Published once a week at Palmer, Alaska for the Matanuska Valley
Farmers f Cooperating Association for the purpose of op.vin^ news
of the Associations work, problems and accomplishments.
TIGHTENING UP ON CREDIT CONTROLS
Events connected with the Korean war has changed the situation so greatly in the last
month that it now appears the fighting war may be over within the next few weeks.
The war came on so unexpectedly that no one except the enemy was really prepared.
The U. S. Found themselves practically unprepared for the military campaign and it
looked like our forces would toe forced to leave Korean soil entirely, however, a com
toination of Air, Naval and definitely inferior ground forces managed to harass the
enemy to such an extent that they were unable to push over the knock out blow. This
gave the U. N. forces time to build up sufficient strength to make the landing be
hind the enemy front, that paralyzed the enemy1s forces and permitted an early victory
On the home front there was terrible confusion too, first the politicians took time
out to accuse each other of being negligent in preparation for a war of this kind,
the State department and the Defense Secretary took a bad beating, which finally
ended in the resignation of the Defense Secretary, and the appointment of a man in
his place, that holds the confidence of the people. The State department is still
under fire, but so far none of the accusations have been proved against them. In
the meantime the President and the Congress have considered and acted upon many pro
positions that should build up controls where they were weak and will provide new
policies that will prevent so much confusion in the event of another war.
The same congressman who talked and voted for cutting taxes two years ago is now go
ing all out for higher taxes and appropriations for war preparations. The latest
guess is that the U. S. will spend about sixty billion dollars for defense next
year. This would be about four times as much as last year.
Wages and prices are going up for industrial products and workers, but prices for
farm products have gained but little. This is about normal for farm prices always
lag behind others when price raises come, and usually drop before the others too.
This puts the farmer in a position where he will not benefit a great deal by the
raise in the prices of the things that he has to sell, but he will have to pay more
for the things that he has to buy. He will also find it more difficult to obtain
credit for improvements and additional facilities for increasing production.
Now the big question that follows is, how much will prices drop and how soon? While
it is not always possible to predict the future by past experiences, it usually
proves out that when prices go sky high, they will eventually drop and usually some
one gets hurt when the fall comes.
In view of the trend of events it appears that it would be best to anticipate a
break of some kind soon, and the best way to get ready for it is not obligate ones
self by credit purchases. Keep the inventories as low as possible and still be able
to continue in business on a paying basis. Any great expansion on a speculative
basis would certainly be a risky proposition under the circumstances. Sell every
thing that you can at the higher prices and restrict purchases as much as possible
until prices come down. Remember that increased taxes are going to take a lot of
your income next year and it will take a long time to pay for the things that the
U. S. is going to buy in the future.
Let us not repeat the mistakes that we made after World War I.
C. R • R
According to a recent release from the
Alaska Health Dept, two children living
in a village near Bethel died within 36
hours after eating wild carrots. The
Health Dept, warns against eating any
wild plants with a thick root resembl
ing a parsnip or a white carrot or a
small dahlia tuber.
! All Foreign-owned property, or persons
having custody of foreign-owned property
! in the United States is required to be
I reported by November 15* 195>0. Further
information can be secured from the of
fice of Secretary of Alaska, Lew M.
Williams.