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Show l SSfS EiHGIES IF IDS FARMERS IDE PARALYZED President Jacob Gould Schurman of Cornell University- Warns Nation Is in Danger of Starvation. ITMAOA. X. Y.. Keb. U -V:im!r.5 that e na ion "s onr ron tod itn the danger dan-ger of s; a r a t ;on :m t ho no x t twelve :v.o::t and t h.i. "the esiorsies of our farmers are rr-ttd r pri-ft xiiit? and trc fc.ir o: prk'e-itxin;:.'' rresuknu J.uob tlould Sriiinn.ui of i'orno!l university vtvke today at the Farmers" Week pro--t -nme at Cornell university on "The TT."od Crisis and the Parmer. " Fresi.iertt Schurman deplored attempts ' :o regulate the prices of farm products, but urced legislation to end profiteering ! i food s t : : :"s. He s m e d that the. nation na-tion n :sirs; v.p its jrraln reserves and said he believed the stasro had been : e.u'hed a here con: pulsion should supersede super-sede hi pials to :-ave food. lie appealed to President Wilson a.n-1 conres to g!vo a r rr e rs a fair c ' : a t k e, to stimulate a st I -v i: 1 1 " - r a 1 p r od '.l.-iion. Schurman's Address. President S churman's address, in pari, f j '.lows: Of 3 II t'-e s-eat proMerriS of thla c o i c sj. I o 1 .1 w a r , t h e i cod p r o b ' e ni is now t L e rr. o s t i : i : rr- o rt ax, t . M a n -I o e r can he r a : s ed by conscription i;p to the point of exhaustion. The a: Led I : n s f.-om tie Xorth s-?a to 5wi t jer'.ar.d are p led hUh it ji rnu-n: rnu-n: lions which the output of Fron.-h, E-iiish and American factories is con-star.tly con-star.tly a "JET .Tier. ting. But everywhere the siipvly of food Is limited and beyond be-yond a ery narrow raarstn you see the edge of a n inferno or s ta rv : n g nations. Ye; r.o problem of the war so rrvic'-i :nis'.irderstood. The sim-p'e sim-p'e question is this: Can we keep our own and oi:r allied soldiers and civil populations 'rem starvation'.' K is not all a ones: i'.'ii -of price. It is solely a q'.iestion of supply. Lt;slat:on cn surely put a stop to proii ;eer:p. m the sale of food-siuf's. food-siuf's. If m l L. goes up a cent a cj'jart and children die in New York City In ! .or.se quence. ought there not to be a I law to stop "it? 1 Says Producer Is Singled Out. t why she : M the f o : d p rod 'jeer he singled out :"or the role or a puh-li puh-li benevolent institution . Wh. y not a Is" the producers of unessen:iai eom-'-odities. of amenities and luxuries? V nty deny the farmer alone the niar- '--rt pne of his later and skill? Why Vect him first to snpport the poor oi our s-eat cities? He certainly cannot can-not afford :t. One-third of our farmers farm-ers are tenants and own little or noth-ir.s noth-ir.s in the world. And of t h ose w h o own the farms they oi erate. only 3S per cent have them free of morta.gre. W'r.y attempt to reflate the prices of farm products? Iike other com-m-i:t:es, they will not be produced a all unless the producer sets a prica s if hcier.t to cover the cost of production pro-duction and a fair profit. The peo-o peo-o wr.o (iemand tne regulation of :?d prires reaiiy want low prices. F ;t low prices for anything' whatever i'i vrar times are utterly Impossible. Ard foodstuffs have rot gone up more than other commodities. Claims Rank Injustice. w h y s h o t: I d anyone want to la y hands on toed for the purpose of price r?g Nation? The problem is solving itself in accordance with economic" eco-nomic" laws, with results quite anaia.-eous anaia.-eous to those we find in the price advances ad-vances of other commodities. Do you want to penalize food producers by compelling them to sell their products prod-ucts at prices relatively lower than other producers? Is that the way to get food to win the war? That is madness, utter folly and rank injustice. in-justice. I repeat and reiterate that our food problem is one of enlarged production produc-tion and augmented supply. Price rising leads to the opposite results. We have tried that experiment with coal producers and the result is heat-less heat-less Mondays. We have tried that experiment with the railway companies compa-nies arid the result is a paralysis of transportation. We have tried that experiment with wheat and we have gent the price of corn above wheat, comnelling the farmer to feed wheat to his poultry and animals and dis-cou dis-cou rasing him in the planting of winter win-ter wheat. Danger of Starvation. I believe it no exasperation to say -it we are confronted with the dan-of dan-of starvation in the next twelve months. The energies of our farmers .12 mralyzed by price fixing and the fear of price fixing. Does the government gov-ernment want to stimulate agricultural agricul-tural production ? Then strike the shackle-s of? the farmer and leave htm free as otr.er producers. In the r.ame of common sense, of justice and o patriotism, 1 make this appeal to the president and com-mess. Food will win the war. Give the farmers a fair '.ham.-e to win it. |