The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 23, 1917, Page 10

‘Will Fix the Farmers’ Profits Ladd of North Dakota one of Commission to Set Wheat Price— R. E. F. LADD, president of the North Dakota Agricultural college, author of the famous ] bulletins on the milling value of wheat which have shown the robbery of the producers under existing grain grading systems, has been appointed by the United States food administration as one of a com- mittee of 12 to fix the price of wheat this year. The farmers are thus as- sured of at least one staunch friend on this commission, which is appointed under authority given by the food con- trol bill passed last week by congress. Farmers have not been given a ma- jority on the wheat price-fixing com- mission. There are four members who may be considered as farmers:; two represent organized labor, three are presidents of colleges, including two agricultural colleges, of which Ladd is one; two represent Big Business, and one is a member of the United States tariff commission. The personnel of the commission follows: Henry A. Garfield, president of Williams college, chairman. Edwin F. Ladd, Fargo, N. D, president of the North Dakota Agricultural college. William H. Doake, Roanoke, Va., vice president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Charles J. Barrett, Union City, Ga., president of the Farmers’ union. 3 Eugene Funk, Springfield, Il., president of the National Corn as- sociation. : R. Goodwin Rhett, Charleston, S. C., president of the chamber of commerce of the United States. J. W. Shorthill, York, Neb., secre- tary of the national council of farmers’ co-operative associations. James W. Sullivan, Brooklyn, N. Y., of the American Federation of Labor. L. J. Tabor, Barnesville, Ohio, master of the Ohio state grange. Frank W. Taussig, chairman of the tariff commission. Theodore N. Vail, president of the American Telephone and Tele- graph company. Henry J. Waters, president of Kansas state agricultural college. This is the commissidbn that is to de- termine the price and profits the farm- ers are to get for this year's crop. To maintain whatever price this commis- sion fixes the food administration has incorporated a $50,000,000 company, controlled by the government, which will take over all or as much of the crop as necessary to keep the price at the figure fixed. WILL BUY GRAIN FOR THE ALLIES The wheat corporation will'handle all allied grain purchases and will do the buying for the American government. If found advisable it will also serve as broker for the milling interests, pur- chasing wheat for the flour mills to keep the market steady. The allies will be required to purchase flour in- stead of wheat on the theory that manufacturing costs will be reduced and American industry encouraged. The government’s food administra- tion plan has the hearty approval of milling interests and Big Business gen- erally. Instead of going at the fixing of flour prices and millers’ profits in the same way as farmers returns are to be fixed, the government is going to depend on “voluntary co-operation” of the milling and elevator interests. The government has talen this at- titude, probably, in order to prevent the Big Business interests from fight- ing its plans. The government will try to make Big Business be good with- out absolutely taking over the big in- dustries. The plan is to get their co- operation in enforcing fair prices, and to check them up it intends to license all elevators, mills, ete. The attitude of the big interests to- ward the plan is shown by the follow- ing associated press dispatch: BIG INTERESTS LIKE GOVERNMENT PLAN “More than 100 representatives of boards of trade and exchanges and elevator systems came to Washington today for a conference with officials on the government’s plans. At the end of an all-day meeting they issued a statement approving the food admin- istration’s proposals. “Representatives of the millers also Government’s Food Plan is Explained President Townley in Montana This is a picture of the great farmers’ meeting at Stevensville, Mont., President A. C. Townley of the Nonpartisan league. met here today and named a commit- tee to serve with the food administra- tion in drawing up and enforcing the regulations governing flour manufac- ture. It is headed by James F. Bell of Minneapolis and has as its members eight other leading millers representing various sections.” Farmers’ prices and profits are to be actually fixed by the government, but an attempt is going to be made to have the interests that trade in and manu- facture the farmers’ products co-oper- ate voluntarily to maintain fair prices and profits. Whether this, will work remains to be seen. The farmers and the people generally have little con- fidence in plans for co-operation with the big interests that live off the toil of the producers. They would rather have seen these interests treated the same as farmers—their prices and profits actually fixed and the fixed prices en- forced against them, just as it is in- tended to do in the case of farmers. But these interests, intrenched as they are, have a tremendous influence on the government, and the food admin-’ istration had rather compromise and “co-operate” with them than handle them with the same rigid policy that it is proposed to use with the farmers. ROTTEN SYSTEM HAS BROKEN DOWN The food administration apparently has given little consideration to the rroposition of taking over and operat- ing as a war measure, under govern- ment control, all the mills, packing plants, elevators, warehouses and other industries that deal in the transporta- tion and manufacture of theé farmers’ produets. This is what the farmers gencrally have demanded. Instead “co- operation” is to be tried and it is going Will Discount Liberty Bonds Olof Ribb Thinks Public Will Have to Sell Them to Financiers at a Great Loss Donnybrook, N. D.’ Editor Nonpartisan Leader: The North Dakota farmer, last year, raised a crop that, in most cases, did not pay cost of production. Yet he has been sneered at and his patriotism questioned because he did not come up to expectations in subscribing for his share of the state’s quota of Liberty Bonds. The banker who invested his high priced money in a bond yielding but three and a half per cent interest has been praised as a citizen filled to the hatches with the most unselfish- brand of patriotism. But it would seem that, if the financiers of .this nation have a monopoly of the unselfish brand of patriotism, they would have assumed the entire issue themselves instead of proposing that the small investor take on part of the load with them. If so unselfish why so willing to let the small fry share in the glory? FINANCE UNSELFISH, WE ARE INFORMED The financier does not unleash his patriotism to the extent of unselfishly favoring increased taxes bn incomes and reasonable taxation of excess prof- its. He is not willing that the govern- ment shall regulate the price on the output of his factories, mines, ete., as the farmer is asking ‘government to do on the produce of his fields. And yet we hear that finance un- selfishly bought three and a half per cent bonds with money that could be made to yield much larger returns. The banks even tendered their services to the government, without charge, to assist in floating the bond issue among the publie—i. e. the small investor. The small investor again! Why so willing to extend this privilege to the little fellows even giving them an op- portunity to pay for the bonds on the installment plan with such sums ag they could spare out of their weekly or ,monthly salaries? Here is the answer: The “history of all similar bond issues is this: When the time came that the bonds were due it was found that they had drifted out of the hands of the little fellows back into the hands of the financiers who sold them. WILL DISCOUNT LIBERTY BONDS 2 The fellow who does his buying. on the installment plan always meets with a time when he is badly in need of ready money. The Liberty bonds are long-time bonds. The little fellows will become weary of waiting for the day when they become due. The in- come from his small investment will be of no appreciable value to him. He will g0 to the banker to sell his bond. Then he will discover that even unselfish patriotism can be made to pay, for the banker will say: “Your bond yields only three and a half per cent interest; money is worth ten; if I buy your bond I will have to discount it.” And he will get the bond at whatever discount he may ask. Which would make it seem that bond issues have a double charm in the eyes of the man who is seeking refuge from grim-visaged taxation. For taxation means cash out of hand when paid while bonds mean cash in hand when bought up. Or mayhap finance has contracted enlargement of the heart to such an extent that it will not make the small investor pay for his patriotism when he finds himself caught in a pinch? Hands up all who think so! OLOF RIBB. DEMOCRACY AT HOME Our soldier boys are crossing the water for the sole burpose of making the world safe for democracy—the only motive that could 11ake the war justi- fiable, but there is work along this line for those at home, ang these United States will also be democraticized, in- dustrially and socially,—CARRING- TON (N. D.) RECORD, PAGE TEN , attended by several thousand and addressed by Mr. Townley is shown speaking. X to be left largely to the “patriotism” of the great middleman’s system to be fair. The food bill gives the adminis- tration ample power to take over and operate under st/rict public manage- ment all thesc industries, and it may be that the government will yet have to resort to this, Even what the government plans to do, half-way measure that it is, shows how completely the system of marketing and transportation has broken down under the stress of war. F'armers have always maintained that the great middlemen’s system, which has Leen sucking profits from their toil and laying extra burdens on consum- ers also, was wasteful, inefficient and corrupt. Now these things, brought out more plainly by the war, are recognized by the people as a whole and by the government. Something had to be done to protect producer and consumer. Though the proposed regulation of the middlemen’s industries does not go as far as de- manded by the farmers, it is going fur- ther than business regulation ever has before in the United States. Now, it never before, it is demonstrated that our economic system is a farce—it can not stand up under the stress of war, and the government must come to the rescue to prop it up. A fair and economically sound system of food dis- tribution would not break down under emergency. PARASITES GET PROFITS Gradually but certainly it is begin- ning to soak into the minds of the farmers, wage earners and other wealth producers of the country that they are being made the victims of a huge bunco game by the government, in most of the elaborate war preparations now in pbrogress. Despite the efforts of the president and some of his more con- scientious advisers to give the pro- ducers a square deal the influence of the gamblers, speculators and other profit mongers, both in congress and in certain of the governmental depart- ments, iS so powerful that the privi- leges of capital and the profits of the parasites are being protected, while the rights of the workers are beng tossed to the four winds of heaven. And this tendency will Brow unless the workers and their representatives raise an angry chorus of protest against the bold faced assumption that the grafter is a patriot while the worker is a trai- tor.—DIRECT TRADER, Longbranch, ‘Wash. MOST ALL JOIN The farmers of the Deer Flat coun- try were guests of the Sunny Slope Farmers’ club Friday night, when Ray McKaig, field secretary for the Non- bartisan league, and W. G. Scholtz of Boise, former head of the state farm markets bureau, spoke. After the speaking ended, shortly before mid- night, refreshments were served, It is claimed that every farmer in attendance at the meeting pledged himself to the support of the League. The leaders claim to have enrolled 97 per cent of the farmers of the Deer Flat country in the movement.— STATESMAN, Boise, Idaho,