The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-11-24
BY EARL R. BRowDER.

! THE trend of American capitalism
for the. month of October con-
tinued upward. Most dramatic of all
expressions of this fact was the
great boom in the security market,
which eliminated in the small panic
of November 10 when rediscount
ratesrwere advanced, and brief liqui-
dalton movement set in, only to see
the upward trend resumed. Automo-
bile production continued to set new
! high records over previous years.
;; Agricultural machinery production
was over 40 per cent above year
ago. Steel mills are increasing OBJ
erations with increased volumes of
untitled orders on the books. Rail-
roads continue high records of car
loadings, with earnings the highest
since the war years. Foreign trade
continues to increase. Investments
abroad continue to increase over a
year ago. All the usual business in
dicators (including wholesale and re-
tail distribution) point to continued
expansion.
.o,o,The First Rift in the Lutte.
ENOR the first time this year, how
= ever, it is possible to note GER
tain disturbing factors which threat
en- this wave of capitalist prosper
ity." And as in previous years, so it
would seem, it it agriculture that will
prove to be the Achilles heel of
American capitalism. The first
symptoms that all is not well with
the system of production and distri-
button of wealth in the United States
comes from the agrarian districts. It
was brot to the attention of the pub
lie in the sudden and unexpected
bankruptcy of a number of banks in
the middle-western wheat states,
which disturbed the political equan-
unity of the administration in
Washington that Coolidge felt it
necessary to issue statement that
he had not forgotten the problems of
the farmers.
Surely the farmers problems have
not been settled. More than year
ago we pointed out that the allevia-
ton of the agrarian crisis had been
brot about by fortuitous conjunc-
ture of a world-shortage of grain with
large crop in the U. S.--something
that was not forseen, certainly not
planned, and unlikely to recur in the
near future. Figures now available
show what is happening to the farm
ers in this respect, and are convinc-
ing proof that the agrarian crisis is
still with us.
Prices of grain, cotton, and live
stock, declined in the month of Oc-
tober. With sharp decline in the
price of wheat. it is still higher in
the United States than in the world
market. During the week ending
Oct. II, large quantity OF wheat
was imported into the u. S. from
Canada, paying duty of AZ cents
per bushel Exports of wheat for the
three months ending September 30,
were less than. go per cent of the fig
ures for one year ago. Receipts Of
wheat at interior markets for Sep
TENDER were somewhat under 20 per
cent Of September last year, with a
still smaller percentage for the three
month period. The estimated yield
Of wheat for the entire country this
year is about so per cent OF last
years crop.
With such a condition in wheat, II
Is clear that the farmers pros
perity" has proved even more short
lived than we had expected Last
years farm prosperity" was based
upon wheat. Certainly corn, also an
importanttgop, played little part as
4 e.