50 FARMERS 1 UNION AND FEDERATION 



been the wheat growers. The speculators point to over- 

 production as an excuse to justify a low price to the producers 

 while they juggle it out of their possession. Then they lock 

 up their warehouses, buy options and point to the big de- 

 mand and no supply to boost prices. They have changed 

 an overproduction when in the producers' hands to a short- 

 age when in theirs. 



Now, the wheat growers must take over for their own use 

 this little device of changing overproduction into a shortage 

 if they wish to harvest the dollars the gamblers do. And 

 wouldn't it be more sensible to harvest dollars direct than 

 wheat since it is the dollars you are really after? There is 

 no patent on that device of the speculators, and the wheat 

 raisers can take it from them whenever they wish to by 

 unionizing. Wouldn't it pay better to have a dollar-harvest- 

 ing machine than a wheat-harvesting machine? You can 

 have it free simply by unionizing. 



The moment granaries are locked up in unison all over the 

 United States the supply ceases, and as demand cannot cease 

 it will soon raise the price to the minimum demanded. 



More Money for Big Crops. 



Table I shows that in 1905, 3,779,000 acres more were 

 harvested than in 1904, and the yield per acre was two bush- 

 els more, making 140,579,000 more bushels than the crop of 

 1904. But owing to the price being 17.6 cents a bushel less 

 it gave only $7,883,000 more, or about 5J cents a bushel for 

 all that increased ' production, allowing the same price as 

 1904 92.4 cents for the balance. As it cost about twenty 

 dollars an acre to raise wheat then at union labor wages 

 and overhead expenses, there was a direct net loss of $67,- 

 697,000 on that surplus yield, when at the same price of 

 the previous year there would have been a gain of $129,- 

 894,996. 



