Evening star., 1923-01-03

In his New Year message to the
Mr.. Albert B. Fall, says:
Every tract Of land improved and
disposed of, every reclamation prof.
ect placing water on otherwise
worthless arid lands. and every oil
well discovered and coal mine opened
upon the public domain adds to the
material welfare of the nation.
There are some conservationalists
taking issue with Mr.. Falls broad
generalizations as above expressed,
| although what the Secretary says is
the orthodox doctrine usually accept
| ed.
AS / gather from the arguments of
| the conservationists, they run some
what along these lines:
The mass of farmers at present are
IN the Dumps having prospered
on their developed farms in the last
| three years. 1t is conceded that
land values Of the old farms were
| boosted beyond reason during and
Following the war, and there is no
hope that these values will be main
| tained nor justified by crop yields.
| therefore land is on the edge of a
serious decline and farmers who have
| been holding on at a loss are restless
What will be the effect, then, say
the agricultural economists, of intro
| ducing in competition with these es-
| tablished farms, with their totterine
valuations a vast area of reclaimed"
| desert land to be exploited with fam
! boyant claims as to productivity and
opportunity to acquire quick wealth
or competence, In contrast with the
| proximate conditions of drudgery
/. and poor recompense?
The economics involved are the
same as are found in manufacturing,
Tor farming is manufacturing There
| is an overproduction of a certain line
| OF goods: does the manufa cturer then
say that the way to strengthen the
quotation Of his stock Is to create
| greater competition. or to flood the
market with an increased output?
Build more factories, because the fac
tories now existing are on the verge
OF bankruptcy? Because the govern
| ment bonds are falling on Wall street,
would Secretary Mellon advocate
hooding the market with additional
securities?
These are the questions that are
being put out by the opponents of
spreading out new irrigation projects
| to lure farmers away from their pres
ent developed farms onto new land
| which cannot begin to produce crops
| until two or five years of develop
| ment and which introduces new ex-
periments for the old farmers. If the
new projects created new farmers.
and left the old farms still producing,
that would be beneficial, but so long
as they simply leave abandoned
farms" for every new farm opened,
there is no increase of food produc-
ton and considerable increase of ex-
pense and risk of failure for the rest
less farmer tolled out perhaps after a
pot of gold that he never finds.
The vital thing needed today is not
more land, but more profits for all
who are on the land, according to not
only conservationists, but experienced
| agriculturists.
So +
Practically the same principle ap-
plies to the coal mines. Secretary
Fall argues that every coal mine
opened on the public domain adds to
the material welfare of the nation"
How about the present oversupply of
coal mines and miners, so that they
average only about 200 days a year
of activity and some only 100 days?
Is there any benefit to the public SO
long as output is limited lest the
public get its coal too cheaply? Coal
consumers are asking the Secretary
to explain further in detail where
their benefits come by the opening of
more idle mines-mines that remain
idle or that close competing mines
The benefit would come, they say, il
coal output increased to the con-
sumer-that is the crux of the "ma-
terial welfare Of the nation"
AS for "eyery oil we'll discovered
adding to the material welfare Of the
nation" there seems to be a tempest
in a teapot when the oil consumers
ask for details.
" i. y y
There was time when that same
doctrine was taught to farmers
| that the one point for them to keep
in mind was Observation-Disclosures
production-the moro the better. All