Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-14

the mechanical cotton picker Is gen.
orally adopted. Instead of an aver
age cost Of $14 per bale for hand
picking. the new machine will pick
at a cost of $3.45 a bale. The ma
chine picked cotton is not vet quite
so free from trash as Is the hand
picked product, but the market does
not grade it enough to offset that
difference of $40 bale In cost. SO
the hand pickers are doomed, and
they will add to the oversupply of
farm workers-and the depression of
the n-capitalized farmers.
II X
Quite aside from the evolution of
agricultural methods in recent years,
the world is facing an overdevelop-
ment of farm products and an in
equality now Of prices for food as
compared with wages of industrial
workers. Taking the wages and food
prices of 1914 as 100 and food prices
in 1914 as 106 compared with prices
Of food in 1912, 1917, we find that
by 1925 wages had risen to 22S. while
the wholesale price of food had gone
only to 1852. The retail price OF food
was 166 in 1925, as compared with
101 in 1912, but while wages in in
dustries had gone up more than IA
as high as in 1914, farm prices had
risen only So per cent above the
starting point.
The purchasing power Of crops,
measured in other commodities, in
1914 was counted at 105, while in 1927
May it was only S4-a depreciation
of nearly 20 per cent.
This inequality Of agriculture does
not apply to the United States alone.
In Germany. the conditions are
duplicate Of our own. France Is
faring a little better, for her laws
protect her farms from too much
competition Of foodstuffs grown
abroad In England the depression
of farming is a live topic. In
parliamentary debate few days ago
Lord Olivier is quoted as saying:
There had not been much COM
fort given the farmer by any party.
and it was exceedingly difficult TO
give him any comfort. Some time
ago everybody urged the farmers to
help themselves by cooperation. but
the experience of certain wholesale
and other cooperative societies, which
were In a bad way, did not lend much
encouragement to that idea. The
cry of the farmer was for high prices,
and the question was whether he
should be given high. prices by pro-
lection or whether there should be a
system whereby prices could be
stabilized--a system which commend
ed itself to the Labor party. Such
system would be in consonance with
the whole trend Of modern CONNER
cial and trade organization, and it
fo ii
couragement which was caused by
the sudden dropping of prices"
The Earl of Denbigh suggested that
British agriculture would be consid.
erably benefited If the government
would place their orders for food sup.
ply for the army and navy in the
home market.
Hord Oliviers System" suggests
sort of McNary-Haugen billy
1t will be recalled that in the mid.
Ole OF the nineteenth century all the
argument of the British free traders
OF Manchester was based on the idea
or importing cheap food, even in the
clear light of destroying home pro-
auction OF food, so as to force farm.
ers TO apply for jobs in industrial
factories, thus bearing wages at the
expense OF farming. How the decades
nave changed British doctrines-as
Wen as those outside of Great Brit.
aln-in economics!
Copyright 1927 by Paul v. CoIlins)