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Show Fundamentals for the Farmer The address made by Charles B. Shuman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, at that organization's organi-zation's recent annual meeting was notable by any standard. stand-ard. Mr. Shuman laid down a set of fundamentals that are basic to a sound and successful agriculture. The first is freedom to change to make shifts in farm operations in response to variations in supply and demand. That freedom, free-dom, he then pointed out, has been restricted by govern-; govern-; ment pricing and acreage control programs. : - A second fundamental and to many minds this will seem the most important of all is a free market for : farm products, a market in which farmers "... are free : to sell their products at any time, at any place, and in any quantity for the best price possible." One of the features of such a market, Mr. Shuman pointed out, "... is that it clears itself." And he gave us a concrete . example of this: "During the past year, we have produced livestock "and dairy products at an all-time high rate in a relatively relative-ly free market, and yet we have little accumulation of 'surplus' . . . Consumers have increased their consumption of meat, milk, and poultry products and farmers have marketed mar-keted the increased volume at prices which have resulted in Improved farm income." Still another fundamental is the opportunity to accumulate ac-cumulate capital and to own property. Here Mr. Shuman made a trenchant comment: "One of the greatest barriers to the accumulation of capital is high taxes. In turn, high taxes are a result of the public demands for more and more government services. Farmers have been as guilty as other folks in their demands for the subsidies and protection pro-tection that big government offers." This is but a brief summary of a long address that deserves de-serves the widest possible reading. Mr. Shuman pointed to the road that can lead to the greatest long-run material mater-ial benefit for the farmer even as he keeps his freedom. |