The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1938-04-07
PROSPERITY YET FREEDOM IS NEEDED FOR
. AMERICAN FARMERS!

PROSPERITY YET FREEDOM IS NEEDED FOR
. AMERICAN FARMERS!
The question as to whether or not hurley to-
bacco growers want to control production by
the establishment of marketing quotas will be
determined in democratic manner Saturday
when referendum is held.
There is no way of getting around the fact
that supply and demand control prices. When
the supply for certain commodity exceeds the
demand prices are low and when the demand
is greater than the supply, the prices are high.
This law of economics is just as accurate and as
certain as is the law of gravity.
check on the production and income rec
ords of the hurley tobacco farmers for the past
two years reveals that for the 1867 season
total of 218,673D00 pounds of the air cured
weeds were raised, while in 1898 402, 900
were produced In other words over 170,000,O00
more pounds were raised last season than
there were in 1937and yet last year the farmers
only received about 100000 more than they
did in 1861 The figures out of Washington
were $83OOO,OOO for 1867 and $S4,0OO0oO for
1878.
Obviously lot more work was done to pro-
duce all of those additional pounds and the pay
was considerably less One year the crop aver
aged about 38 cents per pound and about %
cents the next.
Of course there were no doubt other factors
that contributed to this greatly reduced price,
but over production was the biggest factor of
all. With an allotment of 350000,000 pounds
on the 1888 crop, officials think that an average
of 80 cents will be paid next fall.
Every farmer is interested in making a rea-
sonable profit on his investment and efforts and
we are anxious for all farmers to control pro-
duction on sensible basis
We regret however, that the farmers do not
have organizations, operated and controlled by
Themselves for the control of production. We
dislike the idea of investing all of this authori-
ty in the hands of federal employees in Wash
ington who are subject to political dictation
twenty -four hours every day.
But it's too late to do anything about that now,
especially in so far as this years crop is con-
cerned. For years and years the farmers of
the south failed to organize and when they were
faced with starvation the federal government
stepped in and took hold of the reins. The gov
eminent so far has done commendable job of
restoring farm commodity prices to decent lev
els, but we hope that the farmers of the south
and nation, after having great lesson taught
by the great experimental teacher President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, will find adequate lead
ership among their own ranks, organize them
selves along pattern lines already drawn and
declare a declaration of independence from crop
control and benefit payments program of the
federal government.
This present agricultural law sounds too
much much like Stain and Communism to us,
although it's frame work proceeds along demo-
cratic lines of balloting on the part of the
farmers.
Surely American farmers who represent the
very heart of liberty and individual freedom
can develop sufficient leadership to work out
their own salvation so that they will not con-
tinue to be objects of charity for the govern
ment This business of taking money in the
form of taxes from the general public to pay
farmers not to raise crops, or in other words to
do what they should be doing for themselves is
bad reflection on the intelligence and leadership
of the farmers
May the farmers of the nation soon wake up
to their own responsibilities in this ever-in-
creasing complex age Of production, marketing
and distribution. For them we want prosperity
and at the same time, FREEDOM.