The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1936-08-14
BY REV. r. CARLETON
MOORE, MONTANA

Production limitation, enhances
unemployment. School boy econ
mics, it is true, but it took the
scarcity producers a long time to
tumble. A governmental Santa
Claus cant pay United States
farmers $2,OOO,OOO,OOO to keep
100000 acres of land out of pro-
duction without throwing millions
out into a jobless world.
1t is a much bigger equation
than dispensing with a few thous-
and farm laborers. That only
touches the outside fringes of the
unemployment, brot on by limited
productivity. It's reaches are al
most infinity. For every bale of
cotton the southern farmer is paid,
not to produce, a truck1man is
cheated out Of the job of hauling
it to market; railroads, with all
their employees are deprived of
the job of transporting that un-
produced bale of cotton to the
factory; the factory clientele are
minus job of processing it; the
jobber, wholesaler and retailer are
not given the job of selling it; and
somebody that needs it, can't have
1T. Every hog, that the govern
ment paid the farmer, not to raise.
defrauded people out of Job,
from the hired man who wasn't
needed to feed the hog, thru pro-
cessors, wholesalers, retailers, all
down the line and, worst of all,
deprives prospective consumers
from bacon, ham and roast pork.
Millions of little pigs, and sows
about to litter cannot be prema-
turely slaughtered without Great
ing unemployment as well as meat
scarcity. All limitation of needed
supplies contributes directly to I'M
employment. Who can estimate
the amount of farm machinery,
or the raw material that enters
into its creation, or the machinery
used in processing, that was not
created or sold because the govern
ment took 100000 acres of land
out of production? How MANY
men were kept in idleness at
governmental expense, by the non
creation of that machinery?
The irony of all this lies in the
fact that at the same time the
government was paying the farm
ers a cash subsidy of $2,OOO,OOO,-
700 to withhold all this land from
producing crops, it was at the
same time spending other millions
on vast irrigation projects to in
crease land productivity. Beauti-
fully consistent, isn't it? The tax
payer gets it In the neck both 90
ing and coming. We pay taxes to
support non-productivitv and then
we are taxed some more to sup
port productivity.
1t is also exceedingly interest
ing to know that the tax money
by which we hired our farmers
not to produce, and thereby in
creased unemployment at home.
was having the very opposite
erect abroad. Our tax money
spent for non-production and non
employment in this country, actu-
ally goes to increase production
and employment in foreign coun-
tries. A little thot will Convince
us Of the truth of this statement
Prices of all farm commodities
nave risen by reason of artificial
and drought scarcity. Because our
farm produce is the dearest in the
world, on account of real and sub
sldlzed scarcity, we find that we
cannot sell them on foreign mar
kets. The foreigner refuses to
guy our high priced food. Like
the rest of us, he is irving to buv
as cheaply as possible, and when
the triple A cut down production
and lifted price levels, he polite
ly waved farewell to ON. hiUh