The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-11-03

tive agency supervising the opera
ton OF the plan. II there was toe
much wheat, as now, and the price
was too low, as it certainly has been
most of the recent time, the federal
board would ask all the farmers ia
cut their acreage perhaps S or 10 pei
cent. In that way control of produc-
ton would be secured and through
contrU. of production the price could
and would be forced up. BY the
adoption Of such a measure the price
may be put up to enough to restore
to the farmers pre-war exchange
value for the commodity in question
Since prices of farm products have
been from eight to SO per cent below
the pre-war exchange value ever
since 1921, this would mean tremen-
dous increase in the income of farm
ers. To what would these benefits
amount? Direct returns to producers
of say four commodities, wheat, hogs,
cotton and tobacco, would be some
$500, 900 900 annually in tariff bene-
fits. Indirectly much more would be
secured through maintainence Of
prices by control of production.
The farmer would be free to mar
ket his wheat. etc., as he sees fit. He
would get his allotment anyway if
he does not violate his contract as
to amount of acreage sown. If he
loses his crop he still would get his
allotment, so 1t would be crop insur-
ance. If he wants to use his certi-
ficate to borrow money he can do
that also, as 1t would be made dis
countable by the federal reserve sys-
tenn. If he wants to sell his annual
certificates, he can do that.
Now as applied to say hogs, this
plan would work out in much the
same way, except that in this case
each farmer would be allowed GER
tain number Of pounds of hogs to
market, the basis being the amount
he had sold for slaughter on an aver
age in five years last past.
Then the federal administrative
agency could alter this figure by a
small percentage, whenever it is re-
quired to keep the price stable, which
would most likely be at around g.
per ID. for hogs.
The individual allotments to the
farmer would, in fact. be self made
since it would be based on what the
farmer had actually produced. The
county commission set-up would SIM
ply get the facts and then probably
publish list of allotments in local
newspaper. If any farmer is dis
satisfied with his allotment, he could
appeal to the state commission set
up; but each year reports would be
made to the county commission of
the amount of the commodity pro-
duced by each farmer. So in five
years it would have its own complete
record on which to make allotments,
and it would then become simple
mathematical computation.
Now you may ask. how about the
farmer who would not come in? II
only one-half of the farmers produc-
ing wheat say in Mclean county
for example, should sign applications
for these tariff benefits, that would
double the amount of the allotment
w SoVAIp NA1ANAA WOulO 1lldhC ~ ca
tremely unlikely that any consider
able number of farmers would fail to
participate. A new farmer could
either secure farm which has an
allotment these allotments must
necessarily be to the farm and not
the farmer, because of changes In
ownership or occupancy or he could
buy an allotment, say from some
farmer disseminating or decreasing
his wheat crop. Or he could stay
out of the allotment until he hao
built up production record or
which TO get his desired share.
Under such or a similar device,
believe the tariff could be made ef-
fective and the farmer the benefic.
larry, with brighter future in the
way of stabilizing all agricultural
prices.
J. E. SULLIVAN