Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-31
BY JOHN sNURE.

BY JOHN SNURE.
A GAIN the wheels Of Government
~ are starting over tine rough road
IA toward farm relief. The fourth
4 4 Congress and the third admins
tration are setting out to deal
with the troubles of agriculture and to
find q remedy for ills that have racked
the brains of Americas ablest econo-
mists.
The House and Senate committees on
agriculture have begun hearings on a
farm relief bill. On April Is Congress
will meet In extraordinary session for
the purpose primarily OF passing farm
relief legislation and revising the tariff.
an extra session to deal with these SUBJ
jects is sufficient indication that an
emergency exists and that there Is
widespread demand for prompt action.
Aid This Year Sought.
Back of this demand is the fact that
II legislation is to apply to this. years
crops it cannot be long delayed, and the
further fact that II farm relief Is de-
layed another year the already unfavor-
able conditions in many agricultural
sections will be still further aggravated.
to the injury not only Of agriculture but
of general business and industry.
What is coming out of the present
movement for farm relief legislation?
This question Is giving concern not
only to the millions of farmers Of the
United States but to manufacturers,
bankers, business men and the public
generally. Leaders in the industrial and
financial world are quite as keenly in
terested in the agricultural problems as
are the farm leaders.
For about eight years Congress and
the executive agencies have been wrest-
ling with farm relief. and in that time
there has been, il nothing else, dis
tinct change in viewpoint. Education
has progressed on the subject, even II
there has been no legislative or admin
istrative relief. The time has passed
when 1t was necessary to argue that
there was farm problem. The exis7
tence of the problem, or a series Of
farm problems, is admitted.
Relief Supported by Industry.
It is also fully realized now by Con-
gress, by Government officials and by
the public that unhealthy or unfavol-
able conditions in agriculture are sure
to be reflected sooner or later in gen.
eral business and industrial conditions.
So today among the most earnest advo-
Gates of farm legislation are the lead
ers of business and industry whose mar
kets are suffering from the reduced pur-
chasing power Of the agricultural sec
lions.
President Hoover during the recent
campaign referred to the farmers
plight as that most urgent economic
problem in our Nation today" He de-
clared that 1t must be solved if there
was to be assurance of complete sta
bility of prosperity to all of our peo-
ple." Mr.. Hoover has declared also that
the farm problem is not only economic
but social.
1.-The whole foundation and hope OF
our Nation" to use the language of the
PreSi Ant sis the maintained individu-
alism of our people. Farming is, and
must continue to be, an individualistic
business of small units and independent
ownership. The farmer is the out
standing example of the economically
free individual He Is one Of our solid
materials of national character. No
solution that makes for consolidation
into large farms and mechanical pro-
duction can fit into our national hopes
and ideals"
In this country there are about $780,
900 farmers and farm population esti-
mated at 27,511 900. The farm relief
problem is to insure reasonable return
to these millions of farmers. or indi-
vidual business units; to make them
measurably prosperous, or, at least, to
make a much larger number OF them
prosperous than is the case at present.
Farm Population Declines.
In view of all the testimony it is not
necessary to dwell on the fact that
much of the agricultural population of
the United States today is not pros
porous. Not only is much Of American
agriculture depressed, but there Is
actual distress.
The drift of rural population to the
cities and towns Is one of the most re-
markable movements of the times. The
social and economic effects OF this
migration are certain to be profound.
The most reliable figures show there
has been net loss of farm population
since 1920 Of about 100000. The
actual migration from the farms to the
cities and towns has been much greater.
but it has been Offset by the movement
back to the farms and the excess OF
births over deaths among farm people.
Among results of this exodus from the
farms are rapid growth of the cities:
flooding of the cities with unsk1lled
workers; unemployment and social
changes which are difficult to gauge.
Reports Of House and Senate COM
mittees utterances of farm leaders,
members of Congress and high officials,
Federal and State, and such reports as
that of the Business Mems Commits
sion on Agriculture and that OF the
Land Grant Colleges and Universities
are in general agreement as to the
gravity OF, the problem.
The Business Mems Commission
called 1t "a question Of fundamental
national concern and of permanent
importance to the American people" 1t
declared that agriculture affected
with a clear and unquestionable public
interest, and its status Is matter OF
national concern calling for deliberate
and far-sighted national policies, not
only to conserve the natural and
human resources involved in 1t, but to
provide for the national security, pro-
mote q well rounded prosperity, and
secure social and political stability"
The report of the special committee
of the Association of Land Grant Col
leges and Universities, which includes
all the agricultural colleges Of the
country, declared that incomes from
farming since 1920 have not been
sufficient to pay a fair return on the
current value of capital used and q
fair wage for the farmers labor, or to
permit farm people to maintain a
standard of living comparable with
other groups"
Shrinkage In Values.
It emphasized decline In land values,
relatively low agricultural income, COM
pared to other industries, multiplying
farm bankruptcies, increased agricul-
tural Indebtedness and the shrinking
farm population. Between 1920 and
1925 it found Shrinkage in farm values
amounting to $4,000 600. 900, or from
about $4,000, 000,0 900 to $50, 000, 600, 600
While this report, as well as that OF
the Business Mems Commission on
Agriculture, Is about year and a half
old 1t Is aS aDDlicablQ TODAY as 1t was