The Farm Problem

Abstract

J OHN J. RASKOB, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is reported in the news dispatches to have said, East has never understood the farm problem. The farm problem can be stated very simply. According to the census of 1920 there are 41,614,248 persons over ten years of age engaged in gainful occupations, and of this number 10,953,158 are employed in agriculture. Twenty-six and three-tenths per cent of those who are working for a living are engaged in agricultural pursuits and they receive thirteen and eight-tenths per cent of the national income. The farm problem is simply this: How can the agricultural workers secure a fairer share of the national income? The causes which have operated to place the agricultural worker in this unfavorable position are numerous, and there is no simple solution for his difficulty. Before a solution can be attempted a clear conception must be obtained regarding the factors which have operated or are operating against the farmer in the economic scheme of things. While the agricultural problem has become more acute during the past eight years, it is really of much longer duration. The agricultural worker has never been on a parity with the worker in other lines of industry. In 1850, 44 per cent of those gainfully employed were in agriculture and received only 34.6 per cent of the national income. It is no wonder that the Institute of Social and Religious Research in a recent report says: Discontent is widespread among rural population. As to its cause, opinions differ, but the fact remains that rural life is not yielding the relative satisfaction it once gave. What are the causes which have operated to place the farmer at such a disadvantage with respect to other workers and to cause such liscontent?