The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-01
PEOPLES FORUM
To the Editor of The Age-Herald

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 Your editorial in Thursdays is- sue of your great paper headed "Price-Fixing That Failed" does not prove your contention, but does prove the absolute control of the packers of the price of meat anil mals, not only in this country, but in South America as well. I am opposed to price-fixing by the government, because the idea IS fundamentally unsound.
 The packers having six or possi- bly, eight months supply of meats in cold storage, could very easily starve out the cattle growers. They withdrew from the market in Argentina; without demand the price naturally dropped. There was no one to buy the cattle. The price is arbitrarily controlled as evidenced by the fact that the supply of beef cattle is short, yet the price is so low that it does not pay to feed hogs and cattle. Twenty dollars per head is the outside price a farmer can get for the average beef. One ton of Les- pedesa hay. worth s24 in car lots, would be necessary to carry the beef through the winter.
 President Joe A. McCord of the federal reserve bank of Atlanta suggested to the writer as a remedy for the low price, flor the farmer to grow more hay and carry his cattle over until there was demand at satisfactory price," A friend in Talladega county last winter did precisely what President Mccord suggested. The hay. had it been sold at the price offered on the market last Tall, would have brought more money than would all of the cat : tie if sold at the price offered last spring. He has the cattle now. and I very much doubt if they will bring as much money as would the hay fed to them would have sold for last winter. Judge Roberson Of Andalusia told the writer that he tried the experiment of feeding corn and velvet beans to his cattle. but the corn and beans, if sold. would have netted him more money than did the cattle after they had eaten up his corn and beans. There is a packing
 There is one remedy, as I see it. plant at Andalusia and the judse had no freight to pay on his cat tie.
 There is on remedy, as I see it.. That is for the farmers to sIaush- ter their cattle when ready for market, place in cold storage until there is a demand for beef at 1, fair price. There Is one difficulty. however. in the way, and that is. the politicians that constitute the personnel of the farm loan board. who are so exceedingly careful of the dear "pepul's" money they cannot risk it on perishable prod uets." The packers are shipping dressed quail from Argentina to New York City in such quantities as to threaten bankruptcy to the poultry raisers Who supply the New York market. But the politi- cians on the farm loan board fe ignorant of this fact, and will con tirlue to be. -
 The farmers in this district are exceedingly fortunate in having f Birmingham cold storage plant. the equal in equipment and facili- ties for handling perishable farm products of any cold storage plant of the whole country, and are for tunate in another respect: We have liberal, broad minded bankers with the deposits sufficient to caro for all the needs of this section Should more money be needed .o finance the interests of this sec tion, we tave in Governor Welborn and President McCord statesmen instead of politicians who rec ognize the need of the farmers both gentlemen being farmers as well as bankers-and will loan tc member banks at four and a half per cent. as many millions of dol. lars as there Is call for. Gu, packer-controlled government can be wrested from the control of the packers by the appointment on the boards of conscientious, homes, men Instead of politicians.
 s G. T. McELDERRY. Birmingham, Ala. Nov. 20, 1923