Evening star., 1926-08-08
Not q Political Issue.

Every now and then there bobs up
as an issue in American politics some
question that is not at all political in
Its character and which has no busi-
ness being made foot ball for poll
ticians to kick about. We now have
and have had for a number of years
q striking instance in the matter of
a program for agriculture. the So
called farm relief" issue Avid poll
ticianS have seized hold of this ques-
ton. often with personal aCgrandize-
ment as the chief thought in mind.
and the more they have messed with
1t the worse messed it has become
Their failure has been so conspicuous
that nationwide demand should
arise that the politicians stand aside
and give another type of mind a
chance to grapple with the problem
The matter of a program for Ameri-
can agriculture is a $ little a sectional
or class question as it is a political
one. The manufacturer and his en-
ployes are as Vitally interested as is
the farmer himself. The clerk and
Dookkeeper in an eastern city are as
much concerned as is the man who
TINS prairie soil. A right solution is
as necessary TO New England as il is
to Iowa, as necessary to the Atlantic
seaboard as it is to the Gulf Coast or
the Pacific Northwest. 1t is funda.
mental truth that in this country no
one section or class can prosper per.
manently at the expense of anv her
section or class. There can be no as
sured prosperity in America unless
1t is shared by agriculture, which is
at the base of the American economic
structure
10 the uninitiated there may seem to
oe connect between the city dweller's
need for an abundant supply of chean
foodstuffs and the food producers
need for better prices. but this seem
Ing conflict is an artificial rather than
a natural one. The artif1ciality lies
IN the cost of distribution. There is
100 wide a spread, too much waste
between producer and consumer. The
city dweller ought to have cheaner
foodstuffs and the farmers ought tn
get better prices.
This is fine. but how can il he
brought about? 1t can be broueht
ABOUT by application of the same sort
OF ability that has made American
industrial production and distribution
the marvel of the world While indus.
try IN other countries strives vainly to
cneapen production by lowering wages
american industry continues to nav
higher and higher wages and to GET
lower and lower production costs
creating an ever expanding cons1,rn.
loh demand at home and underseIl
ing loW-WaSe competitors in the mar
ketS of the world.
as this state of affairs in Amer
lean industry brought about by the
deNlslnSS of politicians? Most de-
Cldedly 1t was not. 1t was brought
about by the cooperative intellect
OF capital and management and
labor, and all three of the partners
have protited hugely.
But the partnership is not com.
plete or we'll rounded. An essential
element has been left out, and until
1t is brought into the firm on
share-alile basis the house of pros
perity will lack security in it's
foundations. That outside element
is the agriculture producer. He is
necessary to the industrial partner
ship both as a producer of foodstuffs
and raw materials and as con-
sumner of industrys finished products,
and when he fails in either function
industry viii come crashing down.
II is high time. therefore that cap
ital and mana cement and labor
should make the farmers cause their
own.
But the way does not lie through
the politician panacea OF govern
ment larSess. The farmers trouble
does not consist of q single specific
malady which can be cured by n
mustard plaster dose of legislation.
What is needed is wholesale re-
organization of the cumbersome
botch work Of agricultural distrihu-
ton, including transportation and
processing. coupled with the apph-
cation of modern methods to reduce
the costs of production. In other
words. a modernized agricultural pro
gram.
The starting point should lie
nation wide survey Of the entire
problem in its many ramifiCations,
by the best minds obtainab BILE Such
a survey might we'll be undertaken
by a commission created by the
President or by act of Congress. II
should embrace the ablest ootalnable
representatives OF capital, of man
a-ement of transportation, of labor
and OF the farmers themselves. and
ought TO be headed by some man
of outstanding organizing and ad-
m;nistrative ability-a man OF the
type of Herbert Hoover. No self
seeking politicians should be in
c.Aued.