5 APRIL 1930, Page 3
The object in all these proposals is plainly to protect
farmers without tariffs. So far as that goes, we approve, but the fact must be faced that all attempts to stabilize prices by purchasing and storing grain are risky. The Brazilian Government was thrown off its balance for years by an attempt to stabilize the price of coffee. Nature inconsiderately provided a " bumper " crop when it was not due 'and thus upset all the calculations, So, again, in the United States, so much grain has been stored that a bad harvest would be hailed by the stabilizers as a blessing. Such a paradox is a sufficient proof of the delicacy of these adventures.