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T L - H D U "
^
:J V'
Copied from
"The Saturday Evening Post"
of April 19 , 1924.
A
FIFTY-YEAR CRISIS
IN
AGRICULTURE
"by
Garet Garrett.
I t i s proposed that we shall have i n this country a successful agriculture
without i t s ancient means - that i s to say , without either slave labor or peas-
antry.
Conscience h a s abolished slave labor. I t i s forever p u t away. As fo r
peasantry, we care
not fo r i t . The
word associates with
Old
World drudgery,
"Shall
th e American
farmer
b e
reduced
to the
condition
of the
European peasant?"
asks t h e pol i t ica l rhetor ic ian . % answer a l l with on e voice "No "
This i s what t h e psychologist calls a reaction. Few stop t o examine what
"peasantry" means. The sound i s wrong. I t makes u s think of Russia or the Ba l -
kans; we pass lightly over France an d Germany, where peasantry, though i t hurts
th e
back, does offer
on e
sweet reward.
The
name
of
that reward
i s
security.
Wars, revolu tions , economic di sa st er s pass; th e peasantry survives, like a tree,
through th e seasons. I t appears that we do not esteem security. Or perhaps we
take i t f o r granted. At any rate, we sa y "NoJ" We point with pride to the
fact that although
th e
y i e l d
p er
acre
i s
much lower
i n
this country than
i n
Europe
t h e
y i e l d
per man is
higher.
To
explain this
we
keep
in our
minds
the
picture o f the American farmer, n ot bending h i s back, not tending a few acres
intensively, b u t s i t t i n g on h i s plow with eyes to s ee h i s prairie domains
stretching to the horizon, commanding mechanical energy. That i s th e American
way.
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u
1.
- 2 -
Nevertheless, agriculture without slave
or
peasantry presents difficulties
which
a re y e t
unsolved.
We
hardly know what they
a r e ,
never having defined
them thoughtfully.
I t has
been possible
f o r a
long time
t o
conceal them. They
could very easily
b e
concealed
a s
long
as new
land
was to be had for the
trouble
of
taking
i t -
virgin land that increased
i n
value from
th e
f irst stroke
of the
ax and was prodigal in giving. And i t could be further concealed a s long a s
th e cost of production continued to f a l l , a s i t d id f o r many years, even where
t h e f irst richness of the so i l had been taken. I t continued t o f a l l for two
reasons - the use of improved implements and the method of special izat ion.
The Rising Costs of Agricultural Production
But now the land i s a l l accounted fo r ; a l l owned. There cannot be any such
improvement upon existing implements a s these represent upon t h e scythe ahd
f l a i l . And specialization already h as been carried t o t h e point of e v i l , Thus
costs are r i s ing . They have ri se n enormously f o r reasons that a r e permanent.
And now concealment begins to be much more troublesome.
Agriculture i n this country was at f i r s t of two ty pe s. There was the plant-
er type, re st in g upon sla ve labo r. The planter crops were such a s rice, tobacco
an d
cotton.
The other was the individual ist ic type - heroi c, romantic, al le go ri ca l.
With a few rude tools, a gun, h i s team an d wagon, a bushel o f seed, a bag of
sal t and a new wi fe , t h e pioneer entered t h e wilderness, l at er t h e surveyor found
him in a log cabin, proprietor of the solitude, surrounded by increa se . Others
came and bought him out; he went on to do it aga in. Then the se others , having
further improved t h e land, sold i t again and followed th e original soil breaker.
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- 3 -
When they overtook him he sold an d went on. So wave after wave.
We can
remember
it who
were
not
there.
The
straining
o f the
wagon gear
through th e l i s ten ing s t i l lne s s o f forest, nameless terrors, th e pungency of
hut
harness,
th e
odors
o f
evening
an d
frying food
on the
river bank,
th e
sweet-
ness of coarse fa re , storm, st ar l ig ht , morning, boundless expect ati on, and news
and rumor even there. Always someone had gone before; news was coming back.
The place o f eminent desire was not Boon's Lick. The perfect valley was just
discovered farther on . Then th e great anxiety whether i n taking what was here
one had not missed what rumor said vt&s there.
Speculation i n Land a Century Ago
"Scarcely," says a contemporary writer - 182 6 - "has a family fixed itself
and enclosed a plantation with th e universal fence - sp l i t ra i ls la id in the
worm trail,
or
what
i s
known
in the
north
by the
name
o f
Virginia fence
-
reared
a suitable number o f l o g buildings, i n short, achieved t h e f i r s t rough improve-
ments that appertain
to th e
most abso lute ne ce ss it y, than
th e
assembled family
about t h e winter fire begin t o talk about th e prevailing theme - some country
that h a s become th e rage a s a point of immigration. They o f f er the ir farm fo r
sale an d move away."
Sell ing out on the third or fourth wave, t o people who bu il t roads a s they
came, who brought hardware, better tools and f locks, and who meant t o stay, gave
those restless homesteaders
t h e
capital they required
to go on
wit h.
Speculation i n land was already t h e national mania.
Flint, writing
h i s
Recollections
i n
1326,said: "During
my
residence
i n
Missouri th e rags f o r speculating i n their lands wa s a t i t s h ighes t . 1 hav©
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of t en
b e ^ n a t
collections where lands were
a t
sale
f o r
taxes
and by
orders
of
t&e
cour t ,
and at
otner time s, whan the re were vo lun tar y sa le s
a t
auction*
The
zeal
to
purchase amounted
to a
frenz y- Land spe cula tors co nst itu ted
a
pa r t i cu -
l e r pa r t y . I t required prodigious efforts to become adroit. The speculators
had a peculiar kind of s lang di al ec t , appropr iate t o thei r profess ion, and when
they walked about, i t was with an a i r o f solemn thoughtfulness, a s though they
were t . ie people an d wisdom would d i e witn them. A very large t ra ct of land was
cried by th e sher i f f f o r sale when I was present , and the only l imits and bounds
given were that i t was thir ty miles north of S t . Louis. A general laugh r a n
through t h e crowd assembled a t the courthouse door. But a purchaser soon appeared.
. . .
Families were constantly arriving, many
of
them polite
and
well- informed,
and
they
e
going
on to
these tracts , which, portrayed
b y t h e
interested surveyor
and speculator , and as ye t only p a r ti a l l y explored, were to be their home.
Never have I seen countenances suffused with more interest or eagerness than i n
c i r c l e s
o t
trus descript ion, where
t h e
comparative beauty
and
advantages
o f d i f -
ferent sect ions
of
trie country,
c r t ^ e
beet s i tes
f o r
location, were
t h e
themes
of
conversation.
No
doub t many
of
tnese speculations were dishonest*
No
subject
i s
more susceptible
of a l l t n e
a r t s
of
cheating, because
in no
point
i s i t so
impossible
t o
disprove advantages, which vary with
t h e
imagination
of him who
contemplates them."
-but, as ne adds , tn ere wjre moments of r e t r i b u t i o n . The speculators a t
that time overstayed trieir market, as one says i n Wail S t r e e t . Land va lu es took
a mighty fall and many o.t them vsre^ ru in ed . The t r ac t of land lying somewhere
tnir ty miles north
o f S t .
Louis
was for a
time perhaps unsalable*
N o t f o r
long.
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Less than
t e n
years later,
in 1835.
a
survey
'm y
made
f o r a
railroad
i n
I l l i -
nois from t h e steamboat landing a t Alton through Brown
1
s Prairie by Carlinville
and Otter Point t o Springfie ld, a distance o f seventy mi les . Merely th e survey.
And
people were seized with
th e
delusion that there would soon
be no
more farm
land on that pr ai ri e, only c i t i e s . Farms i n a state o f rude development a s
farms were immediately laid out in town l o t s . Imaginary town s i t e s were so ld on
Tmbat a re s t i l l t o t h i s day only very good farms. A panic fo ll owe d. Always a s
a thing of course th e panic followed. Yet never d id the value o f land go back t o
where i t was^Fantastic values disappeared; permanent values steadily and amaz-
ingly increased, and t h i s h as never stopped.
Plenty, Famine
an d
Panic
What occurrid on the I l l ino is pra ir ie h as been occurring ever since, not
a s a ra ti on al -procedure but as an expression of the pioneer mentality, with i t s
restless, excitable imagination, i t s love of adventure, i t s ruling phantasy of
wealth
by
luck
an d
discovery,
an d i t s
aversion
t o
slew repetit io us t o i l . Brief-
l y , t h e mentality o f the gold seeker. We know i t . There i s l e s s or more of i t
i n a l l o f u s .
So far from ever having sought to control or rat ional ize th is sp ir i t , the
Government
h a s
encouraged
i t .
There
h a s
never been
but one
national land policy.
That
was and is to
exploit
t h e
land.
in
hy not?
The
land
- i t i s th e
land that
makes u s ri ch There was nothing else to Teegin with.
It was in order t o bring value quickly to th e land that th e Government made
enormous grants
of the
public domain
to the
railroad builders;
and on the
part
of the builders to create an d capture that value was the great inc en t ive . Many
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—6-"
of the early railroads were conceived a s settlement projects on a. magnificent
scale- A rai lro ad might be laid down on the prairie almost as fas t as a team
could walk; and then th e only problem was to ge t people i n fa st enough from the
Old
World.
The
increase
in the
value
of the
land
was
expected
to pay fo r
every-
thing, even
the
fa i lures
and
disappointments,
and
ult imately
i t d i d .
When
it was no
longer necessary
t o
subsidize railroad building with grants
©f
land
the
Government found something else
to do .
There were va st areas
o f
arid land s. Agriculture did not need these lands - not then. I t does n o t need
them
now. Yet th e
impulse
to
exploit them
was
i r r e s i s t i b l e - Enormous sums
e f
money have been spent
to
reclaim them
by
irr igat ion.
But
irrigated land,
a l -
though very productive,
i s
cost ly .
I t may be a
good investment
f o r
such
as
mean
to
practice intensive farming
on
small acreage.
But the
element
of
speculation
i s n o t
present.
The
majority pass
i t
over
and
take instead
the
free, unirrigat-
ed land beyond, where th e hazards a re steep but where something yo u become p o s -
sessed
o f for
nothing
may
make
you
suddenly rich.
Of this 3. notable instance has just occurred . When a. vas t tract of semi-
arid land called the Montana, triangle was opened fo r settlement there was a
frantic rush to seize i t . A motley of adventurers, speculators and people with
neither capital nor experience, whom the blind earth hunger moved, and also
a. great many farmers from Iowa., I l l i n o i s , Missouri a-nd South Dakota, where land
had become dear - they a l l crossed th e beautiful irrigated Milk River Valley,
and established themselves on that d r y , high bench beyond, where land was free
and where nothing had ever grown but bu ff alo gra ss. Over an area half th e size
of
Iowa eighteen thousand habitations, seventy towns
and
vi ll ag es , schoolhouses,
banks and elevators popped out of the ground.
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Anc , note
#
nobody knew whether or not that land would farm. The Government
tx^at threw i t open f o r set t lement d id no t know, th e ra i l roads that brought the
people d i d n o t know, t h e Agricultural College of Montana d i d n o t know; and of
course th e people d id no t know. They would have to f ind o u t . They pl an ted
wheat*
I f t h e
land would grow anything
i t
would grow wheat;
a n d ,
besides, wheat
growing
i s t h e
true American
way of
explo i t ing
th e
v i r g i n s o i l .
I t i s
more
e x -
citing than placer mining,
and
much less laborious.
This semiarid land d i d a t first yield wheat i n a prodigious manner * After
two freak years of plenty it was valued a t f i f t y d o l l a r s an acre-; you could borrow
twenty-five on i t - Af te r tnre e freak, years of bad weather i t f e l l t o te n o r f i f -
teen dol lars
an
ac re , Then
tr ,e
panic* Montana
now is
dealing with
t h e
conse-
quences
,
They wi ll pa ss .
The
Agr icu ltu ral College
i s
teac hing people
how
s a f e -
l y t o grow wheat there, on a d ic ing pr inc ip le , so t h a t i f you ge t one crop i n
three
you
come
o u t
ahead. That land ne^e r again wi ll
go
back
t o
buffalo grass .
I t probably could n o t happen as a matter of b io log i ca l f ac t , f o r i t i s said that
once
th e
na tura l
sod is
broken
th e
grass will
n o t
r e tu rn .
B u t f o r
economic rea*
sons i t i s forbidden t o hapi en . The land was no t and is not needed f o r wheat.
There is a. ruinous su rpl us of wheat* Yet there a r e those towns, t h e e leva tors ,
th e
investment which cannot
b e
permitted
to
pe r i sh .
To
support
i t t h e
people
must
be
kept
on th e
s o i l .
To
t h i s
end
sha l l
be
employed
a l l t h e
resources
of
agricultural knowledge; even, i f necessary, public funds.
Now the po in t . I t i s t h i s ; If by "peasantry" we sh all agree to mean, n o t
uncouth rust ic i ty bu t a manner of taking root i n t h e s o i l f o r special love of i t ,
t h e pa ins tak ing cu l t iva t ion of small holdings with t h e labor o f t h e family and a
high degree of self-containment upon t h e la nd, then American ag ri cu lt ur e i s
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""V br '
largely free
o f i t .
Actually
i t
does exist.
The
cases
a r e
innumerable.
But
i t i s n o t
ch ar ac te ri st ic . What
may be
called
th e
American idea
o f
agriculture
i s
somewhat
a s
follows:
First, that
i t
shall
be a t
leas t
a s
profitable
a s
industry
or
business
f o r
a l l who are
wi l l ing
t o
engagd
i n i t ;
Second, that
i t
shall
not be
more laborious than ind ustr ial l i f e ,
f o r i f
i t i s
people will leave
i t ;
Third,
and for the
same reason, that
i t
shall enjoy
a s f a r a s
poss ible
a l l
t h e benef i ts o f c i t y l i f e and be compensated f o r those i t i s obliged to do with-
out;
Fourth, that
i t
shall
b e
e f f i c i e n t ,
a s
business
i s , a n d
produce primarily
a
money crop.
Our
Unique Idea
of
Agriculture
There i s almost no thought of a country l i f e se l f -su ff ic i ng i n virtue of
satisfactions beyond
t h e
reach
o f
c i t i e s ,
a
rural culture self-regarding
i n i t s
own
environment. When
you
speak
o f i t
people
do not
know what
y o u a r e
talking
about. Farming
i s
understood
to be a
business,
not a way of
l i v i n g
one
might
prefer
to any
other.
This American idea
o f
agriculture, altogether unique
i n t h e
world,
was
never stronger than
a t t h e
present time.
I t
controls
a l l o u r
ways
o f
thinking.
The
power
o f
education
i s
behind
i t . The
Government f i r s t
and
last spends
great sums
o f
money
i n
support
o f i t . ^ e
adopt
i t
unawares. Consider
now how i t
i s t h e
fashion
t o
speak
o f
agriculture. Farming
i s a n
unscientific term,becoming
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obsolete*
We
speak, ins tea d,
o f th e
wheat industry,
o f the
cattle industry,
of the
dairy industry,
o f
overhead, fixed charges,
n e t
income, quantity
p r o -
duction and turnover.
I t
sha l l
"be
said, f i r s t , that
i f in any
country
on
earth th is idea
may be
realized, here
i s
that country)
and,
moreover, that
t h e
extent
t o
which
Ameri-
can
agriculture
h a s
been already urbanized, spe cia liz ed, in du st ri al iz ed , could
not be
imagined anywhere else.
I t h a s
more plumbing, more au to mo bi le s, more
scientific data, more news, more contact with t h e cities, more excitement, more
att ent ion , shorter hours
and
less drudgery than
any
other agriculture
in t h e
world,
now or
ever before. -Great numbers
o f
farmers
keep
the ir fami l ie s
i n
towns. A&ny
go to
Florida
or
Cal i fornia
f o r t h e
winter .
I n
their preoccupation
with
the one
money crop, whatever that
may b e ,
they of te n negl ect
t o
produce
the ir
own
foo d. They inc rea sin gly
buy
their food,
a s
city people
do , and th e
same kinds.
Taking i t t h e country over, 40 per cent o f the food eaten on the farms i s
n o t produced on the farms. I t i s n o t that they sell grain f o r cash and buy
f l o u r or bakers' bread, n o t that they sell hogs f o r cash and buy hams and bacon
and
lard from
th e
Chicago packers
b y t h e
trainload; they
buy
garden vegetables,
pota toes , fr ui ts , canned goods, j e l l i e s , milk, butte r, eggs, cheese
and
poultry.
In
Missouri , Iowa, Minnesota, North .Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska
an d
Kansas
t h e
average farm produces le s s than
60 per
cent
o f
what
i s
eaten there,
and i n
Worth Dakota alone t h e average farm buys more than ha lf that i s eaten o n i t s
own tab le ; and t h i s runs up to 100 per cent, t h e farm i n that case producing
no food a t a l l f o r i t s ow n table - nothing bu,t cash wheat to be hauled away t o
t h e el ev ator . Thus farmyard drudgery i s avoided - no milking, no slopping the
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- l o -
pigs
>
no hoeing, no chores a t a l l , a nd only ninety o r a hundred d ays * work in the
year*
a
e l l , i f such i s t h e American idea and i t tends to be re al iz ed , then what i s
tn e
problem?
I s i t t h a t
progress
i s n o t
rapid enough?
Are we
in p a t i en t
? No *
The problem h a s many as pe ct s. Tot all y i t derives from t h e fact that th is
type of ag r i cu l tu re i s always i n trouble* It ,p as se s from on e c r i s i s to another
and is chron ical ly i n need of being saved* Just now i t i s pro posed, among other
things, that t h e Government shall lend money to those farmers i n t h e Northwest
who have failed to r a i se th e i r own food «- money with which they s h a l l buy milch
cows, jvigs and chickens i n order that they may get in
the
way of feecBng them-
selves « This measure i s obviously false t o
th e
idea , and is jus t i f ied on ly on
th e ground of an emergency* I t i s what might be called a step backward toward
peasantry# Indeed , many of those proposed to be helped regard i t i n that l ight*
They
do no t
want
t o
milk cows
an d
slop pigs-
A l l
they want
i s a
high price
f o r
wheat*
So the
problem
i s
complicated,
And
there
i s
endle ss confusion from
t h e
fac t
that nobody wants t o give u p t h e idea* Nobody wants to admit that i t tends t o
defeat i t s e l f • This i t does in an inevitable manner ̂
The Great Land Boom.
Exploit ing new lands f as te r than they a r e needed h a s th is result , that there
i s always a. po te nt ia l food surplus* I n that case, with agriculture on a money-
crop basis* what i s bound t o happen? A p r o f i t i s k i l l e d i n t h e rush t o se ize i t *
Millions
of
farmers with
an
"uncontrollable impulse increase their production
of
th e
cash crop that happens
to be
pr of i t ab le . Then
t h e
potential surplus becomes
actual and everybody i s l e f t i n t h e lurch.
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Such being
th e
case ,
o r , i f i t i s
true,
a s a l l
professors
of
farm economics
prove by their figures, that agriculture under th e American idea does not pay, then
what keeps i t going? Roughly, the answer i s that what f l oa t s i t and ha s floated i t
a l l these years i s the increase in the value of land.
How
now?
A
r iddle .
I f
there
is no
pro f i t
i n
agriculture
why
does
th e
land
increase i n value? , -
The explanation i s n o t simple. To begin, -Alien the professors o f farm economics,
either t.iose
of the
Government,
o r
tnose
of the
states, demonstrate
by
s t a t i s t i c s
the
absence of prof i t i n agriculture - nay, the actual loss i n i t - they take this year
or la st year alone. Land val ues, i nt er es t, taxes , rent s, a l l a s they a r e , i t i s
true - agriculture does not pa y. The farmer i s lucky to make wages. But i f land
values, interest, taxes
and
rent were still what they were fifteen
or
twenty years
ago there would be a p ro f i t . This means that th e p r o f i t s o f agriculture are t o a
r
very great extent absorbed by the increase in the value of the land; or , to say i t
another
way, the
earning power
of the
land
i s
capitalized
i n
advance, just
as a
Wall Street stock that pays
no
dividend
may
r i s e
in
antic ipation
of one, and
then
stop rising, even decline a. l i t t l e when th e dividend i s decl ared . There is no
gain from buying i t afterward; there i s only a small return on the investment,
and the
risk, "besides., that
th e
dividend will
be
discont inued. That
i s
what
h a p -
pens to land. I n special years, with high prices, i t s earning power runs up; then
i t i s valued accordingly and people excitedly b u y i t . Then pric es f a l l and its
earning power declines; so also i t s value.
There
i s
always
th e
expectation
of
th i s . Land booms come
and
come again.
They are not a t a l l confined to new experimental lands.
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In 191S and 1919, a f ter th e Armi stice , there was the wildest "boom i n Western
f&ro land that has occurred since the raw prairie days* I t represented t h e capi-
t a l zavi on. i n land values of the high wartime prices f o r agricultural produce*
Iowa land values
had
been
f o r a
generation
th e
first example
i n
s t a b i l i t y .
In 1900
i t could be said that they had once doubled i n th ir ty ye af s. Nothing mercurial
there* They doubled again
in t h e
next
t e n
years with
th e
r i se
in the
average price
o f a l l crops; and that had already made them rather dear - so dear that one of the
oldest mortgage-loan companies
i n
Chicago pulled
out of
Icwa
and
went into Texas
lands, Then suddenly between 1910 and 1919 they doubled again# People l o s t th ei r
heads* They dealt
i n
farms
as in
blue-sky mining stocks, selling them, buying
them back, s e l l i n g them a.gain.
A man i n
Lincoln township sold
h i s
farm
at $2)0
an acre* bought i t back a t $270, and sold i t again a t $42^• Those Iowa farmers
who sold out in 1919 at values calculated on the basis of two-dollar wheat and.
twenty-cent hogs,
got the
prof i t
- not
from
the
preceding
t e n
years
but
from
the
neat ten years o f Iowa agriculture.
And there a r e y e t other reasons why the value of land rises faster than the
prof i ts
of
agriculture.
One i s
that innate earth hunger
of
people vtiaich
has the
strength o f in st in ct . Another i s t h e certa inty that people w i ll continue to mul-
t iply until th e bowl i s f u l l and running over*
Anyhow i t i s a fact that in proportion as the American idea of specialized
money cropping i s realized agriculture becomes an extra-hazard0us occupation,
chronically somewhere
i n
trouble-
I t i s a
fa ct , also , that
so
long
as the
land
continues to be exploited, in the characteristic Western manner the only natural
restraint upon overproduction will
be
loss*
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This means that
a s you
have marginal railroads, marginal mines, marginal
factor ies ,
so you
will have marginal farms
and
marginal farmers.
The
marginal
producer
i s one
whose costs
are
hi$2, whose efficiency
is low, and
whose place-
ment:
in the
scheme
i s
perhaps disadvantageous.
In
good times
h e
makes
a
l i t t l e
money,
i n
fair times
h e
e x i s t s ,
i n
worse times
he
loses
or
goes bankrupt.
As applied to agriculture this coldblooded thought i s shocking. We almost
cannot accept i t . As to a. coal mine or a. railroad i t i s a l l right . There econom-
ics may rule . In the s t a t e of I l l i no is there a r e above a hundred marginal coal
mines. When pr ice s are high they open up and add their production to the total ,
thereby li mi ti ng everybody's pro fi ts ; when prices f a l l they shut
up
again.
We
do not care. The spectacle of an idle coal mine does n o t move u s sentimentally.
We
regard
i t ,
indeed, with sat is fa ct io n.
I t
represents insurance against extortion
Yet the spectacle of an idl e farm saddens u s . We react emotionally. I t i s a. hu -
man tragedy. Here someone h as tried to get a living from th e s o i l and fa i led .
Conclusion: There i s something wrong in a. country where on e cannot get a l iv ing
from the so i l .
The Wheat-Raising Machinist
"Here i s a case," says a Montana banker. "A man came to me only th e other
day
saying
he
didn't believe
h e
could stick
i t out. He had not
been able
to
make
a l iv ing f o r h i s family. He was running behind. Another poor year would fi n i s h
him.
Then
h e
would have
to go
back
to h i s job in
Minneapolis, where
he was
making
eight dollars
a day a t h i s
trade.
He was a
machinist.
Now
what
are you
going
ti-
de ? If
something isn't done right away that
man
wi ll have
to
abandon
h i s
farm;
and
there
a r e
hundreds, thousands like
him."
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But now consider what th is case represent s. I t i s one of numerous cases,
fa ir ly typical .
A
machinist
i s a-
product
of
technical training.
He
applies
h i s
s k i l l to s t e e l . The resu l t i s a machine, and machines are in great demand. The
world cannot g e t enough o f them. Only a few nations can produce them. I f we
are thinking to produce 9 surplus of anything f o r sale abroad , then l e t i t b e a
surplus
of
machines,
f o r
they comcrand
a.
high price
- the
price
of
high craft skill
What
ha s
this machinist done?
He ha s
deserted
the
task
o f
machine making
and
gone
to
Montana
t o
ra ise wheat. There
i s
already
to o
much wheat.
I t i s
produced
in
surplus by the least rewarded , the least developed labor in the world - i n Egypt,
i n
India.,
in
Argentina.,
i n
thirty-dig^t different countries , in
a l l o f
which wages
and standards o f l i v i n g are lower than they are here. Mow fancy an American ma-
chinist
, man of h i s
technical s k i l l , worth eigh t,
t e n ,
maybe f i f t e e n do lla rs
a
day, pu tt ing himse lf in to competition with that kind of labor? I n doing so he
adds
h i s
moiety
to the
world's surplus
o f
wheat
and
then complains that
h e
cannot
make a. l i v i n g . He i s rea l ly no t interested in any of t h i s . He was no t a. farmer
to begin with; he i s not a farmer now. What moved him was the thought o f getting
a
farm
f o r
nothing
- a
wheat ranch
i n
Montana that would make
h im
rich.
If you
t e l l him there is a. sure way to get a l i v i n g f o r himself and family on the farm,
that
he
needs
a.
garden, some f ru i t t ree s, milch cows, pig s
and
chickens,
he
will
say: "OhI That isn't what I came cu t here to do . That means work every day in
th e year. I 'd rather go back to n§r trade."
Yet even a banker asks what shall b e done t o keep this man on the land,
thereby thinking, a s most of us do, without reflection, that i f he ha s to abandon
h i s farm i t wil l be a tragedy, and that many such trag ed ie s portend a. social d i s -
aster. Most
o f
that thinking,
o r
f e e l i n g ,
i s
great nonsense. Neve rthe less ,
i t i s
very general and i t s consequences are amazing.
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For
more than f i f t y years
our
po l i t i c a l l i f e
h as
bean tormented
b y t h e e f -
fort
to put
profit into agriculture
— to do i t by
edict
or
economic stratagem
-
notwithstanding
the two
facts already developed
-
namely, that
t h e
cease less
e x -
ploi tat ion
of
land creates
the
potent ia l i ty
of a
ruinous surplus
and
that
the
only natural restraint upon overproduction i s loss*
Panaceas of the Past
In t h e last year of the Civil War wheat was $ 3 o 0
a
bushel, other things i n
proportion* High pr ic es held
f o r
another year, just
as
they
did
through
1919>
and
land values increased
in the
same
way,
everybody going into debt
to buy
more
of i t , as i f the
laws
of
gravity
and
reaction
had
been suspended forever.
In the
next year
th e
collapse began,
and
agricultural commodities declined
f o r
nearly
thirty years.
So did th e
products
o f
industry
i n a
parallel manner,
and for the
same reason
-
namely, excessive
and
uncontrolled production;
b u t i t i s
agricul-
ture we now speak o f .
The
f i r s t
two or
three years
of th e
fall were
th e
worst, because that
was
th e
most violent part
of i t and
because also
i t
caught
th e
farmers heavily
i n
debt
f o r
land
th e
earning power
and
value
of
which
had
been calculated
on war
prices*
In the
decade from
1870 to 1280 the
production
o f
wheat more than doubled.
That would seem
a
fairly obvious reason
f o r i t s
decline
i n
price*
But
that cause
was disregarded; every other reason was imagined - many reasons that d id not exist.
There followed
i n
order
t h e
Grange movement,
th e
Farmers* Alliance,
t h e
Populist
Party and Bryanism, The means whereby i t was proposed to restore a pr o f i t to
agriculture, excessive production notwithstanding, were mainly these:
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- 1 6 -
CoOperative selling;
Cooperative buying;
Low frei^at rates;
Piat money;
Free silver.
Cooperation was tried on a very ext ens ive scale* There was something i n i t
i f i t could be well managed, b u t i t seldom was; and t h e most there was i n i t was
only
the
middleman's profit,
and
that
was not
enough
to
make agriculture profit-
able* Railroad rat es were reduced by
l a w
in the agricultural states and the
principle of state regulation o f railways was established. Nor did that make
agriculture profitable, f t made hardly any di f ference at a l l , except to the r a i l -
roads.
Tb.a
consumer,
n o t t h e
producer, pays
th e
freight
i n
gene ra l. What
the
producer pays is a. geographical pe nalty, governed by h i s distance from t h e point
o f consumption. Fiat money and fr ee s i l ve r were never tri ed . Both proposals were
abandoned , no t that t h e farmers believed i n them l e s s b u t f o r t h e reason that a l l
a t
once agricultural-commodity pr ic es stopped f a l l i n g
and
began
to
r i se .
This happened between
1895 and 19 00 , Why i t
happened need
not be
discussed.
I t wi l l b e enough to say that t h e products o f both agriculture and industry, h a v -
in g fallen together f o r nearly thirty years, stopped falling together and began
rising together. The causes were general over the whole world. The universal
evi l of low pr ic es , which int ern ationa l commissions had been investigating in a
f u t i l e manner, suddenly vanished. Wants enormously in cr ea se d. Demand began t o
catch
up . And i f t h e
products
of
industry advanced faster than
the
products
o f
agriculture
in the
next twenty years, which apparently
was the
case, that
was ow-
ing to the fact that basic industry stopped exploiting i t s resources in the
pioneer spirit and found ways to rationalize production, a s agriculture never d id .
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- 17 -
I t was no ac t of Congress that saved American ag ri cu lt ur e through a l l that
heartbreaking decline i n prices that "began in 1S6S and continued f o r nearly
thirty years. Nor di d low freight rates save i t . N or would fi a t money have
saved i t . I t was saved by i t s own way with necessity.
That which
h as
been called
th e
American idea
o f
agriculture
was not so
strong then;:it had not been developed . What there was of i t was put aside.
Those farmers
who
could paid
o f f
their debts; those
who
couldn't were foreclosed
upon; then they started again
on
de fl at ed land . They grappled wi th
th e
s o i l .
They produced their own food , dressed i t themselves, an d supplied th e v i l lage
demand. They bought nothing they could make
or
produce
f o r
themselves,
or do
without. On t h i s lo ng curve o f falling prices came into being a generation o f
farmers who would sooner want than borrow, who regarded debts with terror, who
thought signing
a
note
was a
step with
th e
s h e r i f f . They never could understand
what they saw on a rising price curve where t h e next generation lived.
Borrowing i n Falling Markets
They were right an d sound in their feeling about debts. On fa l l in g prices
i t i s disastrous t o borrow. I t takes always more and more to pay back, until a t
l a s t
you are
ruined.
I f
when wheat
i s a
dollar
a
bushel
you
borrow
a
thousand
dollars, that represents
a
debt
of a
thousand bushels
o f
wheat.
But i f
wheat
f a l l s t o f i f ty cents th e debt i s doubled. You need two thousand bushels to pay
i t o f f .
Precisely th e opposite i s true i n a time of ri si ng pr ic es . Then i t takes
l e s s And l e s s of your labor and produce to pay back what you borrow. I f when
wheat i s a dollar a bushel you borrow a thousand do ll ar s, that agai n represents*
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- 1 3 -
a thousand bushels o f wheat, But i f wheat rises to two d o l l a r s a bushel the
debt i s halved. You need only f i v e hundred bushel s t o p a y i t off*
Between 1895 and 1900 prices began to r i s e , and they rose f o r more than
twenty years, n o t un in te r rup ted ly , of course, b u t a s t h e t ide r i ses* Old farmers
whose wisdom was that o f t h e fa l l ing pr ice curve saw the young men going into
debt, and prophesied their ruin. But t h e young men es cape d. They borrowed more
and more; they bought land with borrowed money and gave t h e i r notes a t t h e bank
f o r working ca pi t al • Their land inc reas ed i n value and their notes d i d n o t worry
them# I f they could no t pay them o ff one year they renewed them and waited f o r
a
better crop
o r
better prices*
Now suddenly a great discovery occurs. The pe r f ec t so lu t i on i s a t hand.•
The way to p ut
p r o f i t
i n
ag r i cu l tu r e
i s t o
give
i t
c r ed i t , p l en ty
of
c r e d i t
-
cred-
i t such as any other business gets. Th e farmer sha ll be f inanced . He sha l l do
business a t t h e bank. He sh al l have banks spe ci al ly adapted t o h i s uses and
needs.
Comparative marketing i s n o t f o r got ten. I t i s a l l t h e h a t t e r . The reason
why i t
never succeeded
i s
that
i t
never
was
properly f inanced.
I t
wanted credit-
Th e
master
k e y i s
c r ed i t
-
c r ed i t
to buy
land with, credit
to buy
implements with,
c red i t t o sow and harvest with, credit with which t o hold one
1
s crops f o r a fa i r
price instead of s e l l i n g them away t o t h e speculator*
This became of a sudden th e ruling theme* For f i f t e e n y ea rs no man spoke
sympathetically t o t h e f armer ^s case wit hout saying tha t above a l l else what h e
needed was c r ed i t - cheap credit , long-time credit , short-t ime credit , honorable
credit, special forms of credit determined by the special problems o f h i s indus-
t r y .
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- 1 9 -
Consent
was
unanimous. Never
had
human contradiction
h i t
upon
a
more
s e -
ductive panacea. There was plenty o f i t . I t was cheaply dispensed. The pa t-
ient clamored f o r i t .
So the farmer was financed. Yea, how he was financed
The amount o f credit that h as been placed a t the ca l l of agriculture i n
t h e
la s t
t e n
years cannot
be
de fi ni te ly calcula ted. There
is no
f igure
t o e x -
press
i t .
Nobody knows
how
much
i t i s . A
former secretary
o f the
Treasury
e s -
timated that th e amount provided for by Federal legislation alone - by that on -
ly - was f ive b i l l ion dol lars .
First o f the credit agencies under th e jur isdic t ion o f the Federal Govern-
ment came th e Federal Reserve System with twelve regiona l banks. The functions
of
these twelve regional Federal Reserve Ban ;s were mainly
two - to
mobilize
the y
gold resources
o f the
country,
and to
male credit more elastic, more Equitably
access ible t o everybody by lending money cu t of one great reservoir, through
those twelve Federal Reserve Ban* s , to private banks, which i n turn should lend
i t t o
private borrowers.
For the
farmer
i t
worked li ke t h i s :
If he
went with
h i s note to th e small-town bank and asked t o borrow on i t and the small-town
bank had no money of i t s own to lend, i t could s t i l l take t h e farmer's note,
send i t t o th e nearest one of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks and get the money.
Farmers Filled by Credit Kindness
But
that
was not
enough.
It was
soon found that
th e
rules under which
the
notes
c f
merchants
an d
manufacturers were taken
a t the
Federal Reserve Banks
were to o narrow f o r t h e farmer. Therefore th e rules were relaxed i n h i s favor,
so that a farmer's note had Tore time and grace a t a Federal Reserve Bank than
an y other.
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— 2 0 -
And
that
was not
enough.
The
farmer needed credit
f o r
what
he was
doing
-
y e s . And he
could
get i t . But he
needed credit also
f o r
what
he was
going
to
do. So Congress created th e Federal Farm Loan System, with twelve regional Fed-
eral Laitt Banks to he launched where necessary, with government credit; and the
purrose o f these banks was to lend money t o national farm-loan ass oci ati ons ,
which
i n
turn should lend
i t t o
farmers
fo r th e
purchase
of
agricultural land,
fo r th e
equipment
and
improvement
of the
land
and to pay off o ld
mortgages.
Any
ten or
more natural persons could form
a
national farm-loan association; more
than forty-four hundred have been formed. The same law authorized th e creation by
private persons of joint-stock land banks, under t h e supervision of the Government,
such banks t o sell debentures up to f i f teen t imes th e amount of their capital , and
lend th e money on land.
S t i l l not enough. In March, 1 9 - 3 , Congress passed th e great Agricultural
Credits
A c t ,
creating twelve Federal Intermediate Credit Banks,
to be
established
"alongside of but organically independent of the twelve Federal Land Banks,
n
each
with a capital of five million dollars provided by the United States Government,
These intermediate credit banks lend money f o r "agricultural purposes" f o r p e r -
iods o f s i x months t o three years.
The same a c t provided also f o r national agricultural credit corporations t o
lend money f o r "agricultural purposes" direct t o farmers, an d national agricul-
tural rediscount corporations to take over from pr iva te banks loans that have
already been made f o r "agricultural purposes."
These are the agencies created by Federal legislation:
Federal Reserve Banks;
Federal Land Banks;
Joint-stock land banks;
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- 2 1 -
National farm-loan associations;
Federal Intermediate Credit Banks;
National agricultural credit corporations;
National agricultural rediscount corporations.
These agencies have placed
i n th e
la s t
t e n
years,
by an
estimate
o f a
former
Secretary o f th e Treasury, five billion dollars of new credit a t th e disposal o f
agriculture.
And
t h i s
i s by no
means
a l l . The War
Finance Corporation,
a
banking concern
set up during the war to finance war a c t i v i t i e s - owned by the Government and fur-
nished with government capital - has been converted into an agency f o r extending
government credit direct t o agriculture.
In addition t o what t h e Federal Government h as done, th e states have been
a t th e
same time dispensing credit
t o
agr icu lt ure . They,
t o o ,
have created farm-
loan systems and farm-credit boards; they have sold tax-exempt bonds on the public
credit and loaned th e money t o farmers at low rates of interest .
And above everything else there occurred a wild multiplication o f private
banks in the agri cul tur al di st ri ct s, under both national an d state charters,
whose principal business was to. lend money t o farmers on their notes and who com-
peted with on e another fo r th e pr iv i lege o f doing s o . Any few natural persons
with
a
l i t t l e money could star t
a
bank.
In the
Northwest area, called
th e
Ninth
Federal Reserve D i s t r i c t , more than f i f t y nati onal banks were chartered by the
Comptroller c f the Currency a t Washington over th e protest of the Federal Reservg
Bank a t Minneapolis. There were already to o many new and inexperienced banks, ae
th e Federal Reserve Bank a t Minneapolis knew; but the man then Comptroller of the
Currency
a t
Washington said that
i f
people wanted banks they should have them.
So farmers became their own bankers; they could give credi t t o themselves.
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-"22r*
Never since credit
was
invented
had
agriculture
s o
mach
of i t .
Never
b e -
fore
i n a l l t h e
history
o f
banking
was the
farmer
so
much financed.
And
with
what results?
There
i s
again
a n
acute crisis
i n
agriculture.
I t i s th e
worst that
has
occurred i n th i s generation . Farmers by the tens o f thousands - the Department
of
Agriculture says
b y th e
hundreds
of
thousands
- are
los ing
or
have already
lost their property, their lands
and
chattels ,
by
forfe i ture
t o
creditors
and
by the foreclosure of mortgages. In the Nocthwest area alone - Minnesota, Mon-
tana, North Dakota
an d
South Dakota
-
where occurred
an
expansion
o f
credit
p e r -
haps greater
i n a
re la t ive sense than anywhere e l se , more than fi v e hundred
banks
a re
shut
up
because
th e
farmers cannot
pay
their notes.
The War
Finance
Corporation
h a s
been dispatched
to the
scene with more credit.
An
extraordinary
credit corporation h a s been formed by private bankers of the East and the Middle
West,
a t the
instance
o f the
Government,
to go to the
re l i e f
o f the
Northwestern
banks.
There
i s
s t i l l
no
lack
o f
cr ed it . That
i s not the
trouble.
The
d i f f i c u l t y
i s t o f in d anything su it ab le upon which to grant cr ed it . Farms, li ve st oc k,
chattels, commodities
i n
storage
a re
already mortgaged
f o r
more than they
a re
worth.
Mortgaged
to th e
Hilt
And you
have this spectacle
to
ponder: Those bankrupt money croppers
o f
t h e
Northwest, with neither means
of
their
own no r
credit
a t th e
bank with which
to buy the chickens, pigs an d milch cows they need i n order to be able t o feed
themselves,
are to
have money
out of th e
United States Treasury
f o r
this purpose,
and at the
same time
a
large mortgage-loan company
i n
Minneapolis, having bought
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-23-
an d
sold Northwestern farm mortgages until
th e
taag hurs t, makes
a
street-window
display
of
Imperial Japanese Government
p er
cent bonds. There
i s a
good
d e -
mand f o r them. They a r e se l l ing . I s the word o f the Japanese Government then
better security than Northwestern farms
an d
chattels?
No. The
explanation
i s
simply that
t h e
Northwestern farmers,
who
desperately need
t h e
money that
Min-
neapolis investors
a r e
putting into Japanese bonds, have nothing l e f t
t o
pledge.
They have borrowed more
on
their farms
an d
chattels than those farms
an d
chat-
tels would bring
i f put up for
sale
a t
auction.
Here
now an
interrupti on. sha ll
b e
reminded that this crisis
i n
agricul-
ture
i s
owing
to th e
headlong fall
i n
prices.
Yes. The
f a l l
i n
prices
was a
cause.
But i t was the
last cause.
I f the
farmers
had not
been extravagant with
credit before,
i f
they
had not
mortgaged their property above
i t s
ears
in the
days
of
exuberance,
i f i n
North Dakota they
had not
used
i t t o
hold wheat
f o r
three dollars
and
f i f ty cents
a
bushel when they might have been selling
i t f o r
two dollars, i f they had not behaved a s if the day of payment had been abolished
by
ed ic t, there would s t i l l have been
a
c r i s i s ,
no
doubt,
but not the
kind
of
cr i s i s
i t i s .
There would have come lo sses ,' di sa ppoi ntment s,
•
hard times,
but
no
avalanche
of
bankruptcy, pul li ng down banks
by the
hundreds. Credit
is a
thing you can u se only once, Having already used i t they could n o t u s e i t again
t o
ease themselves down
a s
pri ces f e l l away.
Not
only th at . Jus t when they
b e -
gan to need credit f o r reasons beyond their control, and when they had nothing
l e f t
to
pledge
or
mortgage,
the day of
payment arriv ed. That they already owed
was due and
payable.
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The farmers say they were deflated i n a "brutal manner by the banks. Par-
t i cu lar ly
do
they
say
th i s
in the
Northwest, where
now the
consequences
a r e
most
acute. To th i s th e fa i lure of more than five hundred banks i n Minnesota, North
Dakota, South Dakota and Montana- i s a f a i r ly convincing answer. Banks that are
brutal save themselves . These
d i d n o t .
Fi rs t they loaned
t o o
freely; then they
did not demand payment i n time. They are not denounced f o r having loaned too
free ly , nor for having renewed farmers
1
notes beyond prudence instead of requiring
them to be paid; they are denounced f o r having demanded payment a t a l l . Borrow-
in g
human nature w i l l always blame mbre
th e
banker
who
demands
to be
paid than
the one who refused i n the f irst place to lend.
Danger Signals Unheeded
For a
long time before
the
f a l l
i n
prices began
i t was
notorious that much
of the credit a t the ca l l o f agriculture was be ing improperly used . There seemed
no way to stop i t . A great deal of i t was by in di re ct io n. Individual farmers
t i ed up the ir own money i n golden affairs of the imagination, especially i n land
speculation , and relied upon the banks f o r money with which t o carry on farming
operat ions. Thus, l e s s an d l e s s th e farmer financed himself with his own means;
more and more of his own capital was le f t free f o r adventure. The local banks,
unable t o take care of him, and having a great deal of their capital also tied
up in speculation or in %ad loan s, passed him on, or, rather, they passed h i s
notes on, to the nearest Federal Reserve Bank. The notes were a l l regular enough.
They were f o r agricultural purposes, according to l a w . They were th eref ore e l i -
gible
f o r
rediscount
-
that
i s to say ,
they were proper ly purchasable under
the
rules; y e t every Federal Reserve Bank knew what th e s i tuat ion w a s .
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In December, 1919> the Federal Reserve Batrik o f Minneapolis said:
"It i s
quite evident that through
th e
extravagances
of
individuals
and the
indiscriminate extension
of
credit
by
certain banks
f o r
investment
an d
specula-
tive purchases
th e
reserves held
by the
Federal Reserve Banks have been used
through an indirect process f o r purposes other than those intended and authorized
by la w . The extension o f credit f o r speculative purposes i s n o t confined t o
stocks
and
bonds alone;
but
substantial advances have been made
t o
encourage
the
movement
of
land
and for
speculation
i n
commodities.
The
Federal Reserve Bank
of
Minneapolis h as used every precaution t o eliminate such u s e o f i t s f a c i l i t i e s ,
but
in di re ct ly th ese cr ed it s have been extended, with
th e
result that
an
unwarrant-
ed
overextension
o f
credit exists.
I f
this condtion
i s
permitted
t o
continue
i t
wil l i n time work a severe hardship upon everyone."
No
matter.
The
inverted pyramid
of
bank loans continued
t o
grow.
I t
grew
unt i l
i t
f e l l ; afte r that
i t
grew lying down. "Following
t h e
collapse
of
prices
i n
I920," says
t h e
Federal Reserve Bank
o f
Minneapolis, speaking
of the
Northwest,
banking, Federal Reserve
and Tar
Finance credits underwent
an
acute secondary
in—
. f l a t i o n , f or t h e obvious reason that farmers caught in the collapse could not
continue without immediately available resources.
No
funis were available
f o r
current operations, or to meet maturing indebtedness, except by borrowing from
th e
banks,"
In 1921 the ^ar
Finance Corporation came with
i t s bag of
emergency credit.
I t i s
there s t i l l .
How strange The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis says one cause was too
much credit. Yet a block away i s the temporary office of the War Finance Corpor-
ation, with
an
organization made
cn the
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dpot , dispens ing more credi t . However, th e part of the War Finance Corporation
i s somewhat like that of the physician with th e violent drug addict. He mast
believe
he
will continue
to ge t i t , and a t the
same time
he
mist
h e
tapered
o f f .
The
true index
t o
what agriculture
h as
done
t o
itse lf with credit
i s a
statistical curve representing
th e
r ise
in the
farmer's annual interest changes
an d taxes. H is interest an d taxes together in 1923 were threefold what they were
in 1913•
Threefold
The
increase
i n h i s
in te re st represents what
he
"borrowed
as an
individual.
Farm mortgages more than doubled
i n t e n
years.
"The
great increase
in
mortgage indebtedness," says
th e
Howard-Moorhouse Agri-
cul tural Business Service, "came in 1919> as a result of land speculation after
th e
Armistice.
The
total amount
en
January
1 , 192 0 , has
been estimated
a t
eight
billion dollars, which
was
more than twice
th e
amount
o f ten
years prev ious. Since
1920 there h a s been a further increase of one b i l l io n dol lars, due to the funding
of
current obligations incurred during
and
just previous
t o t h e
depression."
After t h e Armi sti ce. During and just previous to the depression.
This
i s n o t
unsympathetic testimony.
The
Howard-Moorhcuse Agricultural Busi-
ness Service i s conducted by James R. Howard, f i r s t pres ident o f the American Farm
chief
Bureau Federation;
N. C.
Murray, fo rme rl y/ sta ti st ic ia n
o f the
Bureau of'Crop Esti-
mates; Lloyd
M.
Graves, formerly statistician
of the
American Farm Bureau Federa-
tion, and H. W. Moorhouse, formerly dean of the School o f Commerce of the Oklahoma
State College*
I t i s obvious that what agriculture d id with credit was to capita l ize war
prices
in the
value
of the
land.
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The increase i n the farmer's taxes represents, no t altogether, but principal-
l y , h i s
group borrowing.
I n h i s
polit ical capacity
he
adopted
th e
universal
e x -
ample an d sold enormous amounts of state, county, township an d school-district
bonds. He used th e money to improve h i s social environment, saying: "?hy are we
not ent i t l ed t o have the se th in gs too? TThy shall our children n ot have schools
a s
f ine
a s
those
t h e
c it y people' s chi ldren have?"
There i s no simple answer t o that question. I t perhaps cannot b e answered
separately a t a l l . I t t i e s up with th e whole problem of American agriculture.
The
machinist
who
leaves
h i s j o b i n
Minneapolis
to get a
free wheat ranch
i n
Montana not only thinks he i s ent i t led t o a profitable price f o r h i s wheat; h e
thinks he i s ent i t l ed t c have, out there on what was yesterday a cattle range
covered with buffalo grass, a school f o r h i s children like t h e school in Min-
neapolis.
And he
thinks this without reference
to the
fact that
in
choosing
t o
raise wheat instead of making machines he has cut himself in to compet ition with
th e
low-paid wheat-producing labor
of
Argentina, Egypt, India
and
th ir ty - f ive
other countries.
Building cn Credit
But the
farmers asked
th e
question
i n a
rhet or ica l manner on ly . They
did not
wait for the answer. The credit was handy and they used i t . They d id not build
country sc ho ol s. They bui l t ci ty schools, with baths, gymnasiums and a l l . You
cail understand
i t .
You can understand also th e disgust of the rcundheaded banker, whose bank
h a s never failed and never will, who started in l i f e with one calf and one horse,
when
he
says , "Over her e' s
a
town
o f
five hundred people that's just built
a
school that cost f i f t y - t h r e e thousand do ll ar s. They put in one of them gymnasium
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- 2 5 -
t h ings , How they wi l l hire somebody t o teach their kids basketball because
they
t
ve got nothing better to do ."
Product: Taxes.
Farm taxes per acre, taking th e country a t large, were in 1923 about 2s
times what they were in 1913- Commenting upon t h i s th e Department of Jgricul-
ture says:
"In 1913
taxes consumed
a
l i t t l e le ss than one-tenth
o f the
farmer's
n e t income. In 1923 they consumed nearly one-th ird o f i t . " Then i t adds:
"Between 80 and 90 per cent of the taxes paid by the farmer i s f o r expense
within th e county, th e larger items being schools and roads. Such taxes, t her e-
fore, a re within th e control of a majority of the people o f the county."
That i s merely to say , the farmer d i d i t t o himself . A very great por tio n
o f h i s
taxes
is now
beyond cont rol, since
i t
represents interest
on
money
b o r -
rowed - interest on county, township an d district bonds sold t o outside invest-
o rs .
In
reduction,
th e
great solution solved nothing;
i t
produced instead many
lamentable effects which were not intended. I t will take years t o efface them.
So now the sacred credit nyth i s in decl ine. I f there were symbols o f
th i s f e t i sh on which farmers could i n f l i c t the ir wrath yoti. would find them l y -
ing in the Western di tc hes igno'miniously, l i k e those pagan ra in gods th e heathen
were used
t o
hurl into
the dry
f i e l d s
so
they might
s e e f o r
themselves
how bad
th e drought was, and perhaps repent.
Ybu cannot put profit into agriculture by giving i t cr ed it . That i s s e t -
t led.
Farmers themselves now sa y, ""e don't want an y more credi t . That on e thing
h a s nearly ruined u s ,
T
7hat we want i s better prices."
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" r •
- 2 9 -
Maiy c f them indeed are suspicious of further experiments wit h cr ed it , even
such a s lending Northwestern wheat croppers money out o f the United States Treas-
ury to
s tock the ir farrryards with chickens, pigs
an d
milch cows; they suspect
that th e Government thereby begs th e issue and postpones consideration of the
true solution.
For
there
is a new
sol uti on. Everything el se
h as
been tried;
therefore this i s bound t o work.
The name of the new solution i s th e McNary B i l l . The name stands for an
idea.
The
idea
i s
price control
by
government edict.
But i t
must
not be so
s ta t -
ed . To say baldly what i t i s would perhaps defeat i t . . There i s already to o much
prejudice against th e thought of price f ixing. And because i t must not be re«c
ferred to as a scheme f o r controlling prices by edict t h e exposition o f i t by i t s
friends becomes extremely involved.
The McNarv B i l l Analyzed
I t
begins with
a
declaration
of the
thing
to be
done
-
namely,
t o
make basic
agricultural commodities worth a s much a s in du stri al commodities when by reason
of overproduction or a surplus above domestic needs they a re s e l l ing f o r l e s s ,
The
means
by
which this
i s t o be
accomplished
are as
follows:
First ,
th e
United States Agricultural Commission
to
no t i fy
t h e
President that
there i s a surplus of wheat, fl ou r, corn, cotton, wool, ca t t l e , sheep, swine or
an y food product of cattle, sheep or swine, and that th e domestic price i s too
low. The
President thereupon
by
proclamation declares
an
emergency
t o
ex is t
i n
respect
o f
that commodity.
Second, th e United States Agricultural Commission determines what the do-
mestic price
of
that commodity ought
t o b e .
This
i t
does
by
means
of a
s ta t i s t i ca l
index number comparing agricultural products with industrial products. The price
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-30- .
s o determined i s ca l led t h e ratio price, and i t i s proclaimed a s t h e price that
by right should, and in fact shall thereafter prevail,.
Third,
t h e
United States Agricultural Export Corporation,
now f o r th e
f i r s t
time named, begins
t o
operate . This
i s a
merchandising concern,
to be
owned
by
t h e
Government, with
tw o
hundred mi ll io n dolla rs capi tal
out of the
Treasury*
At the ratio price proclaimed by the commission t h e United States Agricultural
Export Corporation will
buy up a l l the
surplus,
or any
amount necessary,,
o f
wheat
or
corn
or
ca t t l e ,
or
whatever
th e
commodity
i s , i n
order
t o
make
th e
ratio
pr ice e f fec t ive;
an d
then
t h e
surplus over domestic needs
i t
shall dump
i n f o r -
eign oarkets f o r what i t c an g e t . Both t h e amount that will have to be sold
abroad
and the
loss thereon
-
meaning
by
lo s s
th e
difference between
the do-
mestic price
and the
world price outside
-
w i l l
be
estimated beforehand.
Say
t h e
commodity
i s
wheat;
and i t i s
estimated that one-tenth
of the
wheat crop will
have to be sold abroad a t twenty-five cents a bushel less than t h e o f f i c i a l d@*
mestic price.
In
that case every farmer when
he
s e l l s
h i s
wheat will
ge t the
fu l l
o f f i c i a l domestic price, except that
as to the
one-tenth which
i s
exportable
s u r -
plus
he
shall receive
t h e
last twenty-five cents
per
bushel
in the
form
o f
scrip*
I f the
l o s s
on
what
i s
exported turns
out to be
less than twenty-five cents
a
bushel
he nay get
something
f o r h i s
scrip;
I f t h e
loss turns
out to be
more
he
l e t s th e Government worry. The scrip, yo u will understand, i s bought f o r cash
at any
post of f i ce , l ik e stamps,
and th e
post offices turn
th e
money
in to the
United States Agricultural Export Corporation.
If you are a
buyer
of
wheat
you
a r e obliged t o have scrip with which to pay the last twenty-five cents on every
tenth bushel.
I t i s
compulsory.
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Unless one is interested in the McNary Bill curiously, a s a piece of ex-
perimental mechanism,
a l l
that
one
needs
to
know about
i t i s
th i s :
I t i s a p ro -
posal
t o
employ
th e
power
and
credit
of the
Government
to
l i f t
t h e
average price
of basic agricultural products. If i t i s not meant to do that it has no point
whatever;
i f i t
were
not
meant
to do
that nobody would
b e fo r i t .
I t i s an
undertaking
to put
profit into agriculture
in
spite
of
excessive
production, in spite of the fact that t h e exploitation of land in the character-
istic American manner creates
th e
potential i ty
of
surplus
in the
f irs t place,
i n
spite
of the
fact that
th e
only natural restraint upon overproduction
i s
loss.
Even more. One comes a t las t to the complete contradiction that th e aver-
age price of agricultural products m s t b e lifted because there i s overproduction.
The
b i l l contains
i t s own
argument.
A ll
these things proposed
to be
done
a re necessary because "there exists a general emergency i n respect of agricultur-
a l commodities." And then i t declares - the bill declares - that t h e general
emergency
i s
owing
to the
existence
of
surpluses available
f o r
export"
and to
th e economic impracticability of immediately preventing th e continued produc-
tion of such surpluses."
Thought
of
limiting
'
production
i s
resentfully rejected
b y a l l
concerned,
f o r three reasons: Fi rs t, i t is too simple; second, i t i s impracticable; third,
i t i s
impossible. That
is to say,
agricultural production mast
not be
subject
to
that restraint which regulates every other kind
of
production
-
namely,
the
res t ra in t of loss.
In
North Dakota
th e
true problem
is how to
diversify agriculture-
how to
induce wheat growers
to
bother with pigs
an d
chicken*, milch cows
and
bees,
in
order to feed themselves. Necessity i s the only inducement t o which they have
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responded. One crop f o r money - that i s what they want.
Farmers a re united fo r t h e McNary Bill. The Department of Agriculture is for
i t . A l l t h e agricultural minds of Congress a re behind i t . Many more Western
business men, even bankers, than yo u might suppose a re f o r i t , on the ground that
i f i t helps agriculture, no matter how, it will help them to o. The b i l l includes
the
th e hated millers and/horned packers. I t had to do th is , f o r obviously they could
not btiy grain an d cattle from th e farmers a t the high ratio price and sell flour
an d meat products abroad a t the world price; and if they could not do this they
would hot buy from farmers more than enough to supply the domestic demand. So i t
i s provided that th e millers and packers may buy at th e high ratio price and then
sell their exportable surplus
of
flour, hams, sausages, bacon,lard,
and so., on, t o
th e United States Agricultural Export Corporation.
Are We Farmers a t Heart
And what the farmers ar e for i s not the McNary Bill a s such. They a re f o r
th e doctrine i t embodies. A b i l l by any other name that went nmch further with
the
same doctrine would
be
more acceptable.
The
doctrine
i s
that agriculture,
as i t has been and is and wants to be without change, shall be made to pay as a
matter of public policy. The marginal farm and the marginal fanner shall be
saved fo r t he sake o f a l l that structure of exploited land values, and a t th e
same time th e farmer shall be saved from drudgery an d boredom in virtue of the
great money-crop idea.
The farmer is not alone to blame. He i s perhaps th e least t o blame. His
re la t ion to the soil, wherein i t i s uneconomic, is an e f fec t , not a cause.
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- 3 3 -
The
United States Government through
th e
Department
of
Agriculture,
and the
states through their agricultural colleges, have spent vast sums
of
money
to
propagate
t h e
thought
of
money cropping,
of
specialization,
of
industrial methods
as
applied
to
agriculture,
a l l t h e
emphasis
op
production, with
a
shabby imita-
tion of city culture a t th e end . The one thing that has not been sold to the
farmer
i s
farming
- the
agr icul tural l i fe
f o r i t s
spir i tual sa t isfact ion
as a
manner of l iv ing . Do you say i t ha s not these sat isf act ioms? Then a t heart
we are not farmers. That may be i t . And y et , half of us ar e on th e farm. Of
that half of us, only about 20 per cent a re in serieus trouble. Al l the cobmo-
tion relates
t o
that
20 per
cent . They
are the
marginal people . Their costs
a r e
high, their efficiency
is low,
they have planter notions uader
a
high wage
system, an d they make th e surpl us. There i s about the same percentage of mar-
i n
ginal people in shopkeeping,/manufacturing, in any f i e ld of human ac t iv i ty . Only
i n
agriculture
i s the
question
of
their survival
a
pol i t ica l issue.
One
wonders
what would happen
to
American agriculture
i f
only
i t
were
l e t
alone.