GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 539 



Mr. Goss has indicated that one of the most common errors made in 

 dealing with the farm problem is to try to deal with a single crop 

 or prodnct as though it were an independent separate problem ; ignor- 

 ing the fact that there is a vital relation between one crop and another, 

 between crops and livestock, between all crops and livestock products 

 and finall}' between farming and the rest of our economy. Unless we 

 look at this over-all maze of interrelationship we are sure to come out 

 with patchy thinking on the problem, and with piecemeal a'ttempts 

 to solve the farm problem. It goes without saying that to that ex- 

 tent we will fail in finding a proper solution. 



The period immediately ahead will be a time when farm programs 

 will surely be put to the acid test. The farm problem usually shrinks 

 to small proportions in war periods, and looms to its greatest extent 

 shortly after great wars. On all sides we hear great fear expressed, 

 fear of burdensome surpluses, fear of overproduction. These are 

 times that call for clear, calm, capable, statesmanlike action on the 

 farm problem. The real test of our system over Russia's will lie in 

 whether we can solve the farm and unemployment problems to a 

 reasonable extent. 



For 25 years or more we have made efforts to solve this problem. 

 Sometimes we are inclined to believe we are no nearer a solution than 

 we were when we started almost 3 decades ago. The Congress can 

 meet the urgent present responsibility of solving this farm problem 

 by continuation of emergency measures or by more fundamental long- 

 time programs. We of the Grange believe that the future trends are 

 sufficiently discernible for you of the committee to place the emphasis 

 of your efforts on the more fundamental long-time phases of the 

 problem. 



I. THE EXTENT AND NATURE OF THE FARM PROBLEM 



We have indicated that unless we look carefully at the over-all pic- 

 ture of agriculture, and the relation of agriculture to our whole econ- 

 omy, as well as at the problem of each product, we shall certainly make 

 grievious errors in seeking a solution. In line with the need for 

 doing this let us first look at the extent of disparity' of farm income 

 and the earnings of industrial laborers. 



The extent of disparity of far-Tn and nonfarm incomes 



The estimated net labor earnings of farmers from 1910 to date by 

 5-year periods expressed as a percentage of industrial workers' aver- 

 age earnings were as follows : 



Percent Percent Percent 



3910-14 53 1925-20 48 1940-44 71 



'191.5-19 80 1930-.34 25 1945-48 89 



1920-24 31 19.35-39 46 1910-48 (all years) _ 60. 1 



Two facts stand out in these figures. First, the wide fluctuation in 

 the amount of farmers' earnings for different periods compared with 

 wages, and second, the generally much lower level of pay for farmers. 

 In the 1920-24 period farmers averaged 31 percent, and in 1930-34 

 only 25. of industrial wage workers' earnings. Only in the two 

 war periods, 1915-19 and 1945-48, did farmers get anything like as 

 much as wage workers, for the entire 39 years, only 60 percent as much. 



