The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, September 20, 1920, Page 3

IN THE INTEREST OF A SQUARE DEAL FOR THE FARMERS Entered as_second-class” matter at the 17 Minneapolis, Minn,, under the_act of Mm?xghG Sinclasfl‘)? Ucatiggdnddrau. 427 mis'l‘x‘th uea:xeri.. Minneapo! nn, ress rel nces e Nonpartis: Leader, Box 2075, Minneapolis, Minn, Po = VOL. 11, NO. 8 Nonpartisan Teader Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan League—Every Two Weeks OLIVER 8. MORRIS, Editor. MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, SEPTEMBER 20, 1920 A MAGAZINE THAT DARES TO PRINT THE TRUTH fled - ra One year, in advance, $2.50; six months, $1.50. Clas- 8i rates on classified page; other advertising rates on application. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. 8. C. Special Agency, advertising represen- tatives, New York, Chicago, St. Louis,” Kansas City. WHOLE NUMBER 2556 . Farmers Losing Millions on 1920 Whedt Crop S THE Leader predicted when, with government approval, the ‘grain exchanges resumed gambling operations, their entire machinery is being used to depress the price of grain and Jower the farmer’s return. Later, when the crop is held by specula- tors, the same machinery will be used to raise prices. _But besides depressing the price, an ordinary phenomenon, the grain combine has introduced a few new wrinkles this year. On the grain exchanges at Chicago and Minneap- Buying' Real Wheat oli_s there are two kinds of wheat on which at the Price of prices are quoted. One is “‘cash wheat”— Yanch actual wheat which is sold by some firm aginary Wheat which has bought it from the farmer and which is delievered to the miller or ex- porter. The other kind of wheat sold is future wheat—imaginary wheat expected to be delivered in December or later. The price on the -actual wheat may be to a large degree deter- mined by supply and demand—the commission men -who bought from the farmer have to sell their wheat and the millers and export- ers have to get it. But the price on future wheat represents merely what the grain combine expects to set in December or later. The farmer in the Dakotas who sells his wheat to the line ele- - vator is emphatically selling cash wheat. He is delivering actual kernels of Marquis, velvet chaff or durum, wheat that can be weighed on the scales, ground into flour and baked into bread. The farmer emphatically should receive the cash price. But what is he getting? J. A. McGovern, chief deputy grain inspector of North Dakota and in charge of the state-owned mill at Drake, bared an ugly situation when he denournted the policy being followed by line elevators everywhere this year. This policy was to base price cards on Minneapolis quotations : for December wheat. . On September 1 the cash price of No. 1 northern at Minneapolis was $2.55, while De- cember wheat was selling at $2.32. The fact that North Dakota prices were based on De- cember wheat meant that the speculators were stealing 23 cents on every bushel of North Dakota wheat they were buying at these prices. The North Dakota crop is es- - timated at 70,000,000 bushels. If the buyers ‘ got it all at the future price they would have stolen $16,000,000. But the speculators won’t steal quite that much this year in North Dakota. ©One reason is that the state-owned mill at Drake is buying-all the wheat that it can handle, at prices based on the Minneapolis cash price, and the other reason is that Mr. McGovern has exposed the theft, and the fight on behalf of the farmers has been taken up by the North Dakota Leader and the Courier-News ~ of Fargo. This already has resulted in the price cards being modified on the basis of the - “to arrive” price, about halfway between the cash price and the December price. of the December price is a halfway victory for the farmer. But “to ar- rive” wheat is also selling for less than cash wheat. Is there any real reason why the farmer should be penalized at all? Herbert Hoover, former food administrator, speaking in Minneapolis the other The Railroad day, said: “If the 10 or 15 Problem and GETTING the “to arrive” price instead cash wheat now commands . the Real Question THE ETERNAL QUESTION | it has been handed back to its “owners,” is in the worst condition in the history of the United States. Farmers can see for themselves how transportation cqnditions affect their _poc_ketbooks, HAT is to be done about the existing situation? It is no use appealing to the government—all control over the grain exchanges has been ended and Secretary of Agriculture Meredith expresses the hopeful idea that the law of supply and de- mand will solve all the farmer’s troubles. But Mr. McGovern says: The only way to stop this robbery is for the farmers to hold their wheat until the grain men will pay the market price. The pres- ent low price of wheat is not justified by marketing conditions, but is solely due to the manipulations of the grain speculators. Farm organizations of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Mis- souri also are distributing literature showing that the cost of rais- ing wheat in these states is $2.77 per bushel, and urging farmers not to sell until they get that price and What Can We Do enough additional to give them 23 cents a About It? That I bushel profit. In other words, they urge ut it 1hatls ;,lding for $3 wheat. This is splendid ad- vice. But how many farmers have storage » facilities? North Dakota has been making a brave effort to get its great terminal elevator completed in time to hold the 1920 crop, but car shortage and coal shortage, due to car shortage, have prevented the delivery of cement and the big elevator will not be ready before next summer. g In addition, the federal reserve banks have sent out instruc- tions to their correspondents that all farmers’ notes must be col- lected immediately following the harvest, which means that thou- sands of farmers will be compelled to throw their grain on the market, thus making a still lower price for other farmers. - Let’s get down to brass tacks. Holding the wheat is all right for those who can do WHEM THE more men in state office, in congress and in other official positions at Washington, we know a few things that would happen. storage facilities for farmers’ grain, such as there will be soon in North Dakota. Next, the federal reserve board wouldn’t insist on.closing out the farmers immediately following the harvest, thus playing directly into the hands of the grain speculators. 5 Finally, under any plan of government ownership there would be economical an efficient management of the railroads. But what is the use of talking any more “ifs.” All these things can be brought to pass if the farmers will only get out and vote their men into office. AND THAT’S * WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO! HE Chicago Board of Trade has I started an advertising campaign in the so-called “farm journals’ intend- ed to convince farmers that the speculators are their best friends. The first ads, headed “Co-Operative Marketing,” make the as- tounding claim that Board of Trade these grain gamblers Trying to Win %‘11':: trule co-operla;toxl's! AN ir is -t t Public - Opinion S T Ao alone; their argument is this: There must be it, but too. few can. But if the farmers had In the first place there would be ample cents a bushel premium Wheat Prices over wheat sold “to arrive” were saved the farmer by speeding up transportation, its sum total would be nearly enough to run the govern- ment.” ; e Mr. Hoover isn’t a government owner- ship advocate, but he has to admit that the transportation system of the country, since —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris. Morris says: “I am indebted to A. N. McCombs of Cadiz, Ohio, for the idea of the above cartoon. In a letter to the Leader he says: ‘For thousands of - ‘years the farmer has stood in the market places of the earth asking two questions, How much will you give? when he has something to sell, and, How much will you take? when he has something to buy.”” . PAGE THfiEE a national market place for grain, the board of trade supplies a market place, therefore the board of trade must be preserved with- out change for all time. A weaker argu- ment can hardly be imagined. There must be a national market place, it is true, but why should the speculators control it? Why not the producers and consumers? :