OCR Text |
Show MUST STIMULATE AGRICULTURE, SAYS JARDINE The farm situation is improving but is not yet on a satisfactory basis, according to W. M. Jardine, Secretary of Agriculture. The proper balance must be restored between products and other commodities, com-modities, and national effort should be made to stimulate agricultural improvement. Writing in the September issue of the National Republic, Re-public, Mr. Jardine says: "It is obivious, therefore that a very important piece of work is the restoration of a proper balance between the prices of farm products pro-ducts and the prices of other commodities. This can be brought about by adjusting the volume of production to the needs of the mar- ket. This is something we must always keep in mind even at the time when prices seem! to be satisfactory, for satisfactory prices have a persistent tendency to unbalance production. "Of course, this is not the only means of bettering the farmer's income. 1 believe also that it is possible to get better returns through more efficient organization and management of farms. It is becoming becom-ing increasingly necessary to inject more sound business principles into in-to agriculture. They were not so important in the old days of free land or cheap land, but, now that land values are high, only the man who applies business principles to his farming is apt to succeed. "Although the farmer has been working his way out with considerable consid-erable success, I am not of the opinion that no effort should be made to stimulate agricultural improvement. Obiviously there are some things which may be done to assist the farmer. Attention needs to be given to taxes and freight rates. Taxes on farm property are high, the increase from 1914 to 1923 being approximately 140 per cent. In that same period the value of farm products increased only fifty-eight fifty-eight per cent. The federal government, under the leadership of President Coolidge, has made definite headway in solving the tax problem, but an altogether different angle is the local tax problem, which needs reducing applications." |