The log cabin Democrat., 1922-01-28

of defective distribution of farm prod ucts. Should it not occur to us that we have common interest with the farmer in his attempts to attain . dc 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 oi supply and demand, offer timely proof of the need of some such stabti- izing agency as the grain growers have in contemplation?
 It Is contended that, If their pre- posed organizations be perfected and operated, the farmers will have tn their hands an instrument that will be capable of dangerous abuse. We arc told that 1t will be possible to pervert 1t to arbitrary and oppressive price fixing from its legitimate use of ordee. Ing and stabilizng 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. tlon, such as any union of farmers must be at best, cannot be so arbi. trarily and promptly controlled as 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 flat 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 Dot abused It Is fair to say that I 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 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 pos- porous aRd contented agricultural pop. ulation, we should be prepared to e long way in assisting the farmers to get an equitable share of the wealth they produce, through the inaugura- ton of reforms that will procure 8 continuous and Increasing stream of farm products. They are far from get ting a faiv 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 the present general distress of the farmers Is exceptional and Is linked with the inevitable economic readjust- ment following the war. it must be remembered that. although represent ing onethird of the industrial product and half the total population of the |, nation, the rural communities ordi. t the net annual national gain. Notwith- 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, It seems to me that the farmers are chiefly striving fNr a gen ly A.pf nf A al business, of the same kind and charac- ter that other business enjoys. If 1t should he found on examination thSt the attainment of this end requires methods different from those wlAch other activities have followed for She same purpose should we not sympa- thetically consider the plea for the right 10 cooperate, if only from our own enlightened self Interest, in ob- talning an abundant and steady flow of farm products?
 In examining the agricultural stua. tien with a view to Its Improvement, we shall be most helpful If we main- tain detached and judicial viewpoint. remembering that existing wrongs may be chiefly an accident of unsymmetri- cal economic growth instead of crea- ton of maleyolent design and conspira- cy. We Americans are prone. as Pro- lessor David Friday well says in hls admirable book, Profits Wages and Prices" to seek criminal intent be- hind every dlffcult and undesirable eco homie situation" I can positively as- sert from my contact with men of large affairs, Including bankers that. as a whole, they are endeavoring to fulfll as they see them the obligations mat go 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. Arri- culture, It may be said, suffers from their DrpOcCuDation on6 Darlac+ ro+b..