The Wilmington morning star., 1947-04-17
SUPPORT OF FARM
PRICES ON 1API
BY MARQUIS CHuns

nonsense has been writteo oe3l
the role Of government !" a1rs
ing farm prices. Indignan.S oppoa
men are crying out in 5orss sats
the spectacle OF governm ,os[o'
port for food prices at ~ Ss
time when the President a'e w
manufacturers to mari 1Eso,
their price tags. ooN
In working themselves
a tizzy' these indignant peo y lit
ignore most of the facts ( soIoe
these facts were pointed 'olas
Secretary of Agriculture W.
P. Anderson in an interview Il e.N
and most important of all NY
fact that, without the Is d
price program adopted by S0p y
gress. we might not TODAY ~
the bumper crops which m.a as''
possible to feed ourselves ,a4s
high levels and also 10 shin Nh
to hungry Europe. w
The United States and Co.,.
are both producing about IN 1Lsti
cent more food than was orod! M,
before the war. But they srs
only two countries in The o.
that have topped pre-war IS "v;s
After World War l. there v yn'A
disastrous collapse of farm r n~,. /
which had a ruinous effect NJ r,.'
riculture, particularly In the W.
die West. N''
Iii working up their case .
indignant gentlemen conveoio.%G '
ignore the fact that the nrio'
only one commodity is now bs' v
supported. About $50, 900. 900 !, ~.
ing spent to support the prico ",
potatoes as a result of the boYr4.
GUS 1916 crop. Potatoes ara
small fraction of the cost Of I'ri.
about 4 per cent Of the avprs-
consumers food bill.
The price of every other cor
nudity is above the level At u,h,at
support is required under the W.,
time law. That law requires INV
eminent support when the pPis.
drops below 80 per cent Of nariS
Hogs are at 159 per cent of psriy
butter fat at 100, corn at IN
wheat at 121, chickens at lN2 Nh,
reason they are high is that M,
pie have had money in their NM,
cts to pay the price even WIZ,
as with bacon and ham, It W,
very high.
On March Is, the price Of su
was So per cent of parity. Thu
price is being sustained in n,
present season, when hens 4,
laying, by purchase of eggs to h .
sent to Great Britain in dehydu -,
ed form.
Why, then, the ordinary SCI.
BILE individual will ask, could No.
potatoes also be sent to hung7
people in Europe? Why are nil
lions of bushels being destroyet
Already %, 900, 900 bushels have
been dumped at a cost Of sst
500, 900.
The obvious answer is that Do
tatoes are nine : tenths water,
which makes the cost of shipping
in relation to food value, eAcss
sive. Because it takes so many
potatoes to make a pound Of De.
hydrated potatoes, the latter cost
IL cents as compared to wheat
which costs 6 cents a pound.
There would be a scant solution
if we had not rushed headlong 10
abandon all controls in the tmms.
diate aftermath of the war, when
many countries were still close 70
starvation and chaos. We could
have rationed wheat and bread.
thereby compelling consomeTs TO
eat more potatoes. In this way We
would have conserved wheat for
export to areas where it is des
perately needed, and at the same
time we would have consumed the
excess potato crop.
But the same indignant gentle
men were the ones who cried out
against rationing and other war
time controls. These were con
trary to free Enterprise, they said
These same gentlemen talked
about letting farm prices fall II
their natural levels. When they
say that, they are forgetting a To-
of recent history. They are for
getting what happened on tht
farms in the depression Of 1881
and after.
In 1881 and '32, farmers in the
Middle West wer in revolt. They
forcibly stopped sheriffs' foreclo
sure sales. They talked freely O.
using violence. They poured mill
into the streets rather than TAKE
depression prices for 1t.
In Washington the poWeF1u
farm lobby was at work, Farm
spokesman argued that industrla
prices were protected by all sort
Of agreements and that only farm
prices we're left to fall or rise II
the whims Of the market. They
demanded equality of treatneh
and they got the AAA.
The wartime support price pro
gram is due to end Dec. 81, 1870
But anyone who thinks that farn
prices will be permitted after ina
date to rise and fall in a free
market is bound to be badly mis-
taken. Neither the democrats MOI
the republicans are likely to az
vocate abandoning farm eontrol'
after next year. The America
farmer would have an equal righ
to demand that all tariffs and pro
<tive devices for industry OF
abandoned at the same time.
Copyright, lS47. by United Fea