Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1924-08-06
PROBLEMS OF
FARM DISCUSSED
BY CONGRESSMAN
Says Wise Legislation May
Help Some But Farmers
Must Help Selves.

Hon. ]. L. Dickinson, congressman
from the tenth Iowa district and an
Algoma lawyer, addressed a Chau-
tauqua audience here Friday evening
with Farm Economics" as a subject.
He drew a number of interesting con-
illusions as to the cause of agricultur-
al troubles and while he offered no
concrete remedy he at least made a
number of good points.
fundamentally" Mr.. Dickinson
said, every man is farmer regard
less of his occupation. The basic i'm
pulse with all people is to own plot
of ground and a home, be it ever so
small"
Tracing the result of city life Mr..
Dickinson said it was more intense
and complicated than rural life and
dependent upon general prosperity.
When this prosperity ceases there is a
general exodus "back to the farm" in
search of food.
Evolution of Marketing
Mr.. Dickinson traced the evolution
of the separation of the producer, the
professor and the consumer using the
-four industry as an illustration. In
days gone by the farmer hauled his
wheat to the local mill for grinding
paying toll and using his own pro-
duct The relation between the pro-
Queer and the consumer was very
close. In recent years the gap between
the producer, the professor and the
consumer has gradually widened and
this development has brought about a
chain of middle men and spectators.
The result is unnatural defation of
crop values and unnatural imitation OF
food prices-as the speculator wills.
Mr.. Dickinson said the same thing has
happened in the meat industry and is
coming to pass in dairy products.
FallaciOus Remedies
The speaker spoke of fallacious
remedies the cooperative buying
movement of the farmers being an ex-
ample. He pointed out that farmers
were out of their line in attempting
to handle merchandise and said that
in any event the savings made were
so slight that they would neither make
nor break the average farmer.
Legislation Not Cure-all
In speaking of legislation Mr.. Dick
inson said that wise legislation was
a help but not a cure-all. He used an
dudlOSy VI d ulcn Will d III 1CS
depending on doctors to set the frac-
ture and leaving nature to work the
cure. The grain futures act, he claim
ed, would gradually wipe out specu-
lating because it exposed all acts to
the searching eye of the government.
When a man begins corner he runs
foul of the antitrust law and may
land in the penitentiary.
The meat industry was touched up
on. For forty years by means of fav-
orable and special rail rates the pack
ers were able to hold the industry in
big centers. With the wiping out of
privilege on rail hauls the recent
trend has been toward packing houses
closer to the base of supply. AS a re-
suit the big packer has been losing
money whereas on account of the long
hauIs in and out, the big packer has
lost money in huge chunks.
e. S. Marketing Not Favored
The government marketing organi-
zation was frowned upon. There are
already 100000 employees and further
increase in payrolls would add to the
burden of the people who must, even
tually, pay all bills. Mr.. Dickinson
favored an import tariff corporation
which would Immediately bring about
an increased tariff on a product such
as, say butter or cheese, as soon as
foreign supply became too heavy for
the good of the local interests. This
measure was defeated in the last con-
gress.
Mr.. Dickinson favors cooperative
selling of farm products so that pro-
ducts could be stored and released
upon a favorable market. He further
favors the financing of the farmer so
that he can stand pat until prices ad-
vance.
Trend Toward Decentralization
The crux of the speakers argument
was that following a long period of
Capitalization of industry the trend is
now the other way. He claims that IN
many lines the processing of farm
products is being carried back to the
source of supply, eliminating specula-
ton and decreasing overhead through
the elimination of long rail hauls back
and forth. He felt that farm conditions
would improve especially if the farm
ers would help themselves and use
thought and intelligence toward the
solution of their own problems-prob-
lens which affect everyone.