The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1924-01-17
Fixing of Wheat Price Hopeless?''

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headed, I" Fixing of Wheat Price Hope
less.-Senator Gooding stands almos
alone in resolve to push matter"
great deal has been said for ane
against the arbitrary price plan OF
wheat, yet we notice that the farmel
has been saying very little on the sub
ject. I wish to say whatever the at
titude of the senators and representa-
tives may be or has been, it is a Ger
| tain outstanding fact that the farm
ers, the real wheat growers, are al
least eighty per cent in favor of q
safe and sane plan of ricefixing as
an emergency measure. / am farmer
myself and know quite well how the
real tiller of the soil feels in the mat
ter of price-fixing of wheat. We as
the real growers of wheat realize that
there is no sound measure that cam
give relief in time to be of any me-
terial value to save the farmer VINO
stood Loyalty behind the government
without murmur and sold his wheat
to the government at a price of from
fifteen to forty cents per bushel, ac-
cording to the department. of agricul
ture IS own statistics, less than the
cost of production, from financial ruin
and bankruptcy, unless it is a safe and
sane price-stabilization plan. There
seems to be united effort by certain
classes to take fling at price-fixing
on wheat at every opportunity
Strange as it may seem the heads of
the so-called farm organizations,
Farmers Union, the Farm Bureau,
grain and wheat growers associations
as we'll as many business interests, and
the press take stand against it.
When in all the mass meetings held
the country over last winter the farm
ers were ninety-five per cent to unani-
nous in endorsing sane price-fixing
bill, and if the question is carried to
the farmer direct the result will be the
same at this time. Big business has
never been in sympathy with the
farmer, neither will it ever be. As,
for the heads of these farm organiza
tions, some have never raised a bushel
of wheat and know little of the prob
lens of the farmer They seem to
care more for their jobs and their sal
ary than they do for carrying out the
wishes and needs of the tiller of the
soil, whom they are supposed to rep
resent.
AS to the Wheat Growers Associa-
tion, a man who is prominently con
nected with same and whose name I
as 1 do not want to be per-
sonal, came down from Spokane to at
tend mass meeting called at Craig
mont last winter. A representative
body of over two hundred and fifty
farmers unanimously indorsed Good
ing 3 wheat bill of dollar and seven
ty-five cents per bushel on wheat This
certain mans main contention was
that price-fixing would detract from
The Wheat Growers Association, and |
leave us at the end of the three years
with no. farm organization to market
wheat. I personally asked this certain
fellow if he thought we as farmers had
not better accept the one dollar and |
seventy-five cents per bushel for our
wheat if we could get it even if it |
should detract interest from his small |
this infant of three |
years old who only handled and rep
ion bushel or less of the one hundred |
million bushels or about that produced |
n the states represented by the North
vest Wheat Growers Association. This
nfant who only represented one bush
j out of every fourteen bushels of |
wheat marketed in 1921 in Idaho, Ore
yon and Washington, of whom no
prophet could say it was going to be
success, and it sure took no prophet
% see it was failure, at least in Ida
10, to which question / got no reply.
lie later stated that if the majority of
he farmers wanted a guaranteed price
lie would endorse and support the
Measure, but watched the papers and
ailed to see where he did SO. Bur
What the heads of the Northwest
Wheat Growers Association did do was
o meet about ten days before congress
.djourned and pass and adopt reso-
ution petitioning congress to fix n
rice on wheat, barley, oats rye and
ther farm commodities; to form a
government organization to dispose of
nd handle the same. Such redicu-
Gus petition was never sent to con
,ress before. Think of it, asking con
,ress on ten days notice to pass SUCH
egislation. This was evidently donel
With no other purpose than to knoclSl
ut the chance of the Gooding bill
'assing which was then before cons
,ress, as it would and did show there
vas no harmony between the farmers
nd the heads of some supposed farm
This naturally put con
I