Evening star., 1933-10-22
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.

A new cleavage between the country
and the city. in this era OF economic
planning, appears here to be widening
almost daily.
In the cities, under the stimulus OF
the national recovery act with lts pro-
vision for restricted competition, prices
are forging steadily higher. BY the emo
of September they had brought the cost
Of living 8 per cent above last March.
with the trend still upward.
In the country. where the Agricultural
Adjustment Administrators program
Of supply and demand adjustment Is
Just getting we'll under way. farm in
comes either have stopped rising or. as
in the case of grain and cattle. they
have fallen severely Of late. The farmer
confronted with higher living costs.
finds himself relatively about as bad on
as he was year ago
This pinch is resulting in blast OF
protest from the country that is heard
with increasing concern In higher quar-
tiers of the Government. 1t is reflected
In the following events Of the past week:
Increased reports Of farmers on q
buying strike or avoiding stores that
display the Blue Eagle. because OF re-
sentiment against higher city prices.
An embargo on wheat shipments or
dered by the Governor Of North Dakota.
owing to low wheat prices. Gov. William
LANCER referred to the farmer as the
forgotten man of the N. r. A."
Cries of anguish from storekeepers in
country towns who have had their costs
increased by the wage and hour require
ments of the blanket code. but whose
business has scarcely increased because
of the continued low farmer income.
Further opposition of the Agricultural
Adjustment Administration to the
"lnark-up" or "price-fixing" section Of
the code Of fair competition for retail
stores. Any move that might prove a
sanction to a horizontal increase in city
prices is frowned upon by farmer in
terests.
New efforts to bring about a farm
strike impress more forcibly upon the
cities the troubles of farmers.
To meet these developments the Farm
Adjustment Administration and the
President have under consideration q
number Of moves. They include:
Speeding Of purchases of foodstuffs
by the Government for distribution to
the poor An initial purchase Of L.
900 900 bushels of wheat on Tuesday
served to turn the grain market upward
after a series Of violent price breaks.
Possible release of small-town store
keepers from the wage and hour require
ments Of the Blue Eagle.
Pressure to hurry up processing tax
bonus payments to wheat farmers. and
later to corn and hog growers, 80 that
they can have ready cash not subject to
attachment by creditors. Cotton bene-
fit payments are reported to have helped
business in the South.
An extension of the policy Of loaning
against crops, similar to the plan ap-
piled to cotton. Loans are being made
or are about to be made on that COM
modify at 10 cents q pound. virtually
setting that as the minimum price.
Possible price pegging on some grains
and live stock, II stimulants fail to
work
The nub Of the farm trouble Is dis
closed in a report now being issued
weekly by the Bureau Of Agricultural
Economies. This report includes index
numbers showing the relationship be-
tween city prices and farm prices com
pared with the period from 1909 to
1914. 1t is that period which Congress
picked when it wrote into the law that
III
. parity with city prices.
The latest report. covering the week
ended october 1, showed that the
farmer. receiving october 4 prices for
the things he sad to sell, could buy only
81 per cent as much as he could buy
during the five-year period from 1909
to 1914. A year ago he could buy Sc
per cent as much. so that the improve
ment in his relative position as pur-
chaser Of city goods was slight.
But the N. r. A. and the forces 1t
released had put city prices Sharply
higher. The purchasing power report
of the Bureau of Agricultural Economies
showed that prices paid by farmers LOT
things they bought increased from .
level In March that was just the same
as in the pre-war period to . level II
per cent above it ON October I. Farm
ers received for the things that they
had to sell only II per cent as much -
thev received before the World War.
Congress has imposed upon the Agri-
cultural Adjustment Administration the
task Of bringing about . balance BE-
tween city and farm prices. To achieve
that balance as of October 4, farm prices
would have to increase 46 per cent,
while city prices remained stationary.
Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wal
ace told the farmers during the Summer
that farm prices normally would lag
about two months behind city purchas-
ing power He indicated that when city
workers received more money In wages,
they would buy more food and farmers
would earn more. That was said at .
time when Department OF Agriculture
ofnciGlS were scarcely conceallng . hck
Of sympathy with some Of the methods