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Show Let's Face Facts Steadier Farm Incomes Throughout the World Proposed in New Plan By BARROW LYONS I WNU Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, D. C While American industry is strengthening its position in world trade through promotion of international inter-national cartels, it might be a good idea for farmers to take a look at the world agricultural situation to discover how their interests are involved. in-volved. First, however, if there is any doubt about the future of world cartels, car-tels, think back F to the days in the SN f early 1890s when 1 liberals and pro-i pro-i . 1 gressives were v?S A 1 shouting ' against : J ' the "trusts"-) ' yV ! ose great indus- ) " I trial and banking w "SJ combinations that '"f l 3 bossed congress 1 and legislatures, U.aitWJ an(J generally Barrow Lyons showed a "public be damned" attitude atti-tude toward consumers. In 1910, the industrial commission, commis-sion, the first congressional body to investigate monopolies, held that great combinations of industry were here to stay, and that it would be inadvisable to "bust" them. Control Con-trol in the public interest was recommended. There may be some question as to how effective social controls have been, but the great combinations are still here. We have reached a similar point now in relation to international cartels. car-tels. We are not going to break them up, no matter how much our liberals may desire it. In fact, we are going to assist in the organization organiza-tion of cartels, possibly before the war ends. Farmers Must Decide Obviously, it is time for farmer to begin to think internationally in respect to agriculture, for if they don't, the food processors will do their thinking for them. Let us take a brief look at the wheat market, for that is still the chief farm product prod-uct in international trade. Lee Marshall, WFA director of distribution, on a recent visit to Kansas Kan-sas boasted that on July 1 we would enter the crop year with a carryover carry-over of about 300,000,000 bushels of wheat compared with about 40,000,-000 40,000,-000 bushels on July 1, 1918, during the last year of World War I. But what happened after the last war? Almost every nation during the war increased its wheat acreage, and after the war surpluses began to pile up year after year until the price of wheat was so low, no wheat farmer could operate profitably. profit-ably. We may dispose of this surplus sur-plus to a hungry Europe, but world wheat productive capacity is today far beyond world economic power to purchase. Now we are seeking security of farm income. If there is a world surplus of wheat after the war, as there is very likely to be after a few years of rebuilding, it will require re-quire a lot more than passing a few laws to keep wheat at parity. Depression for wheat farmers would be like an infection which recognized recog-nized no national boundaries. Insurance Fund So the idea has been advanced, that an international insurance fund be set up to protect agricultural income in-come throughout the world from the extremes of the economic cycle. This fund would perform three extremely ex-tremely important functions: 1. It would obtain from participating participat-ing countries periodic reports on production, inventories, current marketings and probable demand for agricultural commodities which enter foreign trade in largest volumes. vol-umes. These data would make possible pos-sible the determination of normal production, consumption, price levels lev-els and trends, and would form the basis for intelligent international and national planning in relation to the commodities covered; 2. The fund would stockpile agricultural agri-cultural commodities that are important im-portant in world trade when crops were good, and distribute these when crops were poor, thus creating more even flow of materials entering enter-ing world trade. This would have a stabilizing influence to world commercial com-mercial relations. And, 3. The fund would accumulate cash through assessments on national nation-al governments, when income was high, and distribute cash when income in-come was low, thus helping to maintain main-tain more stable income and purchasing pur-chasing power for the great mass of producers of agricultural products prod-ucts throughout the world. This idea has been worked out In some detail by Dr. Morris A. Cope-land, Cope-land, chief of the munitions division, bureau of planning and statistics of the War Production board. Probably by the time Dr. Cope-land's Cope-land's plan has reached the diplomatic diplo-matic level it will be something altogether al-together different But until something some-thing like this is done, the danger of chaotic world agricultural conditions con-ditions will be a distinct threat not just to foreign farmers but to every American farmer as well If, through his farm organizations, organiza-tions, the American farmer should take an interest in international income in-come stability, on a reasonably high level, he would be moving in the direction of self-protection. |
