The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 9, 1915, Page 2

i R T i i { i | 154 1 H i i i i TWO THE NONPARTISAN LEADER Writer In Kansas City Professor Opposed To University President Post Advccates Help For The Farmers By H. G. Waltner, in Kansas City Post: I read in the Post recently two ar- ticles pertaining to the farmers and some of the adverse things-with which they have to conterd. This is a ques- tion to which great papers like The Post as well as the rural press, should give intelligent study- amd thought; for the prosperity and welfare of ull the pople depends on; thte products of the farm. = The Post advocates, and rightly, better wages for‘labsr: But whizt dees it profit: the workers to g:it Ligher wages, piroviding the prices of tle necessities to custain life increase faster than wages as they do under our prefent- inefficient, wasteful and obsolete method of distribution. of food products? In one of the artic- les in The Post the writer refers to the menace of the large farm holder and the floating renter. These two evils are the product of our poor mar- keting methods: Produces Floating Renters The floating renter is not such from choice, but. for the reason that he cannot market what he produces at a profit where he is, so he moves with the Lorp of battering his condi~- tion elsewhere; but unforticnately,th condition: of marketirg his produce in proportion to the cost of produc- tion is as poor in one secticn as an- other, so he keeps meving on until e loses what little he kaz. Then he drifts into seme town or city and becomes a day laborer, oftin in- creasing the numebr: of unemjyoyed. Conditions have changed greatly in this contry in" the past fifty years, but our method of marketing the farm products are much tke same. Little Help Tor Producer. We have through our legislatures rassed many laws to prctect and en- courage timid capital, but we have done little to protect and encourag: the producer of food produets from the farm. This is the one thng that directly affects every man, woman and child in our state and nation, for we must all have food, or perish. It is true a few years ago: congress passed the Leefer bill, which is mn- tended to help the farmers. This work is under the supervision of our state university. It has resulted in good, as far as the board eof cur- ators has gone in teaching the farm- er how to produce more from the soil he has to work. With the farm- er it is not a question of producing more, but to be able-to market more of what he already produces, and at a price that will let him make a. lit- tle more than a bare living. Finan- cially does this hold, true as to vege- tables, fruits, berries, etc., of every deseription, of which the farmer that does not :live adjacent to large con- suming centers under our present method, can market only a very small part of what he produces and that at a price which barely pays the cot of hauling' to" town-and often-not: In our last state legislature, C. U. Becker from Polk county introduced a state marketing bill, but on account of the opposition of representatives from the large consuming centers who wished to protect the benefici- ciaries of our present system the bill never had a show to become a law, or even to get contideration. Marketing. Bilt:Good: Move. This was an effort in the right di- rection. Let us hope that this bl with some changes that will make it more efficient. and broader in its scope as to marketing may be en- acted into a law by the next legisla- ture. The question of marketing is so large and important: tke state ‘Sharpless.:said ‘the .school system of Advocates Coop- eration For Farmers Military Training InColleges And Schools Philadelphia, Dec. 7.—Military Chicago, Dec. 7.—Cooperations as training in schools and colleges as the first and important step in the propo-ed reorganization of American agriculture along lines that will bring lasting presperity was- pietur- part of a propaganda of prepared- ness was opposed by Dr. Isaac Sharp-, less, president of Harvard College. eg by Frank L McVey, president of A serting the danger of war in tpe state university of North Dako- America was about as-remote as an 4y gnd chairman of the third nation- earthquake- in Philadelphia, Doctor ;) conference on marketing azd farm _credits, in his: address of welcoming the delegates today. He argues for better agriculture, better markzts and better financing and said, in. part: Seine Things iveedtul. the natioh should, be left unhamper- cd to teach rcal world leadership. He declared military training is not the best form of exercise for grow- ing beye. ’ “If military training,” sald Doctor Sharpless, “meamt a return to the produced in a given year agriculturs timple life and ordered habits, it was to be credited for $9,000,000,- would. deserve well of the country. 000, and that 36 per cent of the pop- But is either the will of the con- ulation of the United States is en- science made better by the military gaged in farming or supported by it. process? Despite this showing agricaltur> Saoys Geeen Fisids Better for Boys taken as a wlole, has not prosery2red. “Military training, to begin with, It is agreed that there must be does not involve the best form of ex- changes, which may be centered a- ercise. A grean field filled with bout three things: i boys in the zest of pleasurable con- «(1) Better agriculture, (2) bet- test is the ideal form of exercise. ter markets and (8) better financi “The contagion of militarism now ing, abroad in thiz country is an emotion- al’ outbreak that may pass. But it may do harm in the meantime. Lead- ership in the world, is not necessarily a matter of powerful military foree. Leadership such as we would teach in the schools may be had by means far more wholesome. Take the cost of one battleship and gpaut in the field .a few thousand lecturers of the sort that boy- like to listen to, and, “Better agriculture is fairly well taken care of through tke work of the department of agriculture indtde activities of the farming asso:ialiéfl_\ and by the schools and collegés. But it has been clearly shown that better agrieulture deperds upon ‘an adequate system of finance. Improfi» ments have taken place in the quiek- - er transportation of preducts and in teach them the ideals of c t’zenship. prompter financial - service. Yet Soirit of War With Us these have not touched the real pirit of War Wi 5. oo, ; “One hurdred, years of pacificism have ennobled and crystallized one standards of public and private mor- ality. Another such period would ex- alt these standards to the heights. “Though we are now free from war, the spirit of war is with us. We are im a period of triumphant militari-- ism. I have heard of men who hopc that the war will continue long, be- caue it will mean more and more profits to them. We have a lessening of moral preceptions, new groups of millionaires of ursavory reputations. These things and the things that nay follow may be our chastisement.” “Between the farmer and tte con- sumer there is a great commercial and financial gap. In tte mercantile world this gap between the produ:- er and the consumer is bzing bridg- ed rapidly by the establishment of the necestary machinery of branches and agents. But, the farmer is play- ing the game alone and finds it in- creasingly difficult to proteect him- self against his own ignorance and isolation. “The farmer should come to a larg- er appreciation of the necessity of cooperaion, between the agricultural groups. It is not a question of soc- jalism or individualism of Democracy should take hold of it, as the people or republicanism, it is a question of cannot hope for relief from those effeciency and social betterment. who control and are the beneficiaries The Financial Element. OF JOuE prescng sys‘tem, Eil Uesigs “There is still a third element in some method by which waste of food _, . PP S A this problem to bs considerzd. ‘Fin- products will be eliminated, thus al; i ; ] B ancing the farmer’ has been discuss- lowing the producer to market all : B . A ed nearly everywhere. ‘Without of his products in some form or other ti e and giving the consumer the oppor- ques wnlno gt h dy at P - tunity to obtain the necessities to ETES8 Unless At haS AN aosquare o tem of finance. The. commercial sustain Hf ; i af:o:&ntox :a;t 4 pricecthay; fe Toan world long ago learned this and the g - 3 farmer must come ‘into a clearer ap- .Befler Marketing Neodod. - preciation of its meaning. As yet, If all the food products on th3 po plan has been attempted and no farm were marketed that now go to getails have been made clear. It is waste the high cost of living would & time that both be done. be eliminated. The producer will fare better because he-will get something jng to solve the farmer’s problem for what now rots in the field or or. o, Lim. He must do that for him- chard. The consumer will fare better cqf Nor will he solve it by his ?il‘h;hcin] get more and better food .j,ppich attitude of class spirit. The mit hi:1 tns}:v agesl? rt_r:;anstwfll p'el:, problems are fundamentally econom- Siite eoole ui' fi,.e. te giie glv:;_ ic- and must be based upon sound D B SISy, AV DK, (AL principles of business and finance. upy-to-date system of marketing, and' : it will do away with the floating rent- gs{; cg eooperptiod becottsn the Ky er, for he in a short time, will own a farm of his own, and in time it SRS e will greatly reduce the number of Various theories are offered: for the large farm holders instead, of increas- recent advances in the cost of liv- ing them as it now does. Farming ing, but our own pet theory is that will' be stimulated, and the call of it is due to: the closing of the Pana- “back to the farm’ will be answered ma Canal. - You.remembar._how thz by thousand; the soup houses and opening of the Canal reduced the bread lines in our towns and, cities cost of living, don’t you? Neither do will disappear. } e we.—Columbus Citizen. In the first analysis, no one is go- RICERIR I — Significant Things in Events of the Day Munitions Factories Take Hired Hands Away From the Farms New York, Dec. 7.—Dairy farmers are experiencing the greatest difficul- ty in obtaining men to milk the cows, so short is the supply of farm labor, owing to lure of high wages in muni- tion plants. If the war la§ts until spring, the situation to be faced by: the farmers will be serious. It is an imrpssibility for the dairy- men to obtain xtv;‘be help they need. “Floaters” who have been obtained with ease at employment agencies i the big cities, are all working in the munitica factorice, side by side with the country boys and the regular farm ‘We are told that of the weallh }f:nss_hn s 5 Farin Wages Increasing. Wages are rising in the rural dis- triets, but not fast enough to meet the inducements offered the men, in the pewder mills and other war-or- der plants. Where a farm hand was glad, to get $10 a month and keep one year ago, today he is demanding $18 a month- and in some instances $20 and “found,” In some quarters it is being predicted that the farm- ers will soon be forced to pay the high seale that obtains in the far west, namely, $30 and $32 a month and found. Immigrant wko under ordinary con- ditions .would find their way to the . farms. and. mine.i are now being of- fered blg pay to work in the muni- tion institutions,. angd. this source of farm .labor.supply. has. thus. been' al- most ~.completely -.cut - off:: :When a man .goes: to.work -for a farmer; the farmer pays.the carfare, .deducting it from the man’s wages if-he only stays one month, taking half if he stays two months or leting the man keep the price of the fare if he re- mains three months. Munition Makers Anxious The munition factory agents are going the farmers one better. They not only pay the fare, but they often give a bonus to assure themselves that the men will report for duty when wanted. Officials of union labor organiza- tions report that virtually all their men are at work and the charity bu- reaus are anticipating a light demand for their services this winter. At the government employment bureau, at 135 South Second street, and the state employment bureau, 1319 Arch street, hundreds of requests from manufacturers for all kinds of labor are on file. The big task is not to find employment for the applicants, but to place the right men in the right jobs. CHRISTMAS PRESENTS, New York, Dec. 7.—John D. Rocke- feller and other Standard 0il mag- n'ates and stockholders are millions richer today than they were a month ago. Figures compiled by Wall Street ex- perts indicate a fat Christmas for the Standard Oil group. It is esti- mated that the market value of the stock of the 36 separate compmfi'és is'c:rm;d. dafter the dissolution of the andard has apprecia: Rt §9)9) ted a total of This staggering figure is caid to represent only the increase in the value of the stock. The aggregate fna‘rket value of the stock of the var- lous companies i3 now sai ! §$1,651,033,492. Gl L Chauffeurs and. other employes- at Pocantico’ Hill have been joy riding on Rockefeller’s gasoline. It .is-said, as™a-result; the oil king has ordered that ‘cars be suprlied only with a sufficient quantity of gas for trips when they are ordered. .