Evening star., 1938-10-30

(This Is the sirth OF series of Sum
ddy Star articles discussing political,
economic and social conditions in differ
ent parts OF the country. The author
OF this article, Mr.. Collins, is associate
editor OF the Kansas City Sunday Star
Magazine. The seuenth and concluding
article OF the series, merit Sunday, 1riu
be iritten from Detroit)
KANSAS CITY.-As the congressional
elections approach. political observers are
touring the Middle West with one ques-
tion uppermost in the minds
rs there a real farm revolt?"
The elections may tell the story, but to
this observer Of the Middle Western farm
scene, no farm revolt is discernbe There
Is farm dissatisfaction, it is true. There
also is city dissatisfaction. A trend to-
ward conservatism is apparent, which will
be in favor of the Republicans; yet Presi-
dent Roosevelt still is personally popular
with the rank and file.
As the majority of farmers now talk,
they would be opposed to discarding the
Agricultural Adjustment Act with nothing
to take its place. Those farmers most dis
satisfied with the A. A. A. hope simpler,
more workable farm program can be de-
vised.
In viewing the Middle Western scene,
several interesting contradictions are noted.
Size Determines Critics.
The big businessman is the most vo-
ciferous critic OF the Roosevelt policies.
but It's the little farmer who condemns the
Roosevelt A. A. A. most bitterly. The
big business man complains of high
taxation, labor troubles and Government
restrictions; the small farm operator that
his acreage is not sufficient for him to
benefit greatly from the Government farm
program.
Contrawise, the big farm operator, with
large acreages to readjust and perhaps a
better understanding of the purposes of
the A. A. A. program, is generally Secretary
Wallace's best booster; the little business
man mostly feels he is better off than in
1882
The Republicans in Kansas hope the
A. A. A. will be the cause of the defeat of
Democratic Senator George McGill this
November; in Republican Iowa, the A. A. A.
is being used by the Democrats in an effort
to return Senator Gillette to the Upper
House.
Agricultural production was never in
history on such an efficient basis, but the
farmer fears the power machinery which
has cut his labor so radically may in the
end be the eventual ruin Of his industry
Turning to the national scene and the
A. A. A. neutrality-suspicious. topic Of con-
versation in the Middle West these days
contradictions, or perhaps paradoxes, still
exist.
Fails to Buy Stability
The A. A. A. has paid the farmer ap-
proximately 3 billion dollars in the last
I've years as an aid to adjusting production
more nearly to demand. yet supplies of the
two staple cash crops, cotton and wheat,
threaten to become the largest in history.
Spokesmen for the A. A. A. still condemn
the Hoover Farm Board "fiasco" for buying
farm products to hold up prices, but the
A. A. A. itself, through the medium of COM
modify loans now controls million bales
OF cotton, 80 million pounds of butter, 47
millions Of bushels of corn and will enter
the winter controlling many millions of
bushels Of wheat
Due to an improved physical situation
on the farms, farmers are feeling better,
but their protests at low prices may result
IN attempts to enact additional farm
relief" panaceas in the coming Congress,
such as price fixing or a form of the do
nestle allotment plan, which some students
fear may in the end do more harm than
good.
rising stock market-most holders of
stock In the Middle West carry them as
Investments rather than speculations-
been cheering to businessmen in the small
towns. Travel has broadened. the resorts
In the area have been doing the best busi-
ness In years. Yet practically the only
new construction or expansion occurring
Is that being done through Government
financing. such as w. P. A. projects and
r. r. c. loans.
Any report on conditions in the Middle
West must inevitably revolve around agri-
culture, since it is the leading industry of
the region, with oil following in second
place in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas,
Oil Founders in Doldrums
Both oil production and agriculture are
suffering from excessive supplies. Kansas,
for instance, with $500 producing oil wells,
has potential production Of more than
three million barrels of oil day, vet Is
selling only about 155,OOO barrels daily.
The annual expenditure in the State for
oil leases and royalties runs about 20
million dollars so that the doldrums into
which the industry has floundered has
great economic Importance to the State.
Principal cash crop of Missouri Kansas,
Oklahoma and Texas is wheat The cur
rent crop was very Disappointing not only
from yield standpoint, but in quality. It
sold from the farm for from 80 to so cents
bushel, depending on quality.
Yet, in the aggregate, there is too much
wheat, not only in this country, but the
world over. Secretary Wallace told gath
ering Of 1900 winter wheat growers at
Hutchinson, Kans., recently that the United
States wheat carry-over next July threat
ened to be 300 million bushels, about half
years domestic requirement. Competing
wl1eat-growing countries. he said, would
have two bushels to sell in international
trade for every bushel of which there was
IN available market.
So he asked the wheat growers to CO.