Evening star., 1925-03-31

Frank Lowden is a former Governor
of Illinois. At the Republican ma
tional convention in 1924 he was put
in nomination for Vice President, but
he declined the nomination. APP
parently he thought he could do bet
ter work outside of active politics.
Mr.. Lowden is interested in the
farmer himself. He is farmer himself.
He has one of the finest farms in Illi-
nois near the little town of Oregon.
THE true situation of the Amer
lean farmer has not been clearly
stated for years." the ex-governor
told me.
He rose. looked out of his Chicago
hotel window for few moments
upon Lake Michigan, then turned his
determined face and his blue eyes in
my direction. He is stocky but well
built; his prominent nose would in
dicate social qualities and his square
jaw features determination-an eX-
cellent combination for public man.
blindness Delays Recovery.
Most Americans living in the great
cities, he continued, do not know
even yet that there is a farm problem.
Many of the great financial leaders
did not, up to 1924, recognize the
problem. That was unfortunate. 1t
was bad for business. For such
MISUNDERSTANDING to face facts-aI-
ways delays recovery. More. business
men have gone broke because of their
refusal to look their balance sheets
in the face than from any other
cause.
Now, the big leaders, knowing that
nearly million wheat farmers have
become insolvent during the past four
years, have for the moment given
them attention. But wheat farming
is only about per cent of the farm
problem of America. A world short
age of 300,00o,000 bushels of wheat
in 1924 has caused prices to advance
nearly 100 per cent in d few months
AS a result many bankers and bust
ness men think the wheat farmer is
now over his difficulties.
High Price vnlueIess.
But must American wheat farmers
depend upon an international wheat
catastrophe for a living? Take corn
Prices are satisfactory to any corn
farmer who has corn to sell, but out
side of Kansas the corn crop was
very poor. What good is a high price
for corn when the corn farmers have
none to sell?
THE increased price for corn is due
primarily to the partial failure Of the
corn crop in half of the corn belt in
the United States. If the success of
American agriculture depends upon
the failure of crops either at home
or abroad, then surely agriculture in
hangs by a very slender
thread"
You do not think the farm problem
has been solved by the present high |
prices for farm products?" I asked |
him.
Real Problem UnsoIved.
NO, I do not" he insisted. There |
is a real problem here waiting for So |
luton. more important than any other |
domestic problem we have. Some say
the American farmer is inefficient.
But the United States, with less than
per cent of the farmers of the world, |
produces nearly 20 per cent of the
worlds corn, 90 per cent of the worlds
cotton, so per cent of the worlds to-
bacco, 25 per cent of the worlds oats
and hay, 20 per cent of the worlds
wheat and flaxseed, 13 per cent of the
worlds s barley and per cent of the
world potatoes. The average pro-
duction of cereals per person engaged
in agriculture in the United States is
IL tons, while for the rest of the
world II is Ia tons. This is largely
due TO commercialized agriculture
which has made possible the phe-
nomenal Industrial growth of our
But how about returning to a sim
pier form of farming, as of fifty wears
ago." 1 asked.
1t can't be done. High taxes alone
would prevent it. Today the farmer
pays In taxes upon his lands as much
as the tenant paid in rent half a CEN
tury ago. The average taxes exceed
one-third of the net rental value of
the land and they must be paid in
cash. No, commercialized agricuIture
has come to stay.
Sees Farmers Weakness.
Agriculture to exist must conform,
10 the economic laws and limitations
which control the other portions or
the structure. AS I see it, and prac-
tlcaliy all the farm leaders in America
agree, the weakness of agriculture is
III Its total failure to adjust agricul-
tural production to effective demand
as the economists saw"
L asked for an illustration
Take 1924. The corn crou u-as On
per cent smaller in 1924 than in 1929
yet IN total value exceeded 1929 h1.
almost S2O0,O00,000. A smaller corn
crop OF inferior corn in 1924 was
worth hundreds of millions of dol
lars more in the market than the
larger and better crop of the wear
before.
Where the Dairymen Failed.
what caused the inferior corn
crop of 1924? Wet weather. Poo,
Tor corn, excellent for meadows and
pastures-for dairy production. AS a