Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1933-11-30
(From The Pathfinder, Wash
ingtOn. D. CT

fTcSlucHI SiSVeIdHu OHCc TcIldThSu
that gratitude is lively sense of
benefits expected" The United States
is the richest country ever known to
history. We have such super
abundance of everything that we all
ought to be imbued with most heart
felt gratitude-not for benefits Eek
pected" but for benefits actually real
lied. Nobody would have to go hun
CRY or cold if the wealth which is
produced by all were divided up on
some just basis. The good things of
earth should not be just dangled be-
fore our eyes to whet our appetites
and make our mouths water-we
should be able to enjoy them.
President Roosevelt, when he set
the New Deal in motion, had this
noble ideal as his aim. The for
gotten man. was no longer to be
neglected but was to have his share.
The most forgotten" man of all of
course was the farmer. When Pres
ident Roosevelt assumed office the
dollar, as measured by the things
which the farmer buys, was exactly
100 cents, on the pre-war parity basis.
And where was the farmers dollar
the dollar with which he was paid
for the things he produced? 1t was
exactly SO cents. These are the Of
fetal government figures; they are
not figures invented by the Path
finder. The Pathfinder has received
many letters from business concerns
and others asking where we get such
figures, as they have never been
stressed before. We get them from
the Department of Agriculture at
Washington. We have no monopoly
on them. Anybody can get them for
the asking.
Using the Figures.
But of course you have to know
how to handle figures when you get
them. There are many different ways
of stating them, and the different
ways do not always check up. For
example General Hugh S. Johnson,
in his address at Des Moines, Iowa,
on November s, stated that the ma
tional average of farm prices shows
an increase of 81 per cent since the
low point last spring. The Depart
ment of Agriculture, on the same
date, released bulletin which stated:
-'In general, farm prices at the end
of October had a purchasing power
about % per cent greater than they
had last March, when it was only
half as much as in the pre-war years.
The general level of farm prices adj
vanced from so per cent of pre-war
parity last March to 81 per cent as
of October 25.'
How does the Department of Agri-
culture figure a % per cent increase
for the farmer since last March when
its own figures say that the farmers
dollar was worth so cents in March
and 81 cents on October %? Well,
an increase of II cents is about %
per cent-if you take the farmers so
cent dollar as basis, isn't it?
The Big Gap.
General Johnson correctly stated
that general commodity prices had
risen only II per cent since March.
But the general commodity dollar last
March was already worth 100 cents.
Since that time it had gone up II
cents-which is II per cent on 100
cents In other words the farmers
dollar was worth 81 cents when these
figures were compiled, while the
general dollar was SLIT. Hence the
gap" between the farm dollar and
the general dollar was Sc cents. This
is six cents more than it was at the
low point last March, and is 16 cents
more than it was when we prepared
the special table which we published
in the Pathfinder of September 30. In
between what the farmer gets and
what he pays out must be closed
and we showed why this was So In,
stead of being closed it appears, from
the government figures, to have been
widened.
1t looks now as if the general dol
lar is likely to be stabilized at about
the point mentioned by General John.
son, namely Sill. The government
figures for the last month or so show
this level is being maintained with
only very slight variation. In plain
English the general dollar has jumped
II cents since March-which means
that all prices have advanced on an
average II per cent. Some things
have advanced much more, some
things less-and few have gone
backward. These facts are also in
cluded in the government figures
which the people pay for and are en-
titled to have.
Monetary Policy and Livestock.
The Agricultural Department says
on this subject: prices of wheat.
cotton, tobacco, wool and dairy pro-
ducts (Which are mainly fixed by the
world markets) are now higher than
they were last March because of the
depreciation of the American dollar
in foreign exchange, speculative &C
tivity, reduced supplies and higher
level of industrial activity and con-
sumer purchasing power. The prices
of other important farm products,
particularly livestock and livestock
products, which depend so largely on
domestic demand, have not shared the
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