Milford chronicle., 1942-12-18
NEW U. S. FARM
POLICY is NEED,
WYSOR DECLARES

Declaring that the greatest dam
ger of losing the war lies on the
farm front, w. G. Wysor, general
manager of Southern States Co
operative, told the delegates at the
organizations annual meeting in
Richmond, Va. last month that
the food and fiber production we
must have to meet minimum needs
cannot be maintained unless there
is drastic change in national pol
ICY"
In presenting the organization s
financial report, Comptroller o. E.
Zacharias, Jr., Richmond, announ-
ced that for the past fiscal year the
cooperative paid back a refund ex-
| ceeding a million dollars from it's
net earnings to its more than 128,-
600 farmer-members in Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, and West
Virginia.
Food Shortage Inevitable
With the rapid departure of farm
workers to the armed forces and
higher paying jobs, an acute short
age of vital foods of the nation in
1943 is inevitable. Of the twelve
million workers on farms before
the war, two millions have already
left, and the exodus is continuing
at the rate of million a year. Many
OF these workers are going to in
dustrial jobs that pay two, three,
and even four times that of farm
ing jobs, and require only half as
many hours. Farmers cannot COM
pete with such industrial wage and
hour scales.
Because of this situation, Mr..
Wysor predicted a sharp decline
in the production of food and fiber
unless farmers can obtain prices
for their produce which will per-
nit them to pay higher wages. What
is vital, he said, lis not the price
of farm products but the produc-
tion of food for the armed forces
and the civilian population"
Charts Service For Agriculture
He suggested the following as
ways in which agriculture can
contribute its utmost to winning the
war:
Il. Insist upon a stoppage of
hiring of farm workers by war in
dustries. The farm requires skilled
and experienced labor. Men can be
trained for most industrial jobs in
far less time than it takes to train
a farm worker.
"2. Stop drafting for military
service and voluntary enlistment of
trained and irreplaceable farm
workers.
"3. Support national policy of
job freezing and national compul-
sorry service to whatever extent is
to maintain essential
until the war crisis is
past. Such a policy is admittedly
in principle, but we
must give up our freedom tempor-
arily if we are to keep it perma-
nently.
a. Continue working for prices
on farm products which will re-
turn the cost of production, recog-
nizing the simple fact farmers can
not long produce the food the ma
ton must have, unless they can
recover their cost.
IS. Do everything possible, in
cluding exercise of the ballot, to
eliminate the 40 hour week which
IS the root of our manpower short
age for military service, on the
'arm and in industry.
sc. Produce to the limit of
AVAILABLE labor, land, and materials
hose farm products for which the
government is asking for higher
output. Cut down on production of
'eeds not needed; for example,
wheat"
To Congress, As Pattern
On motion of G.. F. McClintic of
Williamsburg, w. Va, president of
he board of directors of Southern
States Ronceverte Cooperative and
llso West Virginia state health
the delegates passed
resolution unanimously endorsing
Ir. Wysor's speech and asking that
he directors have copies of it sent
o President Roosevelt, Secretary
# Agriculture Wickard, Leon Hen
erson, and to each member of the
congress, with the request that
the legislative farm policy for the
United States be framed and adopt ;
d along the lines here outlined"