Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1923-03-30
WALLACE SAYS FARMER
MUST PROSPER IF u. 5.
REMAINS PROSPEROUS
Need For Better Understand With
Basic Industries Stressed BY
Secretary OF Agriculture
NATION DEPENDS ON FARMS
AN Advantage To Business Nlan
For Farmer To Be Prosperou
Secretary Declares

Sit5@AG4 ~ a&ElcuiGU1es
IN industry, and in general business
is foreef1lly pointed out by Henry
G. Wallace, secretary of agriculture.
in a statement discussing their re-
.lationship.
AS our civilization becomes more /
compleE, he declares, the rela-
uonship between agriculture, indas-sl
try and gendral business becomes
more and more intimate. What hunts
the one viii certainly hurt the 9TH
ers, In general, what helps one will
help the others. They must work
together for the common good.
There has always been tacit
recognition of our national depend-
ence upon agriculture. We have
given an intellectual assent to such
! statements as, The farmer IS the
backbone Of the nation, a prosper
GUS nation depends upon prosoer-
GUS agriculture Agriculture is fhe
basis of national life,' and SO Oil.
The truth OF such statements has
never been driven home to us so ef.s
| lfectively as during the last two years.
The drop in prices which began
early in 1920 is familiar history
Farmers were the first to suffer and
suffered most. Taking prices of 1918
as representing 100, the prices Of
farm products in May, 1920, stood
fat 23S. During that month they
began to fall, and before the de-
cline could be arrested they had
dropped below the 1913 level, stand.
! ing ut "a in December, 1921. Then
we had a terribly vivid illustration 81
our dependence upon agriculture and
| the intimate relationship between ag-
ncultural prosperity and bushes
| prosperity Many farmers could not
Ipay current expenses. The ratio be-
| tween prices Of things the farm-
ers produced and sold and prices of
/ the things they bought was SO dis
Itorted that they were forced to prac-
tice the most rigid economy and re-
duce their buying to absolute me-
Icessities. Great iQdstries which de-
pend directly upon farm buying were
/ plunged almost Immediately into pro-
/ found depression Thousands of
manufacturing plants had a similar
/ Experience. The railroads suffered
| through reduction in freight on
| things farmers buy. Business Of
| every sort shared the disaster. Hum
dreds of banks failed. Thousands Of
banks tottercd along the edge o
bankruptcy. Perhaps three million
men were thrown out Of work. The
/ financial depression was widespread.
The turn was reached in the vim
! ter of 1921-22 since which tima
taere has been gradual increase
in the prices Of far products. Grsd-
! ually farmers have been able to pay
some Of their debts and resume their
| buying. a a result there has been
a steady Improvement in business,
until now there is general optimism.
The ration between prices Of farm
products and prices of other con-
moditios IS still abnormal. Until this
| ratio becomes more nearly normal
| the full measure Of prosperity will
/ not be restored.
"While the experience Of the last
| three years has brought sharply TO
| our attention the intimate relations
! ship between business and agrlcul-
| ture, the existence of such intimate
relationship is no new thing A
comparison Of the farmers purchas,
| ing power with business failures dur
| ing the last third of a century tells
| the story in graphic way. During
! the 10 years 1890 to 1900 the pur-
chasing power Of the farmer was
| below the 30 year average: the per-
| centage Of business failures was con-
isiderablv above. From 1900 to 1920
there was a gradual increase i'll the
| farmers purchasing power. From
1901 to 1908 this purchasing power
was almost the average Of the 30
year period, while from 1908 to 1920
! ii was considerably above. The per.
centage Of business failures dropped
below the 30 year average from 1899
| to 1920 with the exception OF two
short periods in 1914 and 1915.
eve have about 6,500,000 farms.
| More than one-fourth Of all our pee-
pie who are engaged in gainful oc-
equations work on the farms. The
! capital invested in farming is about
| 10 billion dollars The money in
vested in farm buildings, machinery
and live stock, not including the
| value of the farm land, woald buy
all Of the railroads IN the UnlCed
States and in addition a considerable
humber Of mines.
The number Of people engaged ia
| farming is so per cent greater noW
| than i'm 1870, but the volume of cron
Il production in 1890 was 256 per cent
/ greater than in 1870
/ Business and agriculture are de-
! pendent upon one another. a pros
Iperous agriculture means prospef-
Gus nation It is to the advantage
of the business man that the tarmaf
4 is fairly prosperous. Conversely Il
j is not to the advantage of either tfiaE
the one or the other should ne So
7 nrosDerous that Incorporate speca-
lation and waste is stimulated, be-
cause adversity always follows sueh
a period.