The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-08-18
FARMERS LEGISLATORS GRAPP[E With WEA PRICE PROBLEM

IL naQ cOmmltteQ against the Wned
growers of the country during tbs
war, and with that end in view, hat
introduced a bill for the purpose O
stabilizing the price of wheat, the bill
providing for a corporation with &
capital stock of $300,000,000, and a
board of three members, the secre
tary of agriculture to be made chair
man of the board the other two mem
bers to be appointed by the president
and confirmed by the senate.
Bill Fixes Price
The BILL" Senator Gooding ex-
planned, fixes the price for No.
northern wheat, for the crop of 1928,
at $1.75 bushel at the primary mar
kets of the country. and authorized
the board, on the first of July, 1923
to fix the price for the crop of 1924,
and on the first of July, 1924, to fix
the price of the crop for 1925, and
directs the board to prescribe rules
and regulations for the administra-
tion of the act An embargo upon
| the importation of wheat and flour
is declared in the bill until July /,
1926.'
The senator explained that his bill
; gave the government five cents a
! bushel for administration charges,
and said that he figured that at most
the cost to the government would not
be more than from $50 million to 250
million dollars a year for handling
the surplus wheat grown in the
| United States This, he said, would
be but a mere bagatelle, compared
with the losses the wheat grower sus-
tanned in this country through the
action of the government. The in
crease in the price of bread, Senator
Gooding explained, would be so small
that it would not be noticeable. He
predicted the support of organized
labor in passing the bill, as labor
takes the position that if you destroy
the prosperity of the farmer, it would
be a serious blow to organized labor.
The bill, as is known, was reported
favorably by the agricultural COM
mittee of the senate, but had little
support in the senate at that time.
Senator Gooding believes, however,
that if the wheat growers of the
country will organize and all those
who live in the wheat growing states
will back fight for a square deal
for the wheat growers of the country
some legislation can be enacted which
will prove of great benefit.
Wheat During Wartime
Senator Gooding then went into de-
tail regarding the governments war
time handling of the wheat situation,
which, he said had cost the farmers
an immense amount of money. The
trouble, he said, could be charged up
largely to lack of organization on
the part of the farmer.
cit is not hard for me to under
stand" Senator Gooding stated,
after listening for more than two
years to the deplorable conditions
which existed in Minnesota, North and
South Dakota, and Montana, in the
wheat growing sections, why the two |
old political parties met their Water !
loo in the election recently held In |
Minnesota. l am satisfied that if the |
farmers of this country will organize |
and back their organization as they |
should, all the troubles of agricul- !
ture today can be settled within the |
ranks of the two old political parties, |
but I do not believe that the troubles |
of the farmers in this country can |
be settled at all without organiza-
ton, regardless of how many political |
parties we may have. The farmers |
Of this country need some legisla-
ton, but the principal thing they |
need is organization. They must |
know something of the production in |
their own country and the produc
tion in the world; they must bring
about an orderly marketing of farm
products and the marketing of farm
products must be conducted along
economical lines. Today we have
some 33 million people on the farms
and it is said that 10 millions of
people are making a living out Of the
marketing Of farm products. 1t is
up to the farmers of this country to
organize and eliminate several mil
lions Of the people now making their
living out Of the marketing OF the
products Of the farm"
Suicides Are Numerous
Senator Gooding then told Of the
states, and showed that rs per cent
of the farms in some counties in
North Dakota were advertised for
sale for delinquent taxes.
"There is something seriously
wrong in a great country like this
when farmers commit suicide in a
" WnOlCSd1c way duu uunul Cuo VI IAOu- |
sands of them are forced to turn
their homes over to the mortgage
companies, especially when the far
mer knows that the hardships he is
forced to suffer were brought about
largely by his own government fore
ing him to produce wheat at loss.
1t is not strange that many of them
turn to any political party which will
promise square deal"
Senator Gooding then told of the
put on by the government
for greater production to help win
the war, but said that there was no
thought on the part of the govern
ment after the war as to what should
be done with the increased crop pro-
duction which it had encouraged dur
ing the war. He told of the campaign
to bring down the cost of living, and
said that it succeeded so far as the
farmer was concerned, his products
being forced down to pre-war level,
a1thoupb hic, frnipht rates were 65