The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-09-24
Old Parties Not for Farmers

To judge by the statements of re-
publican and democratic politicians,
the farmers are pretty well off, and
the farming question is only based
on the wish of the politicians that
the farmers enjoy a little more of
life than at the present time.
The question is; has the farmer
got a kick coming?
He decidedly has. There is the
general fact that regardless of cleo
ton campaigns, the farmers owe
fifteen billion dollars in mortgages
and debts. This, at the rate of 6 per
cent interest, makes an outlay of
5000, 100000 in interest alone per
annum, or an average of $3.50 per
farmer.
Wartime Overproduction.
There is the other fact that dur
ing the world war and Immediately
after, the government stimulated
the production of grain of all cate
gories. Overproduction, not only in
the United States, but in other i'm
portant grain-producing countries,
brought about slump on the mar
ket. 1t is true that in certain coun-
tries there has been a periodical
shortage due to bad crops, but as
whole there has been overproduc-
ton, with. the result that when the
grain is marketed, many farmers
do not obtain price even covering
the cost of raising it.
There is another vital factor: the
growth in the number of automo-
biles has eliminated millions of
horses. This means that areas used
for the production of animal feed
now lie fallow. 1t is estimated that
100000 acres have thus been TAX
en- out of production.
Other Aspects.
There are other aspects of the
case. For instance, taxes and in
terest. No one can escape taxes,
even though during the period of
1926, the tax collector was not
inclined to use any and all methods
to collect taxes. During that per-
iod, the practice was to allow the
taxes to continue, in the hope that
better years would enable the farm
er to meet his obligations. The
same applied to interest: mortgages
were not foreclosed, for this would
have meant that the banks would
have tens of millions of acres of
agricultural land on their hands,
which they would not be able to dis
pose of. AS it is, many banks came
into possession of farms and they
were white elephants.
A few Of the factors may be
shown in the following: In Michi-
gan in 1919, which was a year of
high prices, 1913 per cent of the net
rent was paid in taxes, while in
1921, a. year of low prices, taxes
represented 70.5 per cent of the net
income. Covering period of seven
years, an average of So per cent of
the net rent on 415 Michigan farms
was paid in. taxes. According to
Investigations made, the same APP
plies to Indiana, Arkansas and other
states.
In other words, a fifth to more
than half of the net income must
be spent by the farmer for taxes.
The situation in the northwest is
just as bad. In Wisconsin in 1927,
2,593,000 acres were offered for sale
on account of delinquent taxes.
Drop in Farm Values.
Let us look at another phase of
the matter. During the war years,
when prices were inflated, farmers
bought large areas of land. In 1920,
land values stood SO per cent above
the pre-war level. In 1927, this had
declined to 10 per cent above the
pre-war level, but measured in pur-
chasing power in comparison with
pre-war values, farm values declined
to 20 per cent below pre-war values.
1t is estimated that in 1927 the
farmers dollar was worth 65 cents,
the farm laborer's 10 cents, the ur-
ban workers only So cents. From
this fact it might be 'deduced that
the farmer is not so badly off.
In 1918, the value of farm pro-