Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-28

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manufacturers can practice mass pro-
duction. whereas farmers cannot.
When Hudson or Studebaker has
made its first 100000 automobiles the
/ additional cost OF making the -cSe one
/ is relatively almost negligible. But
when the farmer has plowed and har-
rowed and seeded and weeded his frst
| hundred acres the additional cost Of
/ blowing and seeding the next acre Is
practically the same as the cost Of any
OF the other acres.
That fundamental distinction Is what
makes it possible for other industries
| to have an exportable surplus success
! fully-and impossible for the farmer.
After an automobile manufacturer has
built his factory and set up his ma
chinery ana laid out his model and pat
/ terms and made his first 100000 ma
chimes, thereafter he can make sddi-
/ tional machines at cost so low that
Me price he gets abroad for his "ex-
portable surplus is no loss 70 him.
But with q farmer the case Is quite
different His thousandth bushel Of
wheat involves an additional cost to
him practically as great as the cost Of
his first bushel or any other bushel
Whenever the farmer raises more than
he can sell at home his "exportable sur
plus" represents so great an additional
/
at all he must sell it at loss
/ This distinction. that manufacturers
I can practice mass production and that
farmers cannot. is fundamental Grasp
that, and much OF the farm relief prob
lem becomes clear.
Seek Factory Methods.
/ One group of farm "reliefers" seeing
/ this distinction and admitting 1t. think
/ there Is a way out. They think the
I way Is to have mass production on the
farms. They say farming should imi-
/ tate big business. should be done in big
units. They would have farms of 1.0O0,-
900 acres each. with factory methods
/ with all the attributes of mass produc-
I ton. But every farmer knows that YOU
can't have the attributes of mass pro-
/ duction on the farm. Every farmer
knows that the condition which makes
mass production on farms impossible
/ will operate on a millionaire farm as
much as on a hundred-acre one. Mass
/ production is not big production mere
~ Mass production" is the recog-
nized name for a method. That meth
Cd Is possible in manufacturing; in
farming the method is impossible. Biz
/ farms might mean-thoush this Is not
certain-a slight reduction In the cost
of raising each bushel of wheat But
1 the reduction would be negligible COM
J pared to the reduction that mass pro-
duction effects in manufacturing The
farm BELIEVERS who propose mass pro-
auction on farms are not themselves
farmers.
li0n-acre farms run under factory con-
i ditions. That would mean that the in
dividual farmer. now independent,
would become a hired man.
May Aid Prosperity.
The farm relief plan now pending in
the Lower House of Congress can and
may make the individual farmer more
prosperous But 1t cannot make agri-,
culture growing. expanding industry
IN the sense that steel and automobiles
are growing industries. II cannot en-
able agriculture to have an exportable
surplus and sell 1t to advantage.
/ Under every plan of farm relief now
generally discussed. American agricul-
ture will ultimately-and soon-be re-
stricted to the home American market
What Is said here applies to ordinary
crops; there are exceptions. recognized
by everybody. in which the conditions
are fundamentally different. such as
cotton.)
AS the caterer to the American mar
ket and given monopoly of the Amer
lean market by the tariff-under these
1 conditions the American farmer, as an
individual, can do very we'll But agri-
culture as an industry cannot become
a growing. expanding industry. in the
( sense that steel and automobiles are
growing industries. Only those indus
tries can grow which export. which
have the whole world as their poten-
tial market.
This fact. that the farm relief now
contemplated will not make agriculture
/ a growing industry, is disagreeable to
/ many farm spokesman in Congress.
! They do not like to admit it, But the
/ fact is that the present major pro-
gram of farm relief looks to having as
many. and no more. farmers in Amer
| lea as will feed our own population.
America. in snort, is on the way toward
becoming a great manufacturing nation.
great exporter of manufactured goods,
with only so much agriculture as WILL
so to speak, do the gardening for our
own people.
Means Revolutionary Step.
But suppose some one insists on def
milton OBJ. that agriculture as a whole
shall be growing industry. Suppose
| the farm leaders say I'VE demand leg
islation that will restore agriculture to
the position it once had we demand
, that America shall again be a great
! agricultural country that the farmers
shall again be so per cent of the. popu-
lation, have so per cent share in the
national life. have so per cent of polit-
| ical power
! If legislation to that effect be de.
manded. how should We go about It?
! The answer is almost like the answer
to a request for the unscramblins of
an omelet. Or 1t Is like trying to turn
! the clock back so years.
! For one step, we should have to aban.
| don our protective tariff on manufac-
! lures. That at this stage, would be
/ pretty revolutionary.
One can state the situation In a few
| sentences:
In America, for over so years. more
and more manufacturing has been
/ done. What Is it that has stimulated
| manufacturing in America? Answer,
the protective tariff. If we want to re-
! verse the process, what step should be
/ taken? Answer. get rid of the protec-
tive tariff on manufactures.
But is the country generally, is the
farmer himself, willing to contemplate
that step? 1t might, after a period of
economic dislocation. cause agriculture
to grow as an industry. But the inter-
vening period. the immediate conse-
quence, would be pretty painful to
everybody. including the farmer.
OLYMPIC Yacht Ban