The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 25, 1918, Page 6

= wind of this letter. They sent delegations to see their home-town bankers. “Do anything like that and we’ll start runs on your banks,” they said. The bankers took no action. The newspapers took a new tack. They would report in east Texas that some farmers’ warehouse hundreds of miles away in west Texas was selling its cotton; in west Texas they would say that in east Texas the farmers were selling out. This suec- ceeded in scaring some of the farmers, but most of them still stuck. The cotton gamblers resented the fact that the farmers had taken up the selling end of the game. They refused to pay 15 cents, which represented the cost of production. The farmers refused to sell for less. The cotton kept piling up. A million and a half bales of 500 pounds each were held by the farmers. October rolled around. The price kept going up—it seemed sure that the farmers- would win on their 15-cent proposition. And then something hap- pened. What happened was the financial panic of 1907—a panic made to order by the bankers, if there ever was one, Money was not to be had for any price; great business enterprises failed; hundreds of thousands were thrown out of work. BOTTOM FALLS OUT OF COTTON MARKET There are various theories about what caused the 1907 panic—that it was a scheme of the Steel trust to get control of the Tennessee Coal & Iron company; that it was brought about to insure the election of a ‘“safe and sane” president like Taft in 1908; that How cotton looks delivered at a cotton yard at Waco, Texas. blizzard, the heaviest snowfall Texas has seen for 20 years. accounts for the loss of millions of dollars worth of southern cotton annually. it was intended to squeeze out some “bulls” in the stock market. But down in Texas they don’t accept any of these theories. The 1907 panic, in the view of the farm- ers of Texas, was brought about solely by the cot- ton gamblers, through their New York connections, to break up the farmers’ holding movement in cot- ton. There is much to support this view, the previ- ous interest that had been shown by the New York banks in the proposition, the fact. that cotton is the greatest gambling commodity in the world, the fact that the new farmers’ movement was the most far-reaching and revolutionary plan of its kind that had been put into effect. But whether the 1907 panic was brought about-to beat the farmers or not, it accomplished that purpose. Cotton was forced on the market. The price started to drop. Calvin, in charge of the central When this picture was taken the cotton was standing in four inches of snow left by a January’ Lack of warehouses warehouse, was forced to sell some of the cotton that he held to protect his other holdings. He tried to protect the farmers by hedging, that is, by buy- ing options on cotton futures to replace what he had to sell. But word of the selling was spread, pressure from the banks which were forced by Wall street to get money was too strong to resist, other cotton was forced on_ the market, and the holding movement collapsed like a big balloon that is pricked. And with the holding movement the Farmers’ union of Texas collapsed too. For the big financial powers were shrewd enough to see that the way to prevent the farmers from organizing was to make their organization unsuccessful. During the period of its success the Farmers’ union of Texas had grown enormously. The present president of the Union told the writer that records were in such shape that an accurate statement of its membership at this period was impossible. However, it is generally estimated that in 1907 the Union had a Texas membership of close to 150,000. The next year it faded away to a small portion of this number. INTERESTS DETERMINED TO CONTROL UNION Why had the farmers lost-in their attempt to hold cotton for a fair price? Largely, it seems, because they did not have control of political affairs at the same time; largely because they did not have control of financial affairs. If the bankers of Wall street had been deprived of the power to plunge the country into a financial panic the cot- ton holding movement would have been (Continued on page 21) Congressional Body Holds Hearing on Nonpartisan League Measure to Loan $50,000,000 Direct to American Farmers Washington Bureau, Nonpartisan Leader OHN BAER, Nonpartisan league congressman, went before the house committee on agricul- ture recently and pleaded for a little help for the farmerg who are ready and willing to raise more spring wheat, more cotton, more fruit, more potatoes and other crops, and more cattle this year, but who have neither money nor credit with which to do it. He said frankly that congress alone must bear the blame if the farmers of this country fail to raise a maximum of wheat and meat this season, for the need is clear to everyone who has eyes to see or ears to hear. Wheat rust and drouth have left tens of thousands of Western farmers without a dollar for farming operations this spring. The gov- ernment alone is in a position to set them on their feet. The government is responsible for America’s - producing enough food to save the allies from famine and theljeby to save the world for civiliza- tion. “It is up to you, gentlemen,” said John Baer, facing the members of the committee. “Something must be done. A famine is inevitable if you do not act. When the famine comes the people will hold you responsible. Make no mistake about that. “Do not delude yourselves with the thought tha.t we may blunder through some way. A famine will come. It approaches us now. If we have a short crop this year, Germany will win the war.” i Baer’s resolution, known as H. R. 7795, proposed that $50,000,000 should be appropriated by congress, to be leaned to farmers in the states where crop fajlures had occurred in the past two years. This money would buy feed and seed or other immediate farming necessaries for those farmers who would otherwise have to sell off their young cattle or would fail to plant‘ a maximum acreage of spring wheat and . cotton. BAER REVIEWS WORLD SITUATION FOR COMMITTEE He introduced it before the North Dakota legis- lature had met in special session and provided for the emergency needs of North Dakota farmers, by enlarging the county bonding act. He told the com- mittee that since no other state has a farmer legis- lature, none bhut North Dakota can be expected to take care of the difficulties of the farmers this year, and for that reason congress must do something quickly. He estimated that the farmers of Mon- tana, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and other states . would need help to tiie amount of at least$20,000,- i e e e S e A et ST SN POE B0 et (o S B S 000—about half of this to be spent for seed and the other half for feed for the cattle and horses. Baer reviewed the world’s wheat situation—how the winter wheat prospects in the United States are bad; how the supply from India and Australia is virtually cut off from the rest of the world by lack of ships; how the wheat producing areas of Europe have been made unproductive by*war; how the average production of spring wheat in this country must be.almost doubled, in the -face:of a labor shortage due to the war, if we are to send wheat enough to our allies to enable them to keep their armies alive. “In other words,” he said, “37,000,000 acres of land for spring wheat will have to be used this year if the total of a billion bushels of all wheat, demanded by the Allies’ situation, is to be grown. “The farmers have patriotically striven in every way to increase production. It was hoped that the winter wheat acreage this year would be at least. 47,337,000. That it will not exceed 42,170,000 acres is due to unfavorable weather, shortage of farm labor and other adverse conditions which have been especially marked in the Southwest and Northwest. “No time is_to be lost, considering that the planting of spring wheat must soon begin.” HOOVER IS QUOTED TO SHOW NEED FOR BILL ~ As to the method of handling the money, so as to get it quickly into the hands of the farmers, Baer said that he had the assurance of the members of the federal reserve board, whom he addressed at. one of their meetings, that the federal reserve banks and their member banks everywhere could handle it immediately, and without additional expense. He asked the committee to get the direct advice of the treasury officials on that point. : He quoted this from Food Administrator Hoover, under-date of November 28 last: “ “A field of necessity for action has arisen, if we are to promote production to its proper level. Re- cent failures in the wheat crop in the Northwest and some other points, and the great drouth in the Southwest, with consequent cattle famine, all re- quire constructive handling, if production in those quarters is to be maintained.. I think the govern- ment should make a considerable appropriation for the purpose of making advances to' farmers, who need the advances, against crops and animals." He suggested that Mr, Hoover should be invited to come before the committee a.nd testfly on - this AG‘E BEt - who backed his appeal. 3 There was John A. Simpson of Oklahoma, presi- measure. The committee later decided to call on Hoover for his opinion. The members of this house committee on agri- culture are: Lever of South Carolina, chairman; Lee of Georgia, Candler of Mississippi, Heflin of Alabama, Rubey of Missouri, Young of Texas, Jaco- way of Arkansas, Lesher of Pennsylvania, Doolittle of Kansas, Overmeyer of Ohio and Thompson of Oklahoma, Democrats; Haugen of Iowa, McLaugh- lin of Michigan, Anderson of Minnesota, Wilson of Illinois, Ward of New York, McKinley of Illinois, Young of North Dakota, Wason of New Hampshire and Hutchinson of New Jersey, Republicans. BAER PRESENTS RESOLUTIONS OF FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS Ten of the members were present during the day’s hearings. None of them expressed any opposition to Baer’s main point—that congress should imme- diately provide money for the ‘farmers who need it in order to plant more wheat and raise more beef this year. Chairman Lever suggested, however, that Baer might get action quicker by applying to the appropriations committee. He confessed that he did not want to “adopt any policy for dealing with a war emergency which will be very hard to with- draw from when peace comes.” He asked whether it might not be better to give the seed to the farm- er, under an arrangement whereby the farmer would agree to sell his crop to the government, than to provide the farmer with seed on credit. Baer answered this by -showing that it would not : meet the problem of the cattle growers, who want feed for their young cattle. Lever saw the point. As soon as the Nonpartisan Leader published the fact that Baer had introduced this bill, farmers - throughout the West began to write to their con- gressmen, asking them to work for its passage. Baer gave the committee the memorials adopted by the Texas Farmers’' union and. the South Dakota Equity union, urging its adoption. After he had been questioned by Young of North Dakota, Young of Texas, Haugen of Iowa, Anderson of Minnesota and McLaughlin of Michigan, the Nonpartisan league congressman gave way to other witnesses - dent of the Association of State Presidents: of Farmers’ Unions, farmers were “up against it,” and that “you haven’t a crop that you can expect to increase in the next - year, unless you mc;'ease sprlng whea 54 Baer Urges His Bill Before Committee Simpson gaid that Oklahoma He urgeé ‘- [ DS