The Bismarck tribune., 1928-11-22
EVALUATI0N OF
MANY EFFORTS
OF BIG IMPORT
Dairy Farming Replacing
Wheat on State Farms, Col
lege Head Declares
SPEAKS AT WASHINGTON
Regulatory Service Necessary
to Limit Potatoes Placed
on Markets
ESPECIAL TO THE TRIBlNE)

ESPECIAL TO THE TKIBINE)
Washington, ID. c., Nov. 22.-In-
telligent direction of the energies Of
the many groups and interests seek
ing to rehabilitate agriculture should
be the first task Of the proposed
federal farm board, which all agree
should be organized by President
elect Herbert Hoover, DR.. John Lee
Coulter, president of the North Da-
kota Agricultural college, declared
in an address last night before the
42nd annual convention Of the as
sociation of Land Grant College and
Universities.
"Whilc some have contendcd that
cooperation alone would solve all
problems and others have contcndcd
that an act of congress would solve
all problems. | am satisfied that the
first great step is Il board TO coor-
dinatc and cvaluatc the many differ
cnt efforts he declared.
President Coulter stated that
"there seemed to be a general i'm
preston that labor and capital arc
more prosperous than agriculture
and that they hold this better posi-
tion because they are organized and
agriculture is unorganiZed."
Hc raised the question whether
"the high wages of labor were not
due, partly to restriction Of immi-
grafton and partly to the fact that
large corporations arc efficiently
managed, that they have developed
4 very efficient division Of labor and
that they employ tremendous horse
power and utilize every conceivable
mechanical device. In other, words,
is it not possible that even with
labor organized our laborers might
still be on a very much lower stand
ard Of living if it were not for eff
Cient management and restriction of
immigration
Quotes Mine Situation
President Coulter called attention
to the mine workers who are very
well organized yet do not enjoy a
satisfactory standard Of living. this
situation being due to the fact that
there arc SO many mine workers that
they can secure employment only
half the year. This suggested to
DR.. Coulter that even if the wheat
growers were very thoroughly or
ganized, il they produced twice as
much wheat as the market demand
cd At 4 certain price they would stY1f
have serious problem Of disposing
of the other half Of their wheat just
as the mine workers have a serious
problem in disposing Of the other
half OF their services even though
they are well organized. The fact
that labor and capital have been or
ganized. however, has often enabled
them to secure such legislation as
restriction Of immigration and the
protective tariff.
He further pointed out that even
IN industry there is a great lack Of
organization which is resulting and
has resulted in distress in these in
dustries and at the same time in
exploitation of natural resources
contrary to public welfare. The
petroleum industry is good ex-
ample. He added: "Unlcss this in
dustry voluntarily organizes to con-
troll production or unless constructive
federal legislation is imposed there
will almost certainly be such waste
and loss in the next five years as the
world has never witnessed. It seems
to me that these arc apt illustrations
Of lack of organization quite COM
parable with the situation among our
potato, corn and wheat farmers"
Legislation Important
Il believe that almost as many
illustrations could be given of lack
OF organization among labor and
capital as in agriculture and l be-
lieve that we have ascribed to or
ganization many merits which do not
exist" he continued. "On the other
hand, many of the good results have
come not through organization but
through wise legislation.
President Coulter called attention
to the potato industry in which
prices in the last 10 years have
ranged from ten cents to six dollars
per bushel, due to fluctuations in
production. But variation is not
great, as in no year did the average
yield OF potatoes 60 more than eigh-
teen bushels above or below the TO-
year average, a variation of only
is 2-3 per cent, and the acreage has
never varied more than Ia per cent
under or 20 per cent over the 1O-ycar
average.
Reorganization would only be one
step. The other part of the solution
would be a regulatory service, which
would practically limit the placing of
potatoes on the central markets to
the requirements each year. In