 1t 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 Civ, an orderly
and abundant flow of farm products
to the consumer and ensure reasonable
and dependable returns to the pro-
Queer
In view of the supreme Importance
to the national well-being Of a pros
porous and contented agricultural pop
ulation, 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
ton of reforms that will procure
continuous and increasing stream of
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 his
family, he Is remunerated less than
any other occupational class, with the
possible exception Of teachers. reli-
gious and lay. Though we know that
farmers is exceptional and is linked ,
with the inevitable economic readjust-
ment following the war, it must be
that, although represent |
ng one-third of the industrial product |
md half the total population of the |
nation, the rural communities ordi- |
larily enjoy but fifth to q quarter of |
the taste of prosperity that |
he farmers had during the war, there
s today a lower standard of living
lmong the cotton farmers of the South
han In any other pursuit in the country.
In conclusion it seems to me that the
armers are chiefly striving for a gen.
rally beneficial Indignation of their
uSiness of the same kind and charac-
err that other business enjoys. If 1t
hould be found on examination that
he attainment Of this end requires
lethods different from those which
Their activities have followed for the
anne purpose should we not sympa-
consider the plea for the
ght to cooperate, If only from our
wn enlightened self interest, in OBJ 4,
lining an abundant and steady flow of
lrm products?
In examining the agricultural situa-
on with view to its improvement,
e shall be most helpful if we MAIN
in a detached and judicial viewpoint. ,
that existing wrongs may
, chiefly an accident Of unsymmetri-
il economic growth instead of a crea- {
On Of malevolent design and conspira-
. We Americans are prone, as Pro-
ssor David Friday we'll says in his
Imirable book Profits, Wages and !
ices" to seek criminal intent be- ,
nd every difficult and undesirable eco '
mic situation 7 can Docitivalv oc | y
TT from my contact with men OF \
rge affairs, including bankers. that, =
whole, they are endeavoring to "
I'LL as they see them the obligations a.
ut go with their power Preoccupied
tn the grave problems and heavy
ks of their own immediate affairs, =,
~ have not turned their thoughtful