HIGH COST OF LIVING AND FARMER 49 



ministration was lifted, the prices of grain, by- 

 products and mill feeds advanced immediately 

 and this increased the cost of milk and pork 

 production, at once laying a burden on the 

 producer. Then came dollar-an-hour wages, 

 which required about $3 wheat for the average 

 wheat grower to break even. 



This period of universal complaint about the 

 high cost of living made it exceedingly difficult 

 to work out adjustments between the industries. 

 We could not continue to take away from pro- 

 ducers the comparatively small profit and ex- 

 pect them to go on producing and increasing 

 their output. Such a policy would lead inevit- 

 ably to a decreased food supply and suffering 

 among consumers. While it was logical for 

 many city people to jump at once to the con- 

 clusion that the price of farm products be first 

 reduced, this was a fundamental error. 



It was my duty and opportunity early in my 

 service in the Senate to examine into the con- 

 sumers' side of this cost of living question. I 

 was forced to the conclusion that the chief con- 

 tributing element in our high living costs was 

 our complicated and intricate system of distri- 

 bution. While a wheat farmer had been forced 

 to accept much less than the Government-guar- 



