Milford chronicle., 1948-09-10

PATTERSON mat loan is equiv
alent to a purchase
by the government.
1T Is FROM THESE farm
produced commodities that the
feed for meat animals and pOul-
try is obtained. They repre-
sent steaks, chops, rOasts,
stews, eggs, milk and bread.
AS long as a higher than normal
price is maintained for wheat
and corn the prices of food prod
ucts produced from them re-
main high. That is but one of
the causes over which the local
market man has no control.
RAILROAD EMPLOYEES who
operate the trains that haul the cat.
tle' the hogs and sheep from the
farms to the packing houses and
then haul the meat from the pack
ing houses to the distributing CEN
ters are being paid much higher
than normal wages and these extra
wages become d part of the high
price Of meat. That is a second
cause.
THE GOVERNMENT PERMITS
the coal miners union to collect a
tax of 20 cents on each ton of coal
the railroads use in transporting
the live animals and the meat. That
Is, and must be, passed along to
the consumer. That 20 cents a ton
tax on coal becomes a part Of the
price Of meat.
FARMERS, PACKERS. wholesale
and retail distributors, and the rail-
roads must pay local, state and
federal taxes of approximately 30
cents out of each dollar they re-
ceive. That 30 cents becomes a part
Of the price paid for the food that
originates on the farm. It must be
paid by the consumer if the farm
ers, the packers, the railroads. the
wholesale and retail distributors
are to continue to operate. It repre-
sents a considerable portion of the
price we pay.
IF GOVERNMENT is TO fix q
price for the meat we buy it can
not start and stop with fixing a
price the local merchant NAV
charge. Such a law merely would
put that local merchant out of busi-
ness and stop the distribution of
meat. Laws, if they are to be eff
fectlve, must start with the funda.
mentals. They must fix, not a floor.
but a ceiling on the price Of wheat
and corn. To do that the farmer
must be relieved Of the high prices
Of the things he must buy. includ-
ing the cost Of farm labor. farm
machinery and many other things.
He cannot continue to operate. TO
produce wheat and corn, on a high
outgo and a low income. When he
stops producing, the rest Of us stop
eating at any price.
IN OUR EFFORTS to favor a
number Of minority groups we
have involved our economic
system in such a snarl that not
one, but many, laws will be
needed to untangIe the snarl and
put us back on a normal fOun-
datiOn. Only a small part Of
that snarl is indicated in this
piece concerning the price Of
meat. So many ramifcatiOns are
involved that few Of us could
understand an explanation IL one
should be offered. Like the
wrathy housewife, we want the
snarl untangIed rather than an
explanation of how il got that
way.
IT REPRESENTS an intricate
economic problem. It will take care. |
fully considered laws and manv
months of time to provide a solu-
ton. Neither the President nor con-
gress has evidenced a real know
how" to achieve the desired re-
suit. What they are proposing seems
to but add new knots in the snarl.
THE DAMAGE WAS DONE when
those who first dealt with Russia
failed to read the small type be.
fore signing the contract. They read
the big type preamble and it sound
ed all right. The jokers. the pro,i-
billions, were in that three or four
point type that could not be read
without a microscope. We Judged
the content Of that contract on the
basis Of what was said, not on what
was written. Now we are paying
for not reading. Now Russia tells
us that we must dispose Of the dog
and the children or move.