VALLEY SETTLER
Published every Friday rt Palmer,
Alaska, by tbe Matanuskn Valley
Farmers Cooperating Association for
tbe purpose of vinj. news of the
Association's work, problems, ac
complishments, fnews of local
anb general interest.
By---C,R. Rasmussen.
Subscription rates: Yearly.
The average Farmer is so busy
.vith things to be f'vne n the farm,
that he seldom takes time t anal
yze the c >nr iti ms unber which he
r-^uces the most cf tie fo--b an'’
clothing, that pr^vibe the c mf -rts
f existence f r the p'pulati.n as
a whale. h r several gene rat 1 ns
the American farmer comprizeb the
majority of our citizens. In fact
there were so man’- farmers in com*
paris.n t. other profess! ns or
trabes that the farmers wore en
g,ageb in a fierce competitive struc
ole, because they pro hiceb
mere than the rest ,sf the popula
tion c’culb absorb from their in
c mries.
Local
P.y he 11
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Immense cr ps different kind’s
were raiser1 on favorable years an'1
lar’^e err: unts went to waste because
'ne w'-ulr" buy it. There was an
balance'" condition that worker"
arbship n the farmers m're then
■in any rther class.
Our politicians trie'-1 to s~lve
*;his problem by securin_ f reign
fera^e an'5, while it v'elpe'" for a
while, it finally became useless
because rther countries were fucin^
the same condition, a nr user" the
same method, which finally r’isrupt
er" all worlc1 trae’e.
America's manufacturing facili
ties also increased as the t :tal
tra^e increase^. Put at the c n
clusion of the first VI ■rl'5 War, we
finally came to the point where we
C'ul'" pr ■r’uce immense quantities of
f coc" an r1 manufacturer" ^o- hs, but we
c'ulr"n't take pr-'r'ucts from our
customers in exchange, because we
wrulr" then deprive ;>ur workers nnr?
farmers of their markets.
We loaner5 immense am'unts of 71 n
ey to our customers anr1 finally
they her" to refuse paymen't because
they crulr" not sell their products
on the World Market, because we and
other lar0e countries were flooding
the markets.
The final reaction came in the
middle of the twenties bankers,
city workers ant3 farmers were all
victims of the adverse c- nditiona
that ensued.
‘With Government aid, the finan
cial interests were placer3 on a
sr-unr1 basis and the city w rkera
were provider1 with very profitable
employment and working conditions,
far in advance of any people in the
world. Professional men, m rchants
and service agencies received their
share of the new wealth, but the
farmer still received small ui
c ura6ement, and even as In*-'' as
1939, the largest number of - re
cl-'sures in the hist ry ; f or
farms, occurc3,
In 1940, our farm populati n a
mounted, to about 22% of the 3 tnl
ond on that year, the farmer re
ceived about 10% of the tut?1 in
come* Farmers, it is admitted,
work longer hours and dr. heavy man
ual labor, and yet at the s-mo time
must do considerable w rk that re
quires planning and book-keeping*
Ho must be a mechanic t a certain
[ ;:tcnt, while the rest of the fam
ily must help too. There arc no
paid vacations or Social Security
benefits either. That his r rk is
the most vital of all must be ad
mitted, for no nation can l$ve with
out fr»od or clothing. All together
the farmer represents the f unda
tion of the country and he is used
f r just that purpose* He has to
carry the biggest load of any part
'f the p pulationl As an e:u mplo
f his importance, we ni.^ht ask
what would happen If the West Coast
of the U.S. were invaded and we
wore unable t o sent3 supplier tc
Alaska? to ycu think that r<_- pie
w uld fleck to coastal citi h where
little food is producer’, or would
they Oo tc seme agricultural oc m
munity? Authorities admit that
f v od production in Alaska is im
measurably important, and that farm
ers should be helper’ where ever
possible. The U.S, Government has
provided ample fund’s to assist in
this production and it seems to us
that in view of the fact that so
much money has been ^ranter and loan
ed, at a l-'w rate >f interest, that
it is the duty of the powers that
be, t see that this money is made
available n terms and c nditi ns
that will enable every farmer who
'•''esires t do sc, to use it at once.
Placing unnecessary restrict! ns on
it's use and requiring sh rt time re
payments, will not be f much help,
(continued ?n pa^e 4)