OCR Text |
Show Farm Land Speculation Is Threat to Agriculture Government Warns Fever of Land Buying Would Start Another 'Unhappy' Economic Cycle for U. S. By BAUKHAGE National Farm and Home Hour Commental Y '.or. WNU Service, 1343 H. Street, N. W. Washington, D. C. Farm income cash income will be nearly $11,000,000,000 this year. That is two billions greater than last year. Money to burn! And the burning question in Washington Wash-ington is how to stop the conflagration conflagra-tion before it starts. The chief danger dan-ger is another prairie fire of farm land speculation such as started out in Iowa in World War I. First there were wash sales. They were publicized. publi-cized. Real sales began' which sent farm prices up to the blue skies and which ended by making a farm mortgage the cheapest form of wall paper. Two years after that World war started, the prices of farm land rose 5 per cent. Not much later they leaped a hundred per cent and more. The eventual collapse was forerunner forerun-ner of the depression. Today, two years after the present pres-ent war started, farm land prices are up 1 per cent. That isn't so bad but the government is already worried enough to consider it worth while trying to start a back fire in the hope of preventing a recurrence of the unhappy cycle which began 25 years ago. When Governer Black of the Farm Credit administration called in the farm mortgage bankers, the insurance insur-ance people, farm organization representatives rep-resentatives and others in the rural real estate field he simply reminded them that when the government loaned the farmers the money to bail them (the mortgagors) out last time, it was done on appraisals based on normal values. Now it is up to the real estate people to make their afppraisals on normal values, too. That means on figures based on the relationship between farm products prod-ucts prices and other prices established estab-lished for the years of 1914-1918. A million farmers who were loaned money by the Farm Credit administration admin-istration during the depression have repaid their mortgages. Those farmers farm-ers are keenly aware of the danger dan-ger to agriculture and to the whole economy if a fever of mad land-buying starts again. They will help stop it, if they can. The government govern-ment will do all in its power in the way of education meetings will be held the house organ of the Farm Credit administration which has a million circulation will carry the warning. The real estate operators have indicated that they will cooperate. co-operate. Whether money to burn will burn the farmer is still uncertain. In the end, stopping another drunken orgy of land speculation and the terrible terri-ble headache afterward depends on the word-of-mouth message of the individual. in-dividual. The burned child fears the fire but there Is always someone to urge him to risk a blister for the delicious chestnut he sees roasting on the coals. Policy Orders A ction Silence "As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I order the following follow-ing policy carried out at once: our patroling vessels and planes will protect all merchant ships not only American ships but ships of any flag engaged in commerce in waters wa-ters which we deem necessary for our defense. American naval vessels ves-sels and American planes will strike the first blow against Axis submarines subma-rines or Axis raiders on the surface sur-face of the sea." This communication In substance was transmitted to the office of the secretary of the navy from the White House a few weeks ago. There it was immediately translated, trans-lated, first into naval language and then into code. Over land wires to the wireless towers near Annapolis it was flashed to ships of the United States navy on the seven seas . . . It is early morning. A thin steely light spreads across the horizon as the U. S. destroyer "Blank," a part of the Atlantic patrol, rides the easy swells. On board, the smooth routine rou-tine goes on with its clock-work monotony. mo-notony. But there is the ghost of a grim smile exchanged between the captain and the executive officer they have both read the coded message mes-sage recorded by the wireless operator op-erator a little while before. Three minutes later the ship is galvanized from galley to crows-nest. A strident gong has sounded. The bos'n's whistle is trilling high above the wash of the waves and the whirr of the engines for the word has come down from the lookout: "Torpedo track sited. Starboard bow. 4-0!" The gong sounds that might mean any emergency but before there is time to wonder the order rings out "All hands to general quarters." Before the gun crews have ripped off the site covers, the executive officer of-ficer has reported to the captain: "Battle stations manned, sir." The "torpedo track," a ribbon of white moves forward toward the destroyer de-stroyer at the rate of 1,000 yards a minute. But the tube of high explosive explo-sive itself, which is sending up the tell-tale "track" of bubbles is 40 yards ahead of the nearest one that shows it takes some time before be-fore those bubbles can reach the surface. sur-face. The bearing of the torpedo is verified veri-fied and the destroyer swings and leaps "full-speed-ahead" to meet it. Not because the captain wants to contact the whirring death-bolt head-on, head-on, but because there is less chance of a hit if the ship shows its beam instead of the length of its hull as a target. And the objective of the destroyer de-stroyer is a spot as nearly over the' point where the submarine is submerged as it is possible to estimate esti-mate it. That point is reached for the torpedo has missed its mark while ears are glued to the sound-detector sound-detector straining for the noise of the sub's engines. "Release depth charges." Down go the "ash-cans," one after another; mounds of water rise; the sound detector is deafened. The destroyer, de-stroyer, turning sharply, returns to the spot and releases another series of charges. The roar dies in the detectors. There is silence. And that is the end of the story. Perhaps it is the end of the submarine. sub-marine. It is quite possible that no one will ever know what happened until after the war perhaps not then. And even if some tell-tale piece of equipment is blown from the inside of the sub and reaches the surface, that does not mean that the public will know. At least not for a long time. Seasonal Glory In National Capital Washington is standing on the threshold of its seasonal glory "October's "Oc-tober's bright blue weather," the month of beauty in the capital. Already the early morning sun comes down in soft blue bars and August's heavy carpet of shadow on pavement and lawn is thinned to a lacework pattern as. the leaves shrivel shriv-el and drop. Gardens have faded but there is one hardy bush (Rose of Sharon?) which blooms before the more modest mod-est doorways. A cross between a hollyhock and a morning glory it is hardier than either. The city wakes with a new vigor now that the tropic days are over. Women government workers are out with a brisk step for a last stroll with dogs or babies, whichever they possess, before they go off to the "office." Landladies straggle homeward home-ward cheerfully with their bags and parcels. But trolley cars still lag and jerk, packed to the doors with the new thousands who crowd the sagging city with the clerks of Mars. Suez Canal Symbol Of British Power Symbols are often more powerful than facts or things in influencing the public. The Suez canal has always al-ways been considered Britain's lifeline. life-line. It is the symbol of Britain's sea-power, of the bonds that hold the Empire together, of British achievement. And yet the canal is as much French as British, both in construction construc-tion and control. What is more, months ago it became of highly questionable value because for weeks at a time it has had to be closed as a result of attacks from the air. Long ago shrewd Britons realized that they must prepare for the eventuality even-tuality of the loss of the Suez. At least five years ago a book was published pub-lished pointing out that in case of war Britain must be prepared to protect ship routes around Africa. |