The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1929-12-27

Their attention, as your cores
pondent well knows, was called to
It at the time Purnel made the
speech, but in order TO settle that
phase of the matter beyond argu-
ment, let some of the readers of
The Producers News send them
this present issue with a demand
that they expose" the farce now
being staged in Washington. Will
they do it?
Fact number two: The admins
tration is about to take the credit
for carrying on a hard fight fo1
agriculture. What is the program
and policy which Big Business and
its spokesman, the Hoover admin
istration, has laid out for agricul-
ture. This basic question is worth
emphasizing, for it is under the
policy of Big Business that agri-
culture has been brought to its
present levels. Whatever claims
the politicians may make for them
selves so far as farm relief is con-
cerned, no hope can be entertained
by the realistic farmer unless he
can see a basic chance in the poll
cy for the farm masses.
This policy has in no wise beer
changed. 1t has in fact been in
tensified. If the farming masses
viii begin to cast their thought in
some such critical form as this
they will soon see the issue very
clearly.
Colony of Big Business.
Big Business has booked upon
the farming sections as an agricul.
tural colony ever since the Civil
War but particularly since the be-
ginning of this century. This has
meant, a. that agriculture shall
provide a source of cheap raw ma.
terials and food stuffs for indus.
try in the cities so that the manu-
featuring interests might improve
their advantage in the fight with
foreign competitors for world mar.
kets (2) that the worsening condi.
tions on the farms shall provide 2
steady flow of surplus labor from
the country into the factories OF
the city. In this connection, the
manufacturing interests were will.
ing to shut off the immigration
of radical" European labor which
it began to fear after the WorlC
War, in the certainty that it would
De well provided with a sufficient
army from the farms, workers be.
liveG to be more disciplined and de.
pendable, (3) More recently, anC
most important of all, the policy o.
Big Business has been to curtaf
agricultural production to the lin,
I its Of the home market as If he.
came clear that an expanding az.
rlculture in the FOREIGN market
would force restriction of the ex.
port of industrial goods.
1t is third third aspect of the
agricultural policy of Big Bushes:
which the farming masses should
strive 30 understand.
The United States emerged from
the World War as a creditor na.
ton Previously she had been z
debtor. The history of debtor ma.
uons-and the United. States was
the best example of the process
shows that all debtor nations de
veloplng from agricultural to in.
dustrial states, paid off their OBJ
hgauons by means of huge exports
OF agricultural commodities IN
payment for Industrial loans made
to them by nations such as Eng.
land and Germany which deveIo1-
cd ahead of them to the stage of
creditor powers. By the time Eng.
land and Germany became indus.
trialized they were already imnort-
ers OF farm products. Germany i'm
ported about 1919 of its food pro-
ducts and England about 35% AT
the outbreak of the World War
Granary of Western Europe
FOR three or four decades the
United States in this pre-war ner-
nod continued to be the granarv
and foods source of western Fur
ope. Her so-called Favorable
balance Of trade was approximate
iy a half Billion dollars annually
consisting largely of agricultural
exports. AT the same time she was
developing her manufacturing in
dustrles to such an extent that now
fully 1000 of Americas export
trade consists of manufactured and
semi manufactured goods. AS a
creditor nation, holding enormous
obligations from is other nations.
the United States must soon be
prepared to receive payment OF
both interest and principal from
Its lendings abroad. These nav
ments can come only in the form
OF goods as International trade in
the final basis must be not
money, paper, but actual materi-
al commodities.
Naturally the Big Business in
terests are not willing to accent
manufactured goods from abroad
IN competition with their own
goods. Moreover, If they are tn
continue the expansion of their
markets for manufactured products
they must provide a return market
IN the United States for the nro-
ducts Of foreign countries. This
means that the export Of farm nm
ducts abroad must be checked as
much as possible and the Dossibili-
" OF receiving agricultural nro-
ducts from abroad must he ev-
banded as much as possible r
Americas foreign trade is mt IN
be thrOttled.
Soon after the War farmers viii
recall, the Big Business Interests
began to proclaim the need ~
"curtailing farm production . Or
CARNATIONS such as the Natio1ai
Industrial Conference Board +bs
.. S. Chamber Of Commerce arS
others, whose only interest nrev;-