Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-07-24
BY GREENyILLE BROWN
Ueascd Wire Service to The Journal }


(COpyElSnt, l3Io.)
CHICAGO, July 21.-What is the
matter with wheat? For this Ques-
ton, asked with anxiety in hundreds
/ of farm houses throughout the ma
ton, in financial centers. and IN the
councils of the major political par
/ ties, there are almost as many an
sWers as there are classes PROFOUND
/ ing the query. When wheat went
! below the dollar mark here this week,
| the fact was heralded as a seventh
| day wonder. In 1914, dollar wheat
caused an even greater hullabalOo,
but in a different sense. Dollar
wheat before the war was the height
of the farmers ambition, but today,
after years of initiation, dollar wheat
, brings cries of calamity.
The farmer, it is admitted, has
good grounds for complaint. But he
! is also the victim Of poor judgment.
Intoxicated by the prewar and i'm
, mediate postwar periods of high
prices, he increased production
greater than the world consume and
now he is suffering because OF this
fact. In addition many renters, who
became prosperous through war
prices, were able to buy their own
farms, but they paid sums far above
the intrinsic value of the land. To-
day they find they are unable to pro-
duce wheat on this inflated land, and
secure a profit at the present price
of the grain.
Exploited BY Politicians
The greatest sore spot to the farm
err is the fact that while he has had
to undergo all the sufferings of de-
flation, industrial lines have not been
subjected to the same operation. AS
result he finds his income too
meager in comparison with his outgo
or the cost of living, which remain in
the neighborhood of 1918.
Politicians and agitators have been
quick to learn of the farmers dis
content and have done all they could
to keep it alive. Laws have been
passed to bolster up the wheat mar
ket, but these have proved unsuc-.
cessful. The present low price OF
wheat can be attributed to the re-
marks of uninformed agitators and
politicians who believed they were
helping the producer, but instead
only informed the buyers of our
wheat that we had an oppressive sur
plus. This information scared off
the speculative purchaser and the
market today lacks his support.
European raisers have practically re-
turned to normal and the European
purchasers of the surplus wheat OF
America, with the sole exception or.
Great Britain, face deprecated cur
rencies today which restrict their
buying power.
Meantime, a recent estimate by
delegate to the International lnstl-
tute of Agriculture showed the
worlds crop 100000 bushels IN
excess of last year, and Broomhall'
the English statistician, said world
requirements would be only 5o2,OO0,-
900 bushels this year as against $685.
900 coo bushels last year.
The chief cause of the low price or
wheat is over production. Is it any
wonder that wheat is selling at a
dollar?
Remedies for the wheat situation
are offered by many people, but
most of them are artificial sugges-
tons. 1t takes demand to keep up
the price of wheat and the organized
grain exchanges are the best method
of handling the crop. Unrestricted
speculation and less government IN
business will help the farmer more
than anything else.
The Farmers View
All of the foregoing represents
compilation of views obtained IN
Chicago-the center of the world
grain market-today. Other views
are held in other planes. Inc
farmer. for instances, wouldn't give
a penny for everything set down
this far in this dispatch. In an
effort to get the farmers reaction,
a correspondent in Wichita, Kan
sas, was asked for information His
reply, in rather picturesque IAN
auage, began as follows:
God help the rich; the poor can
beg"
The Wichita correspondent re-
ports that the farmers believe
group of despoilers are responsible
for the present low price. Inter
views with ten farmers, representa-
tive wheat growers from different
sections of Kansas. demonstrate
that the farmer does not believe
the "overproduction" theme, and