264 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



people from the land. This has not only made her 

 dependent on other countries for her food supply, it 

 has impaired the moral and physical life of the 

 nation. 



The United States has left agriculture a prey to 

 the same economic forces. The farmer has received 

 but little consideration in legislation. He has strug- 

 gled in vain against a multitude of exploiting agen- 

 cies, on the one hand, while the economic founda- 

 tions of agriculture have been left to the free play of 

 economic forces that have gradually placed an em- 

 bargo upon farming and made it almost impossible 

 for the would-be farmer to gain access to the land 

 and make a decent living after he has gotten there. 



And just as the high cost of living waits upon a 

 wide extension of state activities to free the dis- 

 tributing agencies of the country from private mon- 

 opoly, so the encouragement of agriculture waits on 

 a comprehensive programme of legislation to free 

 the would-be farmer from the prohibitive conditions 

 that now discourage farming. 



It is necessary to look at farming from a new 

 angle. The free land has gone. The old order has 

 ended. The new order involves provision for a new 

 freedom. It involves freer access to the land, free- 

 dom in transportation, cheap credit, and a new or- 

 ganization of agriculture along socialized lines, so 

 that the farmer will enjoy the advantages of living 

 in communities similar to those described in the 



