Evening star., 1926-08-22

wv of the exciting race to span
a continent with rails, the
present ills of the American
farmer began. The railroads opened
up Il continent 40 years too fast. They
lured immigrants westward by the
millions and dumped them on the soil
10 create freight and traffic. Enough
acreage was opened up to feed three
times our present population.
Then business took up where the
railroads left off For 60 years they
praised the individualism of the farm
er. His little home on a few acres was
eloquently pictured rs the ramparts
of AmeriCaniSm. Business sang q
siren song of independence into the
ears of American agriculture. but
threw into the discard long ago the
antiquatcd economic philosophy it so
earnestly preached to the farmer.
The small-shop proprietor in business
today is almost an economic curiosity.
Farming has, however, nourished
the small operator under an Illusion
that this meant liberty and prosperity.
While business grasped the hand of
scienc" and improved it's technique of
production, the farmer has spurned
change and prided himself on his indi-
Vidualsm. The first quarter of the
twentieth century finds him a class of
debt-ridden t0ilers, mortgaged to the
East and enSlaVed by the Individual
ism that was preached but long ago
abandoned by the business man, who
walks carefully in the middle of the
road of prosperity. on the lookout for
public ownership thugs in the bushes
of radio alSm.
Ranked as Authority.
These were the conclusions of Ben
L., 81 f..,- iy3rr
for many years and an official of one
of the largest farm organizations in
the country. Mr.. Marsh has long
ranked as an authority on the subject
of the farmer.
You say that the early development
of railroads in this country had Il lot
20 do with the present plight of the
farmer. Mr.. Marsh. Would you eX-
plain that statement Il little more
fully?
The main trouble with the farmer
today is his Overproduction. This. of
course is to he supplemented with an
account of the curse of his individual
ism as Il separate chapter in explain
ing the woes of the farmer. The rail
roads are not the whole factor in this
overproduction foundation that was
laid for the American farmer just after
the civil War.
In 1907 an American manufacturer
in New York said he wanted unlimited
Immigration. because il was cheaper to
burn immigrants than coal. You had
TO pay for the coal, but you got the
immigrant for nothing.
The result of such a philosophy of
business was that many manufac-
turcrs drove their labor to deSpera-
tion. Workers yearned for the West,
where they might at least be free and
enjoy some sunlight and good air.
Then the great era in building rail
roads began. And the great trouble
with this building was that lines were
haIalleled. so that competition became
Intense and violent. Our continent
was opened up 40 years too fast. The
Great Northern, Northern Pacific.
Union Pacific, Chicago, Milwaukee and
st. Paul. Chicago and North Western,
Chicago. Rock Island and Pacific; the
Chicago. Burlington and Quincy and
the Santa Fc systems duplicated effort
and paralleled their tracks. 1t became
a bitter war to get traffic to make
these overdeveloped railroad proper
ties pay dividends or even costs. We
gave 1875 900 900 acres to the railroads
10 encourage this orgy of building
nm acreage equal to One-tWelfth APP
proXmately of the United States.
The railroads tried every way possible
to get people out West on farms, so
that they would have something to
ship They coaXed them with low
transportation rates. They urged upon
the Government our iniquitouS home
stead act. which gave away thousands
of acres for a song and opened up our
Western domain too rapidly and led
20 scandals galore In the matter Of
land grabbing"
Could Feed SOC. .000, 900.
You say we are oVerprOduced in
agriculture; that we have too much
land under cultivation, and this was
due TO too hasty an exploitation of
the West. Will you tell me just how
much we are overproduced?
"Dr. l.. {. Gray, an authority on
land economics. says that the pres
ent food capacity of the land that
we have under cultivation at the
present is capable of sustaining 315,-
600 900 people: If German methods
of cultivation We're employed and in
tensiVe agriculture adopted we could
support over 500 900 900 people. That
Is not taking into account the addi
Sional population that could he sup
ported if we put under cultivation the
300 600 900 acres we have in reserve.
which is about twice the amount we
have under cultivation at present.
Thus at a very conservative estimate
our present food equipment could sup
port three times our present popula
tion. That means we are about 800
per cent overproduced in farming,
according to DR. GraN's figures. If
J put the overproduction at only 80
per cent. that is Il tremendous degree
of oVerproduction.
Why did business want agriculture
TO remain individualistic" How did
business preach indvidualism To the
farmer"
My personal opinion is that selfish
interests wanted class of debt-ridden
farmers | say selfish, and | mean
BY that that III the struggle for the
gains of trade the better orga nized
section of industry put il all over the
nnorGanized part Industry has
always wanted cheap labor, cheap raw
snaterials and cheap food. This all
ruts the cost of production and makes
more profit for industry. If the farmer
was kept in a state of individualism
end small scale methods of production,
there would be plenty of food. plenty
rf raw materials. at very low prices.
Cheap food enabled industry 10 pay
workers less wages.
Farm Organization Feared.
"Cheap raw materials are the basis
Of large profits in manufacturing.
THE indivdualism of the farmer has
been praised thousands of times in
speeches Of business men. They have
said that as long as the farmer was
numerous and owned his small acre
age the country would be safe from
tadicalism. The policy of the De-
partmcnt of Agriculture for many
wears WAS TO encourage the farmer