Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-09
Economics and the Farmer.

secretary 1yQe OF the department OF
Agriculture has called the attention of
the American farmer again to the fact
that he is not and cannot be superior
to economic laws. The sooner the Amer
lean farmer becomes convinced of that
fact, the sooner he will come to the
conclusion that production should have
some relation to demand. And when the
farmer has reached that conclusion and
acted upon it, the price breaking sur
pluses" of which Mr.. Hyde complains
| will be reduced materially, with bene-
fit to the farmer.
MIR. Hyde, addressing the American
Institute of Cooperation, meeting in
Manhattan, Kans, expressed lis entire
sympathy with the aspirations of the
American farmer for an American
standard of living. He declared such
standard of living was entirely pos
sible, but that the answer to the prob
lem depended upon the farmer him
self, whose production plans must start
| with consideration CT the economic de-
mards of the market" If that plan is
pursued, the Secretary insisted, it would
be possible so to organize agriculture as
to make the goal of economic oppor-
tunity possible to the farmers.
The heads Of the Department of
Agriculture and the Federal Farm Board
have been striving for long time to
make the farmers understand that If
they produce great SURPRISES of their
crops, SURPRISES beyond the demand
within the United States itself, they
must be sold in the world market, in
competition with the cotton of India
and the wheat of Russia, for example,
where standards of living are low. With
a huge agricultural acreage in this
country, with brains and ability and
modern farm machinery, the American
farmers are in position to push the
production of crops far beyond the de-
mandS of the market. The same is true
of the American manufacturer OF goods.
The manufacturer, however, is more
keenly alive to the economics of the
situation than the farmer. But, sooner
or later, the American farmer may be
expected to grasp the real meaning of
the situation and govern himself ac-
cordingly. When he does, there will
be less talk of equalization fees" the
"debenture" and whatnot, devices to
bolster prices to the farmer but which
would merely result in overproduction
and more overproduction.
Secretary Hyde made it clear that he
port business Of this country in agri-
cultural products, business which has
had and continues to have large pro-
portions, but that he is seeking to
bring about an intelligent participation
of American farmers in that business.
Obviously it is foolish to pile millions
of bushels of wheat on other millions
of bushels in overproduction when the
world is faced with tremendous sur
plus of wheat today, much of it COM
ing from Russia, Argentina and other
countries where it is more cheaply pro-
duced than in the United States, and
expect American farmers to benefit.
Mr. Hyde mentioned some tariff fig
ures during his address which may
give the American tariff critics some
thing to think about when they are
demanding reductions, particularly on
agricultural products, in the rates
charged by this country. He called at
tention to the wheat duties maintained
by Germany, France and several other
nations. He said that the German
duty on wheat has been increased six
times since 1880 and is now $162
bushel, and in France the duty on
wheat has reached IS cents a bushel.
In the United States wheat duty is AZ
cents. 1t seems obvious that Germany
and France do not intend to have their
own farmers Of wheat swamped by the
cheaper wheats from outside.