The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 28, 1915, Page 2

g SER AT B . s PAGE TWO Land Slipping Away| Whole World May Be- From Actual User Into Hands of Monopoty A thoroughly competent investi- gator recently reported that in 27 Georgia counties 70 per cent of the farms were occupied: by tenant farm- ers, 20 per cent by owners so haavily in debt that they were hardly any more independent than tenants, and only 10 per cent by independent farm- ers. In Texas, according to a report of the industrial relations commis- sion, there are 200,000 farms culti- vated by tenants. These comprise, according to a Texas state official, about 52.6 per cent of the total num- ber of farms in the state. “The time has come,” says Special Investigator Holman of the industrial relations commission, as quoted in The New Repubic, “for the people of this government to realize that its land inheritance is slipping away, and that ownership i1 becoming concen- trated into the hands of a limited number of individuals.” The south- is peculiarly liable to these depressing conditions, but no part of the Union, even California, is entirely safe from them. Unlzass some decided check is given there will be: a constant tendency for staple farming to be done on large areas owned by do-nothing or absentee: landlords, and for the more intensive farming to be carried on by small owners tied hand and foot by a re- lentles; system of private credit. - In 1910 about 94 per cent of the farm acreage of Maine was operated by owners; in the same year, less than 55 per cent of the farm acreage of California was operated by own- ers. Of the total number of Cali- fornia farms opeiated-by their own- |- ers only 60 per cent were free from: mortgage. - Thus less than half of our, already toe few working owmexrs held their land: free from encumbranee. Many, more, it is probable, were in the habit of anticipating their crops by going inte debt from year: to year. This is one reason why it takes sa much money every year to “move"” the: crops. R ; : In California irrigation is almost everywhere ‘either ' a necessity or a great economy.. Land which will pro- duce fairly - well without irrigation. will yield lavishly if a- little water is poured upeon: it during the-dry- sea- son. Irrigation: hasito be carried: ow; usuelly, in co-operative: fashion; either. by veluntary asseciations; = by the state, or by the: federal government: This circumstance, together with eths: THE NONPARTISAN LEADER come As One City; New Peace Poli-- cy Planned t San Francisco, Oct. 12.—*“The whole | world is to become one city, and in fact it is already one. Our individual | -life;,. as. our puhlic life, is deeply jn- ‘ternational. There are no self-sup- porting countries. The far-reaching economical consequences of the great war have made this fact obvious to everyone.” ‘With these ‘'words, Senator La Fon- taine of Belgium, winner of a Nobel peace prize, opened an address on “World Organization” here today be- fore the International gress. Herbert S. Houston, president of the Ad iClubs of the World and chair- man on Information of the League to Enforce Peace, said: “No nation, however isolated, can any longer have either peace or war |, unto itself alone. “Each of the leagues abroad is com- posed of several nations for not one nation among them all is strong enough to withstand the shock of war alone. And not a single nation among them all, at least among the: strong { enough to maintain a separate peace.. great powers involved -was U. S. Takes New Stand. “Here in America at last', with all of our traditions and policies of iso- lation and freedom from entangling | alliances, we are grasping this truth. Even the Monroe doct;vine, which we long held as an exclusive possession, we are willing te share with other nations of this hemisphere. Argen- tine, Brazil, and Chili have been act- ing jointly with us on our invitation, in seeking to bring calm and safety to distraught Mexico. “The League to Enforce Peace, ‘standg’ for peace through interna- tional forces. It believes that law should: take the place of war in set- tling, differences b:tween nations. ‘It may tend to clarifying my theme to state briefly the four proposals that have been widely discussed in ‘reference to an international or world court. Hague .Plan- Ome Way. “First there is this Hague pro- posal of 1907 for a court of arbitral jnstiee~judiciary machinery without provisiom: to- have it used. “Second, ‘ the. proppsal that nations Peace Con-| Significant Things in Events of the Day Income Tariff Law|Secretary Homsfon Fellows Come Aeross By Gilsen Gardner | failure of the: income tax law tio pro-| 'vide the revenue expected of it. It has produced only 9 per cent of the government’s revenues. The rest comes from taxes on necessities. In- 'stead of raising $100,000,000, the in- come tax law, including the corpora- :tion tay, has produced a scanty $60,- .000,000. } Why? Are the incomes lacking, or ‘are the people dedging? This is the question now fairly up to congress. Evasion of the law is' no doubt the janswer. The government is getting lonly a small fraction of what it should in taxes on large incomes. Searecy is Obstacle The secrecy provision is the prin- cipal obstacle to the law’s enforce- iment. Nohoedy knows what his neigh- ‘bor pays. If he is successful in fool- ing the uninformed officials of the treasury department, his neighbors will never tell, for they do not know. A student of income tax laws in .this: and other countries has. submit- 'ted figuresi to the treasury depart-| ment to prove that the law is;met adequately enforced. He says: .. “The value of the products—thhlggis 'to say, the net income—of the Unifed States. per annum- is reckened: at ot iless than. $40,060,000,600. The aver- tage income of 90.per cent of the i%— ilies in the United States does not ex- ceed $600 a year. Therefore, the share of the total products which are en- {oyed by the 90 per cent does not ex- ceed $10,000,000,000. It is nearer $6,- 000,000;000. The other $40,000,000 is enjoyed by the 10 per cent, and most of it does not get past 5 per cent. Loss by Deception “If the rates prescribed by law were paid on this 30 to 40 billions, the income: tax collected would be 10 times the amount now: collected. In other words, nine-tenths of the in- come tax due is lost by reason of the: successful deception of the very rieh ‘tax dodgers.” Critics of the income tax adminis- |tration believe the law’s fatlure to be ‘due to lack of publicity, an attemgt |to enforce: the law by a corps of po- ‘should: hind themselves ta use suehlitical appeintees, failure to institute by this drop in whest. Failed to MakeBig | Spoke.Too Seon: No Good Dr. David F. Houston, seerstary of Washington, Oet. 15.—Talk of is-|agricu1ture, had a painful experience suing bonds or increasing tariff du-| with the grain market, and especially ties has attracted attention ta thejjthe wheat marke, recently. When the war in Europe began the average price of wheat on-the farms of the United States was 76% cents.._ When the war was seven months old; April 1, the average value of wheat on the farm, taking the wheat statas the country over, was $1.31, and the price at the big wheat markets was from $1.50 to $1.75 or higher, accord~ ing to the grade. When the magnitude of the 1983 crop in the United States became reasonably safe to count up, the hig operators in the exchanges began to. hammer down wheat prices, and the' average value the country over drop- ped to $1.06. Predicts 30-Cent Rise. It was about this time that the secretary of agriculture, approached by a newspaper man for an interview, gave it, and in it ventured the pre- diction that the wheat farmer of the United States would: find his wheat this year worth 30 cents a bushel more than when the war began, or a profit on the 1,000,000,000 bushels of this year’s crop of $300,000,0600. - Of this figure that $120,000,000 would be ‘“velvet” for the United: States because the experts in his de- partment calculated that 400,000,009: ‘hushels of this -ecrop would be sold to foreign buyers. : Held Back Interview. For sime reason, however, the news- paper. man in question held back his. Houston interview, and when he fin- ally printed it, the average value of wheat on the farms had dropped-- or been hammered further down— from $1.06 to lezs than 91 cents, so that the farmer, at least, will not get $150,000,000 of the $300,000,060 profit, and the United States harvest off the Buroppan buyer, instead of being $120,000,000, promises to be cut to $60,000,000. : Minnesota Farmer Suffers. The Minnesota farmer, of course, was hit even harder than Pr. Houston On Aug. 1 his wheat was worth—or seemed to be—$1.25 a bushel on the farm; but it was not ready to: market. Sept. L a court:in: settling their differences— [Prosecutions. undeér the penal clauses|it had dropped: to $I, and Oct. 1 to- ‘an” agresment, without prowisien to iof the statute and unwillingness of | gg cents, which, as- the Minnesota: ‘enforee: it. ipolitical appeintees 'in the treasury|farmers this year - raised 72,760,000: ‘« “Plind; the propesal that nations|department to antagonize the[bushels, meant a loss of $18,190,000 ‘shonld bind: themselves to. jpintly use:|iwealthy: men and interests making up| during August and $10,206)400 during ers: which will suggest. themselves to| gox experts sooner tham to-laymen, ma cheap ‘credit abselutely ' necessary.. The cheapest cm'ait_ isr thut furnished by the state at. cost. It is: to the: state’s interest to. do' this,” hecause: it is to the: stately inferest to: have: tending benefit: of better cultivation; great - production; - and: sounder- citi- zenship. No one can doubt that Cal- ifornia would be the wealthier today if’ the majority. of the foot-free la- borers: who: plant and gather the varieus- crops were each doing the same: for himself on a farm owned by himself, and living with his fam- ily in a clean and decent home, spect for government can not be ex- torted from men without a “stake” in the community. . The state as a creditor does: nob endeavor . to: tyrannize over its debt- ors, as the gré&;;mnney interests: do. The state has a.far-reaching eye. Its long time: integgéflts, which are the only ones: it need consider, are-the same: as thess: of the faymen. Sta credit can be used to develop, not to destroy, to I b & S “Private eapital 3 ol ‘withi ancther nation: to: the coust he- ‘fore: geing” to war—a: definite: plan to ‘put international force behind af : ¢ “Fouvth; a propesali that nations:| a free farm: population, with. the: at-|’shoultd ‘not: only establish: the: court | (and require it to be: usedi but shouldl|/cent penaity for convealing has: baen put behind its decrees their com- bined power—this of course, is a pro- rosal to make the judgments of the ‘world. court as mandatery interna- (tionally as are those of a national :mation.” swells along with his checking ac- -eount. court,” within the boundaries of a A wheat gami:ler’s head often ilegitimate field, but it can not be: genenous. or. far-sighted: enough to be trusted. with a process of such vast. ‘importance as the peopling and: utili- zation:of-the land. Its:motive; by the | rules. of the game, is profit, andi prefit is not a. safe metive ta tis: up tor when the welfare of a great.ecommun-: ty is at stake—San Francisco Bulle- (the: bulle of the dodgers. ision. of the: treasury department. have: been: devoted mestly to checking eh- vious errors or ewvasions disclosed: oni |the: facts of returns woluntarily made. Cheoking of E: E In some cases: the sa-called: 100" per ‘imposed, but in no case have the au- thorities undertaken prosecutions un- der the criminal clauses. The officials take the ground that it is practically 'immpossible to get evidenee; to prowe: ‘intent” to. disobey the law. POLITICIANS OUR FRIENDS, “Those fellows that turned us down at Bismarck last winter . were our friends—though- they didin't know it,” said a Steele county: farmer, recently: “That slap in the face we got is go- ing to mean more in actual dollars and cents to us farmersthan anything ‘that has happened in North Dakots: in the last ten years. It has woke September; or a.slump of $28,396,400: ‘| in- two menths.. _September was: not such a bad .month for the: NMerth BDakota wheat farmer, accerding: to: reperts to Dr. Housten, for the price of his wheat ‘dropped: only 3 cents a bushel—dur- ing: September. It had dvopped 33 cents, however, during August. He lost only $4,283,460 during Serptember, and had $47,118,060 loss in August,. which makes.a tumble of $51,400,000 during the two: months. . South Dakota farmers:lest 26 cents in- August and' 9- cents September on - each of their 60,588,000 bushels of wheat, or a $21,200,000 drop for the two months. g TROUBLE AHEAD. The: persen: pupular_ly. known: as the head of the house turned his key in the door and entered as quietly as possible. “Where’s ‘your mother?” he whis- ‘up: every last man:in: the) state.. From fpemed as his: young son appeared. now on we: can: geb. togethey and: do |’ - 'something, It put. fight into every|waiting upstairs in the war zene, and = |1 think shels got yoar range” N. Y. . _ World: e Z imanjack ‘of us. And tha' !