Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-01-26
FOOD FOR THOUGHT

! wheat IN 1922 than 1t did IN 19Zl. BE-
fore the war the countries of the
Danube basin had a large exportable
surplus. This year the exportable
surplus has all but vanished. Ac-
cording to l.. G. Michael, foreign
economist for the department of ag-
riculture, even when conditions in
those countries return to normal
| their grain will not be a serious COM
petitor with the wheat shipped by
| American farmers.
Michael points out that before the
was undernourished and was deprived
of food he required because it was
used to pay taxes and heavy rents.
He continues:
"Today that is changed, the peas
ant is beginning to eat bread After
centuries of submerged individuality
he is taking his place among his own
people as man, despite the obstruc-
tions of the great lords and the op-
position of the cities. The fact that
the peasant is eating bread is caus-
ing a revolution throughout south
eastern Europe that extends even in
to middle Europe. The peasant de-
manded enough land on which to pro-
duce a decent living. His demand
was a threat and he got the land He
has begun to feeed his children not
only bread, but also meat-a former
Sunday luxury"
Formerly, says Michael, "the big
estates organized their operations
about wheat production as center,
the wheat to be sold for cash and the
cash to be expended in the great lux
ury centers of Paris, Venice, Berlin.
Then the great change came. The
peasant who had formerly slaved to
produce the export grain eXceSseS,
began to work for himself and in the
interest of his family. The great ex-
cess acreage seeded to wheat was cut
down to more nearly that required to
meet his local needs, and the peasant
and his family began to eat wheat" "
The latest report of the bureau of
foreign and domestic commerce con-
tains the following from report of
its special representative in Vienna:
European farmers as class are rel
atively we'll off. The course of the
war tended to divert the stream of
wealth from the cities to the country
in the case of France and Denmark,
and farmers in those countries are
relatively prosperous. In general,
the commodity purchasing power of
the European farmer, in terms of his
own products, is higher than in the
United States. A bushel of wheat
will purchase more clothing and
household utensils and pay more rent
and labor costs than it does in the
United States"
Both reports indicate clearly con-
flict CT interest between city and
country. Agriculture was organized
to support hundreds of thousands
who lived in the cities of Europe
merely to carry out the political and
commercial ambitions and to cater to
the desires of those who possessed
wealth. National bankruptcy meant,
to all intents, breakdown in the
control of this centralized ownership.
Claims to rent, interest, profits for
the support of the overgrown cities
became mere paper, they could not be
enforced. Through a difficult pro-
cess Of readjustment the balance of
population will again shift in favor of
the country.
These changes in eastern Europe
are suggestive because the tendency
in the United States seems to be
still in the opposite direction. Finan-
cial power continues to centrallze and
to increase. Cities continue to grow.
Each year the burden on the agricul-
tural community continues to in
crease.
The fact that this country is reck
oned among the financially sound
means that the $75,000,000,000 to
,000,000,000 in paper, represent
ing ownership of mineral resources,
machinery and means of transporta-
ton, can still require its full per cent
Of farm products and that agriculture
will be increasingly organized to meet
the wishes Of those who receive
rents, royalties, interest and divi-
dends. 1t means that portion of
the farmers product goes as rent and
interest on the 100000, 100000 worth
of farm property that is mortgaged
or farmed by tenants. 1t means that
share of his bushels and head of
cattle must be diverted to the use OF
those who hold the $23,000,000,000 of
government bonds. The farmers
share of these enormous national
fixed charges means a portion of his
product that brings him nothing in
exchange.
This overhead has doubled since
1914. The report of new financing
for 1922 indicates that the total is
growing.
That is why the farmer finds that
his products are buying less and less.
None of the legislative remedies pro-
posed shows how this tendency can
be reversed.
Striking Seamen Jailed