Evening star., 1934-07-25

prices have sunk 10 an unparalleled
low. A o0o-pound milk COW, for ex-
ample, which few months ago would
have sold for SIS or $50 brought
So so Saturday, so cents hundred
pounds. Prices range from SO cents
TO tl.25 a hundred pounds for So
called Gamers. the class into which
the starved animals fall
This collapse OF prices exists despite
the Government program, by which
/ 200 900 cattle already have been
purchased and turned into canned
meat for Winter food relief. The Gov
ernment Just now has begun TO buy
In this section II is purchasing
S 900 cattle a day in Missouri during
this week.
The political and economic signifi-
canoe Of the drought, as the experts
here see 1t. Is that 1t is calculated TO
reverse the whole price trend Of the
past Is years. Whereas farm prices
during this period continuously have
Jagged far behind the prices Of man
ufactured commodities. the expecta-
ton Is that they will leap ahead. The
workings Of nature, in q single Sum-
mer, seem likely TO solve problem
that has defled governments the
world over for more than q decade.
Surplus Has Been Problem.
The politicians, through all this
period, have been thinking In terms
Of farm surpluses. How TO dispose Of
the Nations glut OF food has been the
supreme problem. The task Of the
immediate future may be one Of find-
ing ways and means to increase pro-
duction.
For the time Immediately ahead,
also. the drought Is calculated to
make the farmers dependent, even
more than in the past, on Govern
ment aid. When the present crop
season opened the farmers Of this
Southwestern region were fairly on
the road toward working themselves
out of depression. Farm debts largely
had been readjusted and the improve
ment in prices, while not very pro-
nounced, had been sufflcient, when
coupled with the Government boun-
ties, to give the farmers more cash
In hand than for several years.
Now all calculations have been up
set. For the limited number of farm
ers whose lands are producing crops
the future is rosy indeed. But for
the great majority there seems
nothing ahead but dependence on
Government relief, at least until an
other crop season rolls around.
Paid TO Cut Mythical Surplus.
1t is an anomaly of the situation
that all the help which the Govern
ment is giving still is in the name
of crop reduction. In the case even
of the starving cattle the raisers are
being paid to reduce their herds, and
the same is true Of $500, ,000, 900 Of
corn and hog benefits which will be
poured out from washington in the
next few months. Despite the fact
that he has virtually no corn, the
farmer will be paid for the reduc-
ton OF mythical surplus.
With q depleted wheat crop, which
has reduced the carryover into next
year to an estimated 10000, 900
bushels, less than the calculated mar
gin for safety Of the food supply, Sec
retary of Agriculture Wallace has an
nounced another Is per cent wheat
acreage reduction for next year.
The obvious fact of the situation
Is that the whole system of bounties,
as 1t is created by law, is founded
on the principle of reduced produc-
ton. With things as they are the
Government cannot very well stop its
payments to the farmers, and crop
reduction offers the only present legal
way of making them. Hence the busi-
ness of reducing the surplus must go
on, even though there proves to be
no surplus.
tCopyright 1884, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc)