Economic and financial section > Agricultural crisis > Volume 1

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the character of direct administration of commercial undertakings by the Governments.
Sometimes a number of markets are dominated by a few large firms with a system of
approved correspondents throughout the world.
Russia, the largest European producer, has a State monopoly. A State monopoly
has been founded in Norway, and similar monopolies are in preparation or under
discussion in a large number of countries. In Switzerland, the sale of national production
is centralised in the interest of the producers.
The idea of the co-operative sale of wheat is accepted in a large number of countries.
Agriculture is being organised commercially for the accumulation and conservation of
stocks and the common sale of grain. This commercial effort is supported and
encouraged by the State. The weakness of the agriculturists’ individual resources is
supplemented by co-operative organisations.
The organisation of the Canadian pool finds eager imitators. In the United States,
the Federal Farm Board is endeavouring to organise the marketing of agricultural
products and their joint sale. Australia is studying the advantages of establishing a
compulsory or optional wheat pool.
In Europe, Poland founded a union of cereal exporters in 1929. Yugoslavia set
up a privileged joint-stock company in 1930 for the export of agricultural products,
with a view to co-ordinating the hitherto scattered activities of the exporters and the agri¬
cultural co-operative societies. This company has taken over the bulk of the trade
in cereals. Bulgaria has set up a similar organisation. At the Belgrade Conference
(November 1930) the agricultural countries of Eastern Europe which export cereals
took steps for the establishment of national organisations, and for the organisation
of co-operation through the intermediary of a central office with the task of fixing
prices and terms of sale.
While the sellers are uniting in defence of their interests, the purchasers are also
organising. National organisations bearing a close resemblance to import monopolies
are in preparation or in course of formation in a number of countries, and the number of
small mills is diminishing. There is an almost complete disappearance of the merchants
in whose hands the grain trade lay before the war. They used to be the bankers of the
agriculturist, accumulating stocks when the supply was large and feeding the market
when there was a shortage. They played a valuable part as intermediaries between
the farmers eager to sell and the millers anxious not to buy more than they required
owing to lack of money or storage room. They enabled reserves of grain to be formed
which were always available. Nowadays, they have ceased to act as regulators of the
market. The large milling concerns, whose activities are greatly increased, now in
practice regulate the market by purchasing or abstaining from purchases in accordance
with the instructions of their central organisations.
The growing movement towards concentration in the modern flour trade is already
a source of anxiety to certain groups of producers and consumers, although the flour
trade has just as much interest as agriculture in the maintenance of stable prices, and
would prefer a steady uniform return on its labours to the hazardous profits of the
speculation with which it is too freely charged.
In the majority of European countries, the trade in cereals has thus attained,
or is on the point of attaining, such a degree of concentration that there would seem
to be a possibility of the conclusion between national bodies of agreements on other
than Customs questions — for example, agreements to avoid sudden and violent
fluctuations of prices as and when desired by the countries in question. Arrangements
of this kind are already in force in other fields of production, and even in connection
with agricultural production. An agreement was concluded in 1930 between Germany
and Poland for the export of rye. It has proved effective in preventing the fall of
prices from attaining the dimensions which it would certainly have assumed if the
competition between Germany and Poland had led to stillfurther depression of the market.