The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1929-05-03
By o. M. SUCKER
Member of the Board Oh directors,
North Dakota DIVISION

Member of the Board of Directors,
North Dakota Division
Written in answer to an editorial car
ried in this paper under date of April
10Th. under the head, Farm Prosperi-
ty Ahead"
al prosperitv ahead, and perhaps it
NAV he. but | do not believe It's ap-
pearance in the near future Is sub
stantiated by many OF the arguments
that are being introduced nor 90 l
believe it will appear with any degree
of stability, until agriculture obtains
a position that will enable it to con-
troll it's products and dispose Of them
at price equal to the cost of produc-
ton plus a reaso enable margin of pro-
fit. Many people contend that this
can never be done, and if it can not,
then nv heart bleeds for the unborn
sons and daughters of other genera
tions who will have to till the soil.
1 want to comment on a few re-
marks from the article in question,
fully realizing that all who wish to
reason otherwise have perfect right
to do so. | have only selected few
lines, for if l could find space, I could
write a volume from the entire ar
ticle. In part he said;
, cit was number of years be-
fore farming become profitable
AGAIN and farm lands commenc-
ed to rise in value"
May l ask the question, when was
farming (as a whole) ever profitable,
: with reference to series OF years ?
! To the average farmer, Though Sc
ries of years, farming has always Detn
a losing game. This statement is sub
I stantiated by the following illustra-
S ton, which is true of all agricultural
d communities from the Atlantic to the
Pacific coasts.
> A young man, possibly accompanied
{ by wife, answers the inviting call Of
t the waving prairies and leaves thu
e congested districts of the east to hey
q his fortune in the west. He settles
on a half section of land in its rich
y est state of fertility, erects a struc
= ture to break away the winters chill
$ ing blasts, and in the spring begin
n to plant the seed and till the soil. H
3 follows this system until at the en-
> of a series of years, he finds his pei
u sonal credit exhausted, his money a.
gone. and the financier from the east
10 realizing that the homesteader no7
20 has title to his homestead through re
linquishment or otherwise, and tha
nc by reason of settlement and improve
ment there is some value attached t
ly the land, invites the homesteader I
n take loan on his land with which
liquidate his personal obligation
This he does, and perhaps may hay
OF small amount of the loan left wit
er which to purchase a cow, horse,
m wagon, or many other things he neeC
:, on his farm. In a series of years, l
" finds himself in exactly the same CO..
'e' dition, and nothing with which to
quidate.
ice At this time the financier real;z
NO that more improvements nave be,
added to the country, more settle
IN hav ecome in, and while he realiZ
to there has been loss to the produce
s. he also realizes there has oeen an j
,at crease in the value of the soil, al
therefore says to the producer, if v.
will renew your mortgage, / will
crease your loan. And so 1t has gu
on from one series of years to u
+o,, other, with land values increasing ju
a trifle faster than the producer
VII losses, until now he has reached tn
period, or series of years, when t
land values will not increase, a
ion finds agricult ure practically bankrul
~ The agricultural producer can rJt
ne crease his loans further, and foreclC
no ure is the result.
We have drifted through this sN
rst tenn of borrowing to liquidate wi
80 until today, we find the agricultul
= i0' soils in the United States, Wren rec
Che oned from the law of avera ges, mo
wv gagged for more than they can be 81
lew for. For instance, the entire state
mo Iowa, is moTtgaged for 1926 fCr
cry acre of land within its bounds
lines; Minnesota, for $47.50 per &C
ing North Dakota for $3.50 an acre; q
the South Dakota for 1851 for eve
on. man, woman and children within
boundary lines. The state of Wisct
sin, for $4,000 an acre, and many
the older states farther east would
glad to bargain the entire state
the mortgage they have on them.
this we find in the various states
through the Union, where our 70
fathers started out, in many sta
less than half century ago, on Il
in its richest state of fertility, f
from any and all encumbrance. WI