Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-01-20
AMERICAN FARMER
BEGINNING To GET
NEEDED RELIEF
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKIN

| iZing the banking rules of the fed
eral reserve system in favor of the
| farmer.
Second, the American Railway as
ISOLATION has appointed a special ag
ricuItural representative whose duty
| it. will be to travel about the country
AND seek to meet the demands CT
The farmer for shipping facilities.
These developments add to the
long series of triumphs already
scored by the newly awakened Amer
lean farmer. Over the last two years.
the tillers of the soil have been or
ganizing their forces and making
demands and so far they have not
failed in any instance.
The farmer in normal times fire.
quently is the butt of the city mans
humor. The "hayseed," the "rube"
and the Jay" have been subjected
to a great deal of ridicule. But nor
NAL times are thing of the past.
Many miracles were performed by
the war and one of the greatest
was the galvanization of the Amer
lean farmer into a great political
force capable of bringing about eco
nOmic reforms that such traditional
ly powerful Influences as "Wall
street" the interests" and SUCH
could not achieve.
The explanation is that the rural
population is nearly SO per cent OF
the entire population of the United
States. People who live in big cities
various industrial groups and the
| several organizations Of different
sorts are intensively organized and
they feel that the lonely farmer out
in the country cannot possibly
amount to much. They have been
| forgetting that the lonely farmer, in
an emergency, is able to multiply
himself by a factor which will give
him an aggregate power equal to
all the others put together.
That is precisely what happened.
During the war the farmer got good
prices but his costs were high. Sud
denly, the crash came in the summer
| of 1920 when prices of all sorts of
| commodities tumbled down, headed
! by farm products. The farmer had
| planted his crops at high cost; he
was compelled to sell them, In many
| cases, for less than what he paid
I nor his seed.
1t Took Time to Organize
1t took some time to effect the or
ganization necessary to bring about
the multiplication of the lonely farm
| err, but the work was done by two
! or three active associations and fed
erations of farm leaders They now
have the farmers of the country
fairly well organized and in a posi-.
ton to ask congress to take such
steps as may be necessary to bring
back farm prosperity.
The a Of'ia111tI1pa h1oo fu
was the first achievement of the
newly organized farmer. Members
of both senate and house We're quick
to see that the organized farmer
was the most powerful factor in the
| country and that he meant business.
There followed a quick succession of
developments to improve his posi-
| ton. First, railroad rates on farm
products were lowered so that farm
products could be shipped to mar.
ket at a lower cost. Then bank rates
were lowered so that the farmer
| could borrow for smaller interest
charges. In the various political
| elections, both local and national,
this organized farmer made his ire
sistible force felt.
| The two recent developments indf-
| cate that he is increasing his power.
| The principal reform on which the
farmer has concentrated his atten.
| ton has been Improvement in farm
credits. He has complained that the
merchant and the manufacturer can
get all the financial accommodation
they need at the banks but the farmer
cannot. The answer to all this has
been that farmers want money for
LOO long a time. The merchant or
manufacturer borrows for from 80
TO ~ days. The farmer wants tn
| borrow for periods running from six
| months to year and the stock rails.
| er wants to borrow for three years.
Ihere are indications now that thls
need will be met.
| Inc new ruling of the federal re-
| serve board provides that bankers
aCceptances-a form of notes run
| nlng for six months-may be han
| oIed through the federal reserve
banks and also that acceptances So
cured by crops held in storage NAV
De discounted at these banks. This
puts the farmer on the same basis
pfactlcaIly, with the merchant and
manufacturer. 1t gives the same ia.
| clllty to this sort Of paper as has
oeen given to the short time CONNER
| C4dI paper.
The ruling was made with specia1
reference to farmers cooperative as
! soclat1ons. 1t now is permitted for
these co-operatives to issue ac-
Ceptahces cashed by the member
"'llhS VI the federal reserve system
Storage Ruling Important
Inc storage ruling is of special
importance. One of the bitterest
cohlpialnts OF the farmer is that
when his crop is made. he nnst
aump 1t ON the market because he
! cannot borrow money with which to
pay his expenses while he is wait,
| ing for better prices. The effect
| OF all farmers selling their crons
at the harvest season naturally de-
presses prices. With the ability to
borrow, they could hold back por-
tons of their crops and thus con.
tlnue to get goo. prices over a. CON
| siderable period of time. The new
ruling enables them to do this. They
can put their crops in storage and
| then borrow on the warehouse re.
ceipts, waiting six months, if thew
desire, to pay back the money.
| Within that time they presumably
would have opportunity to sell at
| fair prices.
Elmer Knutson, Of ST. Cloud,
Mimi, is the man who has been ap,
pointed by the car service division
of the American Railway associa-
ton to- act as a special railroad rep
resentative for the benefit of the
farmers. The railway association
mas provided this facility so that if
the farmers have any complaint
about the way the railroads are
handling their shipments, they will
have some one with whom to discuss
the matter. Mr.. Knutson's instruc.
tons are to travel about the agri-
cultural producing sections and keen
in close touch with cooperative and
other farm organizations.
Car shortage at harvest periods
has been one of the chief evils