VALLEY SEiiLER
Published once a week in Palmer, j
Alaska for the Matanuska Valley
Farmers ' Co-operating Association,
for the purpose of giving news of |
the Association's work, problems
and accomplishments.
By---Lucille Le Due
per year
per copy
$1.75
10
i
PRICE STABILIZATION
AND I HE FARMER ;
The manner in which the control
of prices .and wages affects the av-'
erage farmer is not too well known.^
There has been serious discussion j
by the lcadors of various farm
groups which indicated that there j
is not full agreement as to the do-!
sirability of such a program. As
is well known, tho reaction of the ;
cattle growers has been definitely .
against such a program. Whether
.the livestock growers have been j
selfish and self-centered is a
question for debate, but it would ;
appear that there might be some
reason to think so. In fact, it is
doubtful if any single important
group is more interested in the j
welfare of the Nation as a whole,
than they aro in their own inter- ,
osts. i
Farmers complain that they are
being forced to pay more for every-i
thing they have to buy, and yet
they are not 'getting much more for i
the things that they have to sell. ,
There is a lot of truth in this j
statement, but it is not entirely I
true as some farm products are hi^aj
er than they wore and some of the
things they have to buy are not any;
higher or only slightly higher ac- i
cording to government reports.
!
Now, if we can put all politics i
aside and look at the matter from I
the long range standpoint, it seems,
the farmer should gain more by hav-i
ing a fair price control than they t
would if prices were allowed to go
as high as the market will permit. .
P/hen inflation sets in uncontrolled!
it seems the farmers are the last
to benefit and the first to suffer.i
Due to the fact that so many farmers^
are unorganized, and their business'
methods so poor, it usually means
that they are still selling their i
products at a cheap price while the!
manufactured articles they buy have;
gone up. The farmer is not in a
position to take advantage of high
er prices bocauso ho doesn't have
the know how or the ability to con
trol the markot. If inflation goes
out of bounds, the farmer will be
forced to pay pricos all out of pro
portion to the pricos he will re
ceive for the things ho has to sell
There is talk about a business re
cession again during the next six
months. If this occurs, we will
probably seo the prices of most
farm products tako a big dip, as
most products will have to be sold
on the immediate market because the
farmer is not prepared to hold his
stuff for any length of time. At
the same time the so-called big
interests will hold their surplus
off the market and wait until the
prices come up. This is the way it
usually works and it will probably
happen again.
It is true that most of us don't
like the idea o£. government control
because'it mean's that a large bunch
of small time bureaucrats will be
placed in charge of our merchandis
ing. While thoy arc supposed to be
public servants and are being fed
from the tax funds, thoy usually
try to place themselves way above
the people who feed them, and be
come little despots who know noth
ing except to take orders from the
bigger bureaucrats who direct the
movement. The big bureaucrats are
usually politicians who arc out to
build up something good for them
selves, and, so a vicious circle is
formed that will hang on like a
leach. The question is which is
the greater cvil--uncontrolled in
flation or the bureaucratic offic
ials. It seems to us that the
things to be gained by controlled
inflation, arc greater than the
dangers of the rule of the bureau
crats. After all, the bureaucrats
have to live too, and if they make
conditions too intolerable there
will be a rebellion. There is so
much danger in a big rise in prices
to the economy of- the Nation, that
it would be best for tho farmer to
support price control as the lessor
of the two evils.
We arc now engaged in the most ox
pensive program this government has
ever known. The program to arm our
selves for the defense of our count
ry will continue for a considcrahlo
length of time regardless of any
local events that might have a tend
ency to slow it down or stop it. Wo
might just as well accept the fact
that we are spending immense sums
of money. It is putting larger sums
of money in the hands of the workor
and farmer, and it will mean infla
tion. The farmer should bo in bett
er shape to meet the collapse of
con'td. on 3