Abilene weekly reflector., 1922-10-26
!. NEEDS FOREIGN MARKET
That Fixes the Price Of Farmers
Products at Home Stations

fTO0uCI8 NJ IlOTtC ct1thVssp
@. G. Iseley, one of the leading
grain dealers Of the state In writing
cor the Capital says the American
<hrmer IL really dependent on th'
6Oreign markets for his prosperity
He explains 1t thus:
"a few people seem to think tha'
there is.some mysterious relation De
tween the troubles of Europe and tht
urices the farmers receive for theii
products.
Most of lis are more inclined it
find our troubles nearer home. Dur
ing the war there were some splen-
did American housewives who blam-
ed the corner grocer for the trouble
they had in getting all the sugar they
wanted. Others looking little deep
@ blamed Hoover. There were sun
athers, and they finally made the
big majority, who knew that theii
household difficulties could be traced
Do the ncighbOrho0d of palace at
POtsdam and the Kaiser living there.
sometimes sick person can De
enred by good cheer and sunshihe'
hut if the patient has typhoid or
broken leg, we hasten to a skllied
a,bysician or surgeon. Agriculture Is
America's sick man. He Is past De-
ing cured by being 'kidded' ABOUT
his ailments. Some symptoms or the
seriousness of his illness Is rejected
by Secretary Wallace's statement
that the farmers dollar Is worth
only 70 cents. Professor Friday, or
Michigan Agricultural College, fihds
the farmers average income In l92l
was only 500 for the year or about
81 n day. wonder If some OF our
experts will call this a living wage!
But the farmer has to pay taxes out
af this $500, and high interest, ana
make a profit on his SGO,0OO,OOO,-
0DO plant before he gets wage
Those of us cOnvcrSant with FARMING
know the farmers are not making
profit Many are not paying inter-
est, Some are not paying taxes.
Agriculture Is Americas Sick man
"Prcsidcnt Howard, Of the Amerl-
can Farm Bureau insists that the
market for the farmers surplus Is IN
Europe and pleads for steps thht VIII
recover that market 10 the rural pro-
ducer of the United States 1t we
remember that where n farmer pro-
duces 100 bushels of wheat he must
sell forty bushels abroad, as well as
60 per cent of his cotton ana is per
cent of his meat products, our con-
Germ i'm Europc's welfare must be ap-
parent.
"Thc farmers customer Is not the
merchant at his home town, not the
miller or packer or terminal gram
operator His real customer ls over
seas. When that customer fails TO
buy our great farm surpluSes or II
he buys those surpluses spaSmod1-
cally and with great difficulty every
farmer feels the blow. Sixty-five
per cent of our total shipments
abroad last year were agricultural.
TO show with what difficulty Europe
bought these products we have only
TO recount that she shipped to US III
1921 in part payment Of these pro-
duets $500, 100000 in gold.
Farmer Needs European Market
"The farm items first feeling the
effect of European decentralization
were cotton and meat products. Take
Che case Of cotton. The average
European peasant family has a re-
serve of clothes, for their styles do
not change in 100 years. The wo-
men sit up at nights and knit all
kinds of garments without need Of
tight. Any thrifty peasant woman
can boast Of a hundred pairs Of knit
stockings. The writer has seen u |
poor Swiss boy, seeking job IN
America, with trunk containing |
forty shirts, knit caps, hose, jackets,
dc., almost without end. After the |
war these people could get along
without clothes for while, with the
result that cotton rotted In America |
In 1920
"Meat TO many European Is |
something of u luxury. In 1920 they |
reduced imports of beef from this
country to one fifteenth Of the 1919 |
imports. No wonder the cattle mar