Agricultural relief: Agricultural relief

Bibliographic data

Multivolume work

Identifikator:: 1831932415

Document type:: Multivolume work

Title:: Agricultural relief

Place of publication:: Washington

Publisher:: Gov. Pr. Off.

Year of publication:: 1928

Collection:: Economics Books

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Volume

Identifikator:: 1831935244

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-232156

Document type:: Volume

Title:: Agricultural relief

Volume count:: Pt. 8

Place of publication:: Washington

Publisher:: Gov. Pr. Off.

Year of publication:: 1928

Scope:: III S., S. 591 - 642

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Statement of B. F. Yoakum, New York City

Collection:: Economics Books

AGRICULTURAL RELIEF 5903 now on a population basis—living off of 32,000,000 farm population. The distributing costs are twice as much as the farmer gets for pro- ducing the food, and this will continue so long as the farmers remain unorganized for united marketing. Local marketing means nothing. 1t only means they get together, cooperate, but it means no stabiliza- ion. Now, here is something that is interesting on account of its rapid growth. There are now $500,000,000 invested in food-selling cor- porations. This situation is growing rapidly, which will further have a tendency to actually grind down the farmer. The financial cor- porations organized on a big scale to purchase farm raw products and distribute to consumers with or without being processed, as conditions demand—they sell both raw and processed—financially strong, well-managed corporations, find no difficulty in placing with the investing public securities of large dairy, poultry, bakery, and other combinations. The securities of these organizations are excep- tionally safe investments for the reason that such corporations con- trol prices both from the farmer and to the consumer. That is, they make their own prices; they therefore can make their own profits. That is nothing in the world but a simple business propo- sition—they establish their own prices, therefore they establish their own profits. I am not criticizing these farm product corporations; they are based on sound and profitable methods. There is nothing to be gained by criticizing them, because they are to-day a thing that is with us, a situation that we are faced with. We have them, and they are doing a wonderful big business. But considering you as a producer and my- self as a consumer, there is only one place that those great corporations can hope to make money, that is to take your stuff as cheap as they can get it and sell it to me as high as 1 will pay for it; that is, as high as the business will stand. The criticism, which is a severe one, is that the Government has been neglectful in not enacting a permissive law under which the farmers can unite their strength under boards of control, with power to stabilize profitable prices of organized farm commodities. In the absence of such authority they will soon find themselves entirely under the dictation of a few purchasers. That is where we are drifting. Corporations engaged in purchasing farm products to distribute to consumers have outstanding more than $500,000,000 of stocks, and bonds sold to the public, paying coupons and handsome dividends from farm products distributed and sold to consumers, including milk, butter, poultry, bakeries, etc. I do not want you to get alarmed: I am not going to take up much of your time. Mr. CLarkE. We are not alarmed. I think this a wonderfully in- structive talk and a long-headed view of a difficult situation. Mr. Yoakum. I want to show you, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee; I want you to understand that I have made a study of this—no organized study, no corporation study, but a study that IT have made for the purpose, whether it is of any value or not; and I want to place the actual facts before you. I want this com- mittee to understand the facts as they exist. ~~ I have given you the amount of these securities issued; 1t runs a little mors than $500,000,000, and these are by the best bankers of the United States. There is no questioning these things. In one

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