Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1955-05-13
FARMERS ARE DOING WELL

FRIDA1, MAJ Is, 1900
FARMERS ARE DOING WELL
1.-THE nations farmers, despite muol
Capitol Hill lament about weakening farm
prices, appear to be doing fine,' reports tn
Wall Street Journal in news roundup. Il
adds that "spot checks in rural communities
<around the country find farm folks in many
instances spending more freely than a year
ago." Most farmers, it seems, talk more
about recent drought troubles than about the
easing in prices, which are off an average
of some five per cent from the comparable
periods Of 1854.
The newspaper then describes what has
been happening in and to agriculture. It's
a story of a peaceful revolution and of
amazing progress.
First of all, the farmers economic gains
can be truly described as spectacular. Due
to greatly increased output with. greatly de-
creased manpower, per-capita cash income
from marketings has increased nearly six
fold in Is years, as against threefold jump
in non-farm per-capita personal income. Sec
ondly-and this will come as a surprise to
most nOn-farmers and perhaps to many far
;ners as wel-the best money returns have
not been from the crops which are bols-
tered by government price support, such as
wheat and cotton They have come, instead
from CATTLE hogs and chickens, which are
not supported and are sold in the free mar
ket.
The output-manpower relationship is the
big thing. Between 1910 and 1910 there was
little change in the farm population-it held
to a 10000, O00-plus level. "Then," says the
Wall Street Journal "came the machines
Between 1910 and 1854 the number of trucks
and tractors on u. S. farms increased three
fold. Milking machines increased fourfold,
grain combines fivefold,. mechanical corn
pickers skiold. And, after holding steady
for 80 years, farm population suddenly
slumped nearly third-to about 21,000,-
OO0" In that same brief space OF time, ag-
ricultural output. scared by more than 80 per
cent, smashing all past records to smither-
Gems. There was great deal more money,
and lot fewer people to share it. In 1910
farm per-capita income was $272-last year
it was about 81 1867.
AS the paper also points out, Farm in
come is not scattered evenly around the
land The top IL farm states have more
money income than the other So combined
California is now first in marketings, close
ly followed by Iowa. Illinois, Texas, Mime
sofa and Indiana come next, in that order,
and the other middle states, with New York,
are among the leaders. On the other hand
group of Southeastern states starting with
Louisiana and running across through South
Carolina, but excluding Florida, had the
poorest showing. Their incomes in 1854 were
down as much as 81 per cent from 1868.
big cut-back in cotton planting and severe
drought were the reasons for this. Even So
the paper quotes an Atlanta observer as say
ing Southeast farmers fare not singing the
blues" and that "there is no reason to be-
lieve that they are not making their normal
average purchases at the retail counters
throughout the area"
To sum up, the farm picture in general
is not as black as some paint it, even though
prices are down from the peak. And by
comparison with the conditions off15 years
or more ago, farmers are doing extraordi-
narily we'll
WHAT FREE MARKETS TELL
The Daily Times-Mail of Bedford, Indi-
ana, recently said: Markets, under free
enterprise, tell much more than what will
ing buyer will pay willing seller and thus
mechanism tell what should be sown and
harvested The paper could have added that
markets also tell what should be manufac-
tured
We consumers are the bosses of the
markets-we give the orders We do it ev-
cry day-when we buy can of BEANS or an
automobile, or suit of clothes, or some
kitchen ware or anything else sold at retail
Our preferences and demands are the ar
biters the retailer follows in buying his stock
in trade. And they are followed reigiously
at the producer end, on the farm and in the
factory.
All this, of course, has its roots in the
free competitive system. The merchant must
stock what we want-if he doesn't another
store will take his trade away and the sheriff
viii eventually move in. Farmer and indus
fe~&
too will lose their outlets. And, at the same
time, competition works ceaselessly to hold
prices down, keep qualities up, and to inn
prove the standards of service all along the
line. Retailing is perfect example of this
process.