With the advent of artificial silk, Japan read the handwriting on the wwalland rapidly developed other Industries, This is why the country as a whole is enjoying unusual prosperity despite the sufferings among the farmers. But prosperity in the industrial areas is not helping the peasanto much. The government fixes rice prices to suit the consumer. The manufacturers of artificial silk make it impossible to raise the price ff the genuine produce even to meet the cost of production to-day. The farmers, caught between these two Aisappointing factors, are in a sad predicament, ig not alone in the markets abroad that prices have slumped. Domestic prices have dropped in proportion to the increase in artifelal production, which has been Something phenomenal in the past two years. The only saving grace is that" the quantity of' sales has_not dropped anything near the rate of decrease in prices.
With silk selling at a loss, the farmer has no hope of paying his tremendous debts or even to keep up the interest on them, much less. purchase now fertilizer, and supplies.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.