110 Agricultural Prices 



roughly equivalent to cost of production, to the end that supply 

 and demand ma}' operate more smoothly. 



It is anticipated that greater emphasis on "cost-of-production 

 price" and less emphasis on "supply-and-demand price" will result 

 in gradually replacing most business men with production engi- 

 neers and statistical economists. Business men have had profit as 

 their sole motive. What we need is production engineers whose 

 ~chTef concern is production methods, and statistical economists 

 who are able to understand the delicate inter-relations of different 

 industries. . It is believed that there is in most men a desire to do 

 their work well, and that this desire will find more complete ex- 

 pression, to the benefit of the bulk of the people, under the guid- 

 ance of men whose supreme motive is not profit but technical under- 

 standing and love of the work to be done. All this concerns the 

 farmer, to the extent that when the industrial world shifts to this 

 kind of basis2_he_ma^'_Jb£ more certain of a stable price for his 

 products. — ' 



Substituting production engineers and statistical economists for 

 business men means doing away with the chance of excessive gains 

 and excessive losses. And this is proper so far as production of 

 and trade in staple products is concerned. 



The onl}' place where the commercial imagination of the old- 

 fashioned risk-taking business men has legitimate place is in work- 

 ing Avith things which are not staple, such as theaters, luxuries, 

 newspapers, etc. 



