Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1941-05-15
Leaders Call For
Many Reforms In
Defense Program
Emergency Farm Confer
ence in Chicago Adopts
Vigorous Outline.

vigorous Oulllucs
eliminating two-day session more
than 200 farm leaders attending the
National Defense Emergency Farm
Conference called by the National
Cooperative Milk Producers Fedora
ton in Chicago May 2 and 3, unani-
mously adopted vigorous program
calling for many reforms in govern
mental procedure in reference to the
defense operations of the Federal
government These leaders speaking
for more than one million farm fami-
lies also suggest the calling of a
second national conference of SINH
lar character to be held in Washing
ton in the near future and to repre-
sent a much broader base of farm
life.
After outlining the plight Of farm
ers, particularly producers of milk
and its products, poultry and its
products, corn and hogs-commodities
which the government is suggesting
to the farmers to increase material
ly-they suggested a 10-point pro-
gram ranging all the way from abo-
lition of strikes in war industries to
the cleaning out of persons in the De-
partment of Agriculture known to
be antagonistic to farmers
Farm Income Drops.
Following is the full text of the
statement of policy and plan as
adopted by the meeting in its clos
ing session.:
Between the ending of one world
war and the beginning of a second,
the lot of the American farmer has
grown harder. In % years, the per
capita income of non-farm people
has risen 20 per cent while that of
farm people has fallen 40 per cent.
The rate of industrial wages has
nearly doubled while farm prices
have been cut in half. The working
hours of industrial employees have
declined at least a fifth while those
on farms must work as long and as
hard as ever. In that period, COM
puted on an hourly basis, the buy
ing power of the average industrial
worker has risen 1873 per cent but
the purchasing power of the farm
er has fallen nearly one-third.
"For a dairy farmer to keep pace
with the rapidly advancing standards
of the city factory worker, the whole
sale price of butter today would have
to be over So cents per pound. To
be on a parity with the average fac
tory wage rate per hour, the whole
sale price of butter would exceed so
cents per pound. To keep pace with
the movement of wholesale prices
of all non-farm products, the price
of butter would have to be 40 cents
per pound. Even to attain the lowest
standards of so-called official parity,
the price would have to be over 81
cents per pound This simple COM
parison merely illustrates how the
times are pressing hard upon the
producer of farm products. Without
relief, this burden may easily be-
come heavier than he can bear.
Out of Balance.
"When the present world war be-
gan, the time was out of joint for
agriculture The scales were tipped
downward for the farmer, and the
rapidly changing conditions have left
our people far behind. The supply
of farm labor is scarcer than at any
time since 1920. The farms are be-
ing continuously drained of young
men into industrial plants and into
the army. Farm wage rates are
soaring, and in some communities it
is almost impossible to procure farm
labor. And yet, under such con-
ditionS, the government is asking the
producers of milk and its products,
poultry and its products, corn and
hogs to increase production.
"Never has there been a time
when the farmers of this nation failed
to respond to their utmost ability
when called upon in time of war
Never has there been time when
these same farmers did not suffer
more than other classes of society
Even now, Stralnlng themselves to
the utmost, they cannot but be
shocked by the dislocation of the
industrial plant caused by strikes
and lock-outs with the contending
parties apparently needless of the
national interest. In the first four
months of this year, more than 13
million man days have been lost
from industrial production. In this
period, a greater number of man
hours was lost than in any COM
parative period in the history of the
nation.
Strikes Costly.
"Our people also note with con-
Germ the fact that the average in
dustrial worker is now working 10
hours less per week than he did in
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