National Affairs: Status Quo

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When politicians seek to legislate upwards and fix by law the prices of U. S. farm commodities, a man who wonders what price levels the politicians would recommend is Eugene Meyer Jr., the mentally mobile New York banker whom President Wilson called in in 1918 to direct War Finance Corp., whom President Harding called back in 1921, whom President Coolidge reappointed in 1925, and who last May was made chief of the reorganized Federal Farm Loan Bureau. In his inconspicuous office at Washington, he has received malcontents, and their political spokesmen, during three Administrations. His record of financial diplomacy and impartial advice has won him the confidence of all but professional farm agitators. In his opinion, there would have been no Farm Problem this year but for the election. McNary-Haugenites could not, in his belief, have hoped to fix "fairer" prices than the prices currently obtaining. None knows better than Banker Meyer the disasters farmers have faced, but he regards farmers who had not recovered from post-War depression as "the inevitable aftermath." No price-fixing laws would save them.

A symptom of the status of Agriculture often relied upon by observers are the earnings of the International Harvester Co., whose customers are farmers one and all. Since 1921 and 1922, when it slumped with Agriculture into deficits, International Harvester's earnings have been:

Year Earned per share

1923 $6.07

1924 $11.34

1925 $15.78

1926 $19.55

1927 $18.83

Last week there was talk of an International Harvester Stock dividend.

To give a broader picture of Agriculture's recent history, the Federal Farm Loan Bureau was asked last week for index prices on important commodities since 1920. The following average prices at terminal markets for June in the years named, were issued:*

Product, Grade, Market, 1920 1922 1924 1920 1928†

Corn, No. 3 yellow, Chicago, per bu. $ 1.89 $ .61 $ .82 $ .70 $ 1.03

Wheat, No. 1 Dark Northern Spring, Minneapolis per bu. 3.01 1.53 1.37 1.67 1.63

Rye, No. 2, Minneapolis per bu. 2.14 .86 .70 .89 1.24

Oats, No. 3 White, Chicago, Per bu. 1.13 .37 .51 .40 .63

Hay, Timothy, No. 1, Chicago, Per ton 42.75 23.00 25.20 24.75 18.50

Hogs, heavy, Chicago, per 100 Ibs. 14.67 10.51 7.20 14.00 9.10

Cattle, Beef, Choice or Prime, 1,100 Ibs. and up, Chicago, per 100 Ibs. 15.93 9.50 10.86 10.26 14.58

Cotton, middling, Cash, New York, cents per Ib. .393 .221 .300 .185 .206

^{*Source: U. S. Department of Agriculture.

†The prices for 1928 are for April.}