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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1924)
The Foundation WheClt GrOWers’ Editioti Th* ^hr'y Tur OMAHA RFF Built on the Farm A AJLi V/l»A/aA AliL LJLjLj Given the Manufacturer VOL. 53—NO. 32.. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 20, 1924. FIVE CENTS ____i ■ ■ ■ • ■ - Wheat Growers Must Demand That Help Which Only Government Officials, Congress and Railroads Can Give 1. They Must , HaveanAde- ! quote Tariff. 2. Then Must Have Ex port Rates Adjusted to Meet Canadian Rates. 3. They Must Cut the Wheat Acreage 20 to 25 Per Cent. Then They Can Sell Wheat on a Domestic Basis at Prices on a Par With Other Domestic Prices nCH has been written ami much nore has been said about the American wheat farmer and the •ondition he faces as a result of .off price for his w'heat in the face of continued high prices for every thing he buys. Unfortunately, a great deal of this writing and talking has been wide of the mark, much of it based upon the fond hope that the general level of prices will somehow come dowrn to the level of farm prices. In the judgment of The Omajia Bee. the expectation of a fall of general price levels is worse than a fond hope, it is a mistake. Every indication points to the continuance of the present increased standard of living. Time for Farm Inventory. The farmer must stop planting and marketing blindly. He must build his ac tivities upon the same foundation as the manufacturer. High prices for manufactured prod ucts, high wages for industrial workers are good for the farmer—if he will but organize to put his product on the same high level. The manufacturer operates behind the security of an adequate tariff, and properly so. Industrial labor operates behind the security of a restricted immi gration law, and properly so. The plain duty of the farmer, especially the wheat farmer, is to go and do likewise. What Must Be Done. This, then, is the program urged by T:.e Omaha Bee: 1. Aa adequate tariff. 2. Readjaalneat ef freight rate* far the parpote af giriag a lewar ratq far eapert wheat. 3. Reduction hy 20 te 25 per ceat af the wheat acreage. 4. Sariaae ceacideretiea ta he gieaa ta the ■uggestioa af Secretary Wallace af the Depart meal af Agricaltare looking ta the argaaiaatiea, under federal ceatrel, ef a cerperatiea ta haadle export wheal. The effect of these steps will be to put wheat on a domestic basis. The sale prices in the American markets will then be on the same foundation as the sale of manufactured goods ^ —those products which the farmer buys. Menace of Surplus. The heavy hand which now rests on the American farmer is the wheat surplus. Not only the surplus raised in our own country, but the surplus raised in Canada, the surplus in Argentina, in Australia, in all the countries of the world, including Russia, which is rapidly reaching an export basis. Lower export rates are essential, but these will not cure the difficulty nor raise the heavy hand of the surplus unless there is an adequate tariff to keep the surplus raised in other coun tries from pouring over our borders. Tariff to Protect Home Market. ^ Reduced acreage is essential, but we can cut our wheat crop in half and still we will face the surplus of the world, unless there is an adequate tariff to keep it out ' MORE sacks:: ro ngresF^ OfTARlFF)^' When water caniee aeer tke levee tke ealy way te keep it eat it te raise tke karrier ky piliay sacks *f sand. Tke barrier ayaiast Ike wkeat from Canada mast kav* "mere sacks ’ b« Ah export corporation, established by the federal government, could handle the American wheat for export, but the American wheat farmer would continue at a disadvantage, would still be compelled to sell at world prices unless an adequate tariff is provided for his protection in the same manner as an adequate tariff is provided for the protection of the American manufacturer. To Establish ladependent Prices. Give the American wheat farmer an ade quate tariff, give him lower export freight rate? and cut the wheat acreage, and his wheat will sell on a domestic basis, at a domestic price. Then the American wheat farmer can ab sorb the higher wages for farm labor, can pay fair domestic freight rates, can farm profit ably on his higher priced lands, can pay the high prices now required for everything he buys. Then we will see our splendid Amer ican prosperity spread out over our west ern farms. Then we will have achieved thai greatest need of the nation, a happy, prosper ous, contented family in every farm home. Not Matter of Credit. Co-operative organizations among the farm ers are valuable, but they cannot bring full relief. Adequate credit facilities are essen tial. but more than credit is needed. Credit is of small value when wheat is selling be low tie cost of production. Credit disappears in bankruptcy when there is no profit on the farm. I.et us look at some of the facts. The total world wheat crop in 1923, ex cluding Russia, is estimated at 3,400,000,000 bushels. This exceeds the 1922 production by 300.000,000 bushels and is greater by 500,000, 000 bushel? than the pre-war production v Before the world war Russia exported annually about 1G 4,000.000 bushels. It will not be many years until Russian wheat is again in the world markets, at probably an even greater export level Canada’* Crop 1* Problem. Canada produced during the prewar years 1909-13 an average of 197,000,000 • bushels of wheat a year. During 1923 Canada had increased its production to 470.000,000 bushels. This production will be still further increased. The Do minion government is following a con sistent policy of attracting immigrants to her western wheat growing provinces At the time of the extension of the Canadian railroads into western Canada the dominion government gave them large cash subsidies and land grants and in re turn demanded and secured the present low rates to the head of the lakes. Local and short haul rates in Canada, as is shown on another page of this issue, are as high, and in some instances higher, than rates in the United State? for similar distances. Canada has only about 9.000.000 in uabitants. yet her farms produce a wheal crop greater than half the American pro duction. We hare a population to feed 12 times as large. Canadian wheat, therefore. must be exported. Keep Out Surplus. i’he wheat production in the United State? ui 1923. including carry over In the form of both wheat and flour, is estimated at 893. 000,000 bushels and it is estimated that ol this we exported between 130.000.000 and 140.000,000 bushels. Thus, it is self-evident that we must keep nut the surplus from other countries, especially from Canada, from which country it could mo?1 easily be dumped across the border, were there no tariff to prevent it, and we must eliminate onr own surplus by reducing our acreage. In spite of the best laid plans, however, sur plus wheat will be raised in the United States therefore, the need for lower export rates to meet similar export rates in Canada. What Figure* Prove. Attention is called to the special articles on the wheat tariff, the export rates, the reduction of acreage and other phases of the wheat farm ers’ problem that appear in this i*sne of The Omaha Bee. It will be well ror wheat farmers to keep this issue as a permanent record in order thal they may have before them at all times the chief facts upon which their future prosperity depends, as well as the steps necessary to be taken to insure that this prosperity will be achieved at an early date, and once achieved, normanently maintained. The data in this review of the wheat tanner's condition are gathered from varioi> sources, including government reports, market reviews, and the record of freight rate- fr v hoth Canadian and American radroaiU.
