Milford chronicle., 1956-05-18
THE FANTASTIC FARM MESS


"The Fantastic Farm Mess" is the eye
catching title of an article by John Strohm
in the April issue of The Readers Digest.
Mr.. StrOhm, who is a writer of long expert
ence on agricultural subjects and a past
president of the American Agricultural Edi-
tors Association, describes the present stu
alton in these words: "In costly but futile
attempt to support farm prices near the lev
els guaranteed to farmers during World War
III, the u. S. Government has succeeded only
in amassing an eighteen-billion-dOlar hoard
of food and fiber which can't be eaten, used,
sold or given away. And as surpluses have
skyrocketed farm prices have tobogganed
It's grim example of what Government
can do to you while trying to do something
for you"
The farmers aren't to blame, in Mr.
Strohm's view-they were led into the mess
by government policies and they should have
help getting out. A basic trouble is that so
many false ideas about the farm program
are now widely accepted as gospel. Mr..
Strohm deals in very direct and unequivo-
cal fashion with some of these ideas-and
here, in substance, is what he has to say.
One is that price supports rescued farm
ers from the depression. That's false-farm
prices didn't start moving up until 1910,
when the impact of war and Initiation set in.
Another is that a simple farm law can
solve the problem. False again-for diff
erent kinds of farmers, in different places,
all have different problems Says Mr.
Strohm: Trying to write a farm law to
solve the farm problem is as silly as treat
ing all the sick with one health serum"
Still another lis that High fixed farm
prices mean high income. Also false-for
the reason that volume of sales is deter
mining income factor as well as prices. Mr..
Strohm observes: ''You don't put more mon
ey in a farmers pocket by boosting his price
per bushel if you also cut his acreage. And
any price-support program to be effective
must include acreage controls
Also, it is reasoned that government can
restrict production by restricting acreage.
The factual record over the years refutes
that The reason: Farmers are not dunn
mics. They take their poorest land out of
production, fertilize heavily on the remand
er, aim to grow more on less"
Mr.. StrOhm discusses many of the things
that are wrong with farm legislation-in-
Guiding the fact that it is geared to the past.
For example, our eating habits as nation
have changed We eat far less starchy foods
and far more meat and dairy products,
among other things, than we used to- Our
per capita wheat consumption has dropped
drastically-but the support laws encourage
maximum wheat production.
Finally, Mr.. Strohm has praise for Pres
ident Eisenhower's program, which includes
vigorous efforts to increase overseas sale of
duce for consumption instead of storage; the
soil bank; more research designed to develop
both new crops and new uses for old crops,
and fewer controls, with government cooper
ating, not debating. "This," Mr. Strohm
says, sis sound program for the farmer,
and fair one for the taxpayer. But it will
take craftsmanship of the highest order to
resist the temptation to try to unrave the
farm problem on the basis of political ex-
pediency"
BIG RETURN FOR THE MONEY
Our leading military men-including for
mer General of the Army Eisenhower-have
said again and again that the American mer-
chant marine is vital to the national defense.
And the cost to the nation of maintaining
that merchant marine is amazingly small in
the light of other defense spending.
For instance, in the fiscal year 1855 total
defense appropriations amounted to S35.5
billions. Maritime appropriations (includ-
ing the cost of operating and construction
subsidies along with all over Maritime Ad-
minstration costs) came to trife less than
$3.50 million-about one-half of one per cent
of the total defense budget.
We get an enormous return for the mari
time money. There are, to take just one
example, SO critical industrial metals and
minerals The United States is self-suffi-
cient in only nine. All or part of the remain
ing % must come from abroad, by ship. We
import two-ffths of our copper and nearly
third of our lead and zinc. We are almost
totally dependent upon foreign sources for
our tin, nickel and platinum.
This of course, is but part OF the mer
chant marine story. A substantial part of
our agricultural and industrial production
goes abroad-also by ship. Those exports
are responsible for great number Of good
jobs in the u. S., and for large sums of mon
ey received by farmers. The U. S. merchant
marine serves us well in peace and in war.