The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1937-09-09
A NEW POTATO PLAN

One Of the troubles about govern
ment aid to industry is that the prac-
tice grows of it's own necessity and
there is continuous demand that the
aid be widened to include new indus
tries. At first we talked only about
helping the corn, wheat and cotton
farmer and the livestock grower.
Staggering sums were, expended by
the federal government to destroy an
imals and curtail acreage as well as to
guarantee prices. An effort was made
to take the cost off of the consumers
but the attempt was not entirely sue
cessful although the experimenters
did increase the cost of living.
Later efforts were made by the gov
eminent to help the butter and egg
producers by purchasing the surplus
commodities on the market and only
a few weeks ago the Department of
Agriculture announced that canned to-
matoes were being purchased by Uncle
Sam along the Atlantic coast in an eff
fort to keep the price to the tomato
growers up to nine dollars ton. Last
year the government guaranteed a
price for cotton growers of ten cents
a pound. This year it is to be nine
cents a pound.
Other industries seemed determined
to get in while going was good. An
attempt was made year or so ago to
regiment the potato crop but the pub
lie cutlery and the action of the Su-
preme Court in invalidating the AAA
caused this plan to run on to a derail.
Some of the so-called potato kings,
however, are not discouraged. Repre-
sentatives of Northeastern potato far
mers met in New York recently and
went on record, according to press dis
patches, as favoring federal grants
for potato growers. They ask for
money from the federal trasury and
promise to curtail their acreage to an
amount fixed by the federal govern
ment. They say that cotton and tobac-
co growers have been helped and think
they are entitled to a compensation
of three cents pound for potatoes
raised on regimented acres.
At the meeting it was stated there
promises to be bumper yield of pota-
toes this year and the prices may be
ruinously low. Something about a
bumper yield has been said for toma-
toes and other crops. Evidently in the
new school of finance the way for a
farmer to become poverty stricken is
to raise good crops, and the way for
him to get rich is to raise less and
have the government pay him for so
doing.
Unfortunately raising the price ar
tifcially lessons the demand, SO that
the dearer they become the fewer po-
tatoes the consumers buy. And aside
from the doubtful ethics of having the
government regiment the potato crop,
unfortunately the restriction Of acre
age and the promise of higher guar
anteed price will only induce more
folks to raise potatoes of their own
and increase the attractiveness of
"bootlegging." The stimulation of pro-
duction will not be in the United
States alone. They raise lots of pota-
toes in Canada and we are now fiirt-
ing with Canada on trade agreements
that will give US more and more Cana
dian exports as the time goes on.
What is true of potatoes is true of
other crops. We are already by our
short-sighted policies, stimulating the
raising of cotton, corn and wheat
abroad. Sometime this increased for
eign production is coming over to
plague US and we will have nobody to
blame but ourselves. Unfortunately
we can't restrict acreage abroad. By
cutting our own and assuring higher
prices we are only encouraging the
alien farmers to grow more. And the
gain of these alien agriculturalists
will be the loss of our farmers, ou1
cnnSl1mprS and orr taynaUe7.S