EDITORIAL 



Monopoly Prices And Depression 



M SIDE from the need for practicing a good crop 

 ^ L rotation system to conserve soil fertility, the 

 /^l'^^ / chief reason for adjusting acreage and control- 

 ling crop surpluses is to maintain farm prices in substantial 

 adjustment with city prices. If by some magic, industrial 

 and city workers could be kept busy producing goods and 

 services at the same rate farmers generally produce so that 

 city and farm production and prices would go up and down 

 the scale together, depressions would be short-lived if we 

 had them at all. 



But we know that the greatest inequality exists in the 

 way farm and city prices behave in periods of economic 

 change. For example, farm prices have fallen 30 per cent 

 during the past year, whereas city prices fell only about 5 

 per cent. Industrial production, during this period, drop- 

 ped off about one-third but farm production of 55 leading 

 crops in 1937 was 6 per cent greater than ever before. 



That the rigid price structure of industry is maintained 

 largely by partial monopoly and control was clearly stated 

 by Prof. Frank A. Fetter, professor emeritus of political 

 science, Princeton University, at the recent meeting of the 

 Academy of Political Science. 



"No one with knowledge of present conditions seri- 

 ously denies that fair competition has been gradually weak- 

 ened in the last three-quarters of a century," said Prof. 

 Fetter, "and monopoly control over prices, wages and mar- 

 kets has been greatly enlarged." 



.A current illustration supporting this statement is the 

 news that General Foods Corporation is planning to 

 experiment with more rigid price control by fixing a mini- 

 mum resale price in the state of Ohio on four packaged 

 articles, under the Miller-Tydings Act. 



Many businesses and skilled labor have achieved 

 what the Miller-Tydings Act provides for without law. 

 It has been done by organizing trade "institutes" and asso- 

 ciations and by tacit agreements and understandings. The 

 Sherman Anti-Trust Act has been no effective deterrent 

 to price-fixing and no one in America believes it has. 



Dr. L. J. Norton of the University of Illinois farm 

 economics division, recognizing the inflexible price struc- 

 ture of industry, suggests that farmers do these things to 

 'combat them: (1) quit buying items that are too high in 

 terms of farm prices; (2) resist pressure from other 

 groups in their efforts to get government assistance in 

 price- fixing; -{3) encourage more flexible price policies for 

 industrial products and services; (4) support efforts to re- 

 duce trade barriers and encourage more international trade. 

 These are all commendable suggestions. 



Farmers are, and have been, taking care of the first 

 suggestion pretty effectively. Slack farm buying is one of 

 the primary causes of industrial unemployment today. The 

 others have been for years a part of the legislative program 

 of the American Farm Bureau Federation. And through 

 organization farmers are getting results. 



Progress is being made in putting monopolies on the 

 defensive. A beginning has been made in lowering in- 

 dustrial tariffs and restoring foreign trade. And farm 

 prices are being being raised through crop loans and a 



more sensible production program; a program which 

 recognizes the folly of mining the soil to grow surpluses 

 that nobody wants except at price levels ruinous to the 

 farmer. 



. :■ \ ■ 



Making Farming A Business 



^i^^^^V ECENT reports show that the last of Illinois' 1937 

 A^ apple crop, placed in storage in the fall, have been 

 .2\, closed out at 75 cents a bu. After paying trans- 

 portation, commission charges and 25 cents storage, the 

 grower netted less than 50 cents a bu. The cost of baskets, 

 liners, picking, spraying, fertilizing, say nothing about 

 taxes, the labor of the farm operator and interest on the 

 mortgage, were such that the more apples picked and 

 placed in storage, the greater the loss. 



"I could have saved money by letting my apples rot 

 in the orchard," said one grower. 



"When you can't get at least $2.00 a case for my 

 strawberries," commented a Southern Illinois producer 

 recently to his local cooperative manager, "just let me 

 know and I'll let the strawberries stay on the vines. I can't 

 hire labor, pay for boxes and make anything unless we get 

 $2 a case or more." 



These instances emphasize again that farming is a 

 business and to make a profit must be operated in a busi- 

 ness-like way. They show, too, that agriculture is sur- 

 rounded by an iron chain of fixed prices and costs which 

 must be paid whether or not the producer has anything 

 left for himself. 



This year strawberries made a little money because 

 the crop was below normal. Peaches and apples will pro- 

 duce crops averaging only 25 to 50 per cent of normal 

 this year so prices should be such as to yield a profit. 

 What a crazy state of affairs when the grower is bankrupted 

 for producing plenty. The thinking man has learned 

 that it's better to sell 30 bushels and make a profit than to 

 market 50 and lose on the whole lot. 



Farm Laborers Scarce 



^^^. HE WPA has about ruined us farmers so far as 

 ^— ^ getting seasonal help is concerned," commented 

 ^J a Madison county Farm Bureau member recently. 

 "I offered $35 a month with board and washing," he said, 

 and couldn't get any takers. One man I hired for a short 

 time last year would come only on days when he wasn't on 

 a WPA job. They like the short hours and easy work on 

 the government projects." 



This is no unusual case. There are many like it. In 

 an adjoining state last week a farmer offered $2.50 a day, 

 dinner, and transportation to and from the farm. WPA 

 employees weren't interested. The farm operator there- 

 upon invested in a hay loader, decided to get along without 

 the extra hand. 



How many able-bodied persons are there on relief 

 who could get a living wage in private employment if they 

 would.> Why not disband WPA workers and relief for 

 able men in rural sections when farm work is at its peak? 

 How much longer are taxpayers going to take the rap for 

 idle workers who are jobless often because they insist on 

 unreasonable wage scales which few can afford to pay.' i 



L A. A. RECORD 





