The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-11-20

ley and Nom Partisan form.
1t starts out with the truth that
farming as it is now conducted does
not pay. 1t proposes to make 1t pay
by getting the farmers to hold back
their products just as the manufac-
turers do, until they can get their
price.
Promises Many Things
Mr.. Townley's association promises
among other things to enable the
farmers to:
Determine the cost Of producing
their products.
Publish for each other and to the
world the average cost of such prod.
ucts.
Market the stuff in an orderly way
and refuse 20 sell for less than this
cost plus reasonable profit.
Apply this scheme In wheat, for in
stance. A farmer would demand, saw
$3.50 a bushel, and through the or.
ganizatton would hold the crop back
until he got 1t. If there is a surplus,
as Is now the case, he would sell two.
thirds Of his crop and hold one-third
All the others would do the same. On
the fourth year, II the demand did NOT
Increase, he would have one full years
crop on hand. would shut down his
wheat production and take a vaca.
ton living on the surplusses of the
former three years.
Is All Bunk
All this is bunk. The merchants
and bankers viii never join such an
organization. and if they did 1t would
merely stimulate the foreign pro-
ducers to come in and sell bushel for
bushel and pound for pound as the
American held his stuff of the mar
ket.
Mr. Townley's Producers Alliance
would charge each farmer $4.5O mem
bership fee, and 81 per year dues. But
why form new one? We have the
Grange. the Cleaners. the Farmers
Alliance, the American Farm Bureau
Federation. the Farmers National
Council, and others
The American Farm Bureau Fed
Grafton, which was created under gov.
eminent aid some years ago with the
intention 1t should be harmless. and
which has got away from the govern
ment bureaus-and into the hands of
some other politicians-needs a lot
done to II yet: but ii is the best plan
In existence along lines of nationwide
organization of farmers generally.
And then we have all those organ
izauons formed along lines of single
commodity production, like the great
Cotton Growers organization. Raisin
Growers, the Citrus Growers. the
Prune people, the Grape Growers, the
Dairymen's Associations, The Butter
and Cheese people and the like.
Ono Organization Ahead
And Etr Gray Silver of the Ameri-
can Firm Bureau Federation is ahead
OF Mr.. Townley with his scheme for
the valorization OF wheat. Ahead of
him because Mr.. Silver already has the
greatest Of such farm organizations
behind him. He proposes to hold back
as much wheat from market as Is
necessary-he mentions 5000 600
bushels-so as TO bring the price up
10 the COST OF production
Alas! The plan is unsound in that
the farmer does not possess a natural
monopoly as does the railway. The
stars In their courses, the acres of
five continents. conspire to beat any
such scheme. Wheat in North Amer
lea comes into market now in a long
season, beginning with the Texas
wheat and ending with that from far
off northwestern Canada. How long
Is that season? 1t extends over some
three months-even If the wheat is
dumped at thrashing time And in
the worlds market it meets the wheat
from India, Australasia and Argentina
which, If dumped" comes in in an
other long season exactly six months
from ours. In fact, the wheat from AL
berta--the last Of ours-does not pre-
cede by many weeks the first of the
crop from the Southern Hemis phere.
The natural conditions prevent any
very effective dumping of the worlds
crop.
Spectators Take Hand
The farmers ought to be able to hold
phck Chelr products as they must do
to bring about an absence of dump
ing" When the sidetracks in the
small stations are congested with cars
Of any farm product; when the stor-
age facilities in the small towns are
filed and shipments are necessary to
make room for the stun coming in
from the farms; when the railways are
to handle this glut Of
freight; when even terminal storage
is glutted; then it is a buyers market.
Then the speculator gets hold of the
commodity-say wheat-and the farm
ers get trimmed
It is to prevent this that these va
rious holding schemes are put forth.
And this ought to be prevented. The
farmers should have the power to
prevent it. Just how far they can get
this power into their hands through
any scheme, save unmortgaged farms
owned by themselves, is doubtful It
is the tenant farmer who has to have
money now, it is the mortgaged farmer
who must have money to pay interest,
1t is the farmer living right close to
the line of bankruptcy who Is hard
to get into such a scheme. Hard, be-
cause he cannot come into II