The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-09-07


Sioux City. Ia, Sept. THE con
sentative farmer OF the northwestern
corn belt-where the soil is both rict
and heavily mortgaged-is beginning
for the first time, to think about the
danger Of going hungry. That ex.
plains the surprising farmers strike.
This Is the opinion Of Wallace Short
OF Sioux City. Short has been closet,
in touch with the strike from its be.
ginning-indeed, he helped pave the
way for 1t by decade of preaching
the farmers needs for unity-and hi
probably knows as much about the
problems Of the farmer as any mar
in northwestern Iowa.
THE conservative farmer" Short
says, Is beginning for the first time
to think about hunger. These farm.
ers know that 60 per cent Of them
may be dispossessed Of their farms al
any day. That puts them face tt
face with the danger Of actual hun
ger"
Short was mayor Of Sioux City fol
six years. He has been a member o1
the state legislature for an equal pc.
Rod. and still is member. He i
publisher OF q weekly newspaper
'UnioniSt and Public Farmer"
Right now Short is interested ir
demonstrating that the farmers
strike Is not radical movement al
all, but an affair that has enlisted
the support of the most conservative
members of the farming community.
Il was talking only yesterday with
the leaders Of this group" he says
They told me this: We want to be
SO completely right that no right
minded group can condemn us. We
don't want any irresponsible fellows
who are just looking for excitement
to Join u.s. So far they have lived
up to that aim very well.
Another conservative farmer told
me this: I have never seen any
thing like this in all my life. These
farmers are making their appeal from
what is legal to what is right. They
may have forgotten what Is legal, but
they do know what Is right and they
mean to get it,
Look at some of the things that
are happening around here and you
will understand how the corn belt
farmers feel.
There was q case here just the
other day in which q farm landlord
forced sale of his renters crop II
order to pay a claim on last years
rent. Get that-last years rent, not
this years.
"A day or so ago met q man who
had just sold five 200-pound hogs
After expenses incident to the sale
and transportation Of the animals had
been met, he got check for about
$40. That man Is deeply In debt. II
he had sold those five hogs at the
time that he incurred his debts, his
price would have been around SIS in
stead OF what he actually got. Can
you see what he's up against In trying
to pay off his debt?
Il know another man whose mort
gage was foreclosed just recently. His
entire years crop wouldn't even pay
the interest on his Indebtedness"
Short believes that the legislature
eventually will have to recognize the
Iowa farmers plight and enact legis-
lation to meet 1t. Such legislation,
he believes, should include q provi-
sion for moratorium on debts until
the dollar regainS the value 1t had
before the depression: sharp re-
duction Of interest rates on all agri-
cultural loans; q very drastic reduc-
ton in taxes and some provision for
getting foreclosed loans back into the
hands Of the bona fide property own
erS.
The revealing Characterization OF
the movement, perhaps, comes from
Henry A. Wallace Of Dies Moines, edi-
tor of "Wallace's Homestead" famous
corn belt magazine, and son Of the
late Secretary Of Agriculture Henry
G. Wallace. who served In Harding's
cabinet.
There is q certain amount Of the
same sort Of dynamite In this affair
that there was in the Boston tea
party" Wallace told me.
They're trying to see II the tenn
per Of the people has reached the ex-
plosive point. I don't think 1t has,
myself. But you never know.
Its one Of those things that's q
gesture-a trial balloon to see just
what the psychological situation Of
the farmer really Is. It Is econom-
ically unsound, but psychology ideally It
may be very sound indeed.
They talked the whole thing over
ct meeting here in July. At that
time I told them that it would be
weak gesture. In the first place. they
won't be able to get enough farmers
in on it to affect prices very much.
and in the second place. even II they
did they'd just be holding an UNI
brella over the heads OF farmers who
aren't cooperating with them. And
then, Of course, when they finally
started selling they'd inevitably put
the prices down just as far as they
had previously put them up"
But Wallace admitted that there Is
no way Of telling just how far this
strike" may 60.
Even the union officials say it Is
hard to tell just how far the move
uent will 60.
"This strike may 60 over and 1t
may not" one union representative
explains. "But ono thing is certain:
II this one fails there1l, be another
one a little bit later, and 1t will be
absolutely certain to succeed. These
farmers out here have just about
reached the end of their string.
"Of course. we're being called rad
icals. Business men In the cities are
telling us, Think Of the wives and
children Of the jobless men in the
cities-do you want to starve themr
OF course we don't. But there's an
other side to It:
THE other day. in . county seat
in the middle of Iowa, the sheriff got
up on the courthouse steps and sold
5000 acres Of fine farm land for taxes
and on mortgage foreclosures. What's
going to happen to the wives and
children Of the men who used to farm
tf10ae 5000 acres? Why. unless the