Evening star., 1924-09-05
FARMING OPTIMISM
MOUNTS STEADILY
War Finance Corporation
Reports Indicate Bumper
Wheat Crops.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

III
that genuine happiness is written in
the faces of the many officials Of the
Government who have had 10 worry
about the agricultural situation in
the last three years.
Because this is campaign year
there is a tendency to discount
optimism. The first reports about
bumper crops. it was originally thought,
might be exaggerated. But the let
ters received by the War Finance
Corporation have continued to be
of such a favorable character that no
longer are any doubts entertained
Many a letter received from RESPONSE
BILE sources and well informed bank
ers and business men comedies with
other communications.
The simple truth is that these let
ter writer's have no political axes to
grind The War Finance Corporation
is an agency which lends funds. 1t
already has lent millions. 1t is the
emergency institution which is con-
cerned with the credit situation gen
orally in the agricultural regions. If
crop conditions are good, the money
lent will be coming back.
Reports Arc Authentic.
It is to the interest of the War
Finance Corporation not to be de-
taken as authentic SO far as official
data gathered from agents are con-
cerned. 1t is supposed to be nom
political non-partisan institution.
And it exudes optimism today for the
first time in many months.
Eugene Meyer, jr., managing direc-
! tor of the War Finance Corporation,
is conservative and cautious in his
statements. His latest declaration is
Ia will ha n nj
so, coo. 900 bushels in the wheat crop
of North Dakota. South Dakota and
Montana. as compared with 1928. This
increased yield was developed on
from 10 to Is per cent less acreage
than before.
This is perhaps the most significant
fact about the agricultural situation.
For, while agricultural prices are
high, relatively speaking, the farmer
has produced more per acre, so his
financial return is correspondingly
greater. 1t means that even with a
drop in prices the farmer would still
be better off than before. His return
per acre will be greater than last
year in any event.
had Weather Abroad.
What has happened in a sense is
that favorable weather in America
coincided with unfavorable weather
in other wheat-producing countries.
Will these conditions continue next
year? Nobody knows. That's the
gamble in farming always. But the
bumper crop and the high prices are
the best piece of good fortune the
agriculturists in this country have
had in a generation. 1t is the sue
,ession of bad years which freezes up
the credit situation
The War Finance Corporation looks
forward to general reduction in in
debtedness all along the line. Bankers
are writing enthusiastically that the
turn has come and that sections of
the country which were hardest hit
have been particularly favored with
good crops. Corn crops are not so
good as weather conditions have not
been altogether favorable, but the
high prices have helped the corn
growers materially. The cattle raisers
are not as well off as the others, but
the War Finance Corporation says
pointedly:
T IAN indirect effect of great import
ance to the breeding end of the live
stock business-which may be hoped
for a little later If not immed lately
is the resumption of cattle buying by
the Northwest 1t is reasonable, in
any event, TO expect better prices and
broader market for breeding ami
mails in view of the general trend of
other agricultural prices in the up
ward direction. The outlook for hides
has been improving for the past two
months
Some May Be Hard Hit.
The word agriculture is a broad
term. No doubt there are sections
and individuals still wrapped in pes
simism, but the general trend is
quite the opposite.
Politics this year, as always. is SO
much interviewer with the prosperity
and materialistic side of the electo-
rate that favorable agriculture con-
ditions cannot but be viewed as a
vital factor in the coming presiden-
tial elections. The discomfort and re-
bellion in the West in the Republican
party has coincided with, if it has
not been caused by. unfavorable farm
conditions. RadicaliSm rarely thrives
in contentment.
President Coolidge has been told
that the Improvement in the agri-
cultural situation will not alto
gether eradicate radicalism this year
in the West, but it will reduce by
large blocks the radical vote Of other
years, so that the big question is
whether the normal gap between the
Republican and Democratic parties
in the solidly Republican States is
big enough to permit of defections to
La Toilette and still leave Cool
idge plurality. The Republican theory
is that If things go well with the
farmer he will not want a change,
because he dislikes uncertainty. Ma
ture is. therefore, the biggest ally
Mr. Coolidge's political campaign has
won. For it is admitted that a con-
tinuance of distressing conditions
would have meant serious losses in
the electoral college. Instead today
there is supreme confidence in the
White House that the West will stay
regular.
Copyright, 1924