The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-04

other than to increase the circulation and
influence OF The CALL among farmers by
saying in this column true and useful
things which most farmers are not in
position to know about, or knowing them
do not realize their Importance. 1t is for
this purpose that one who is himself
farmer has been engaged by THE CALL to
say these things. If l here write so truth
fully and so forcefully as to impress farm
ers with the value of these matters they
the information that they desire.
Speaking as farmer L ask: Why is it
that the mercantile and professional classes
live more luxuriously than we? Why do
not their wives also rise at five in the
morning and toll TIL bedtime? Why do
they ride in palace cars and we in tourist
cars?
Now our usual answer to this is that the
whole race of them are nefarious cormo-
rants thriving upon the blood and sweat
of the patient, noble, honest son of toll.
But the facts are that they are morally
just such as we. The real difference whereby
they thrive while we strive unprotitably
is that they are not such fools as we are;
they know their business and we do not.
If they buy ton of grain they know what
it cost them, and when they sell it they
know whether they have made profit.
When we raise ton of grain we do not
know what it has cost us, and when we sell
it we only guess whether we make or lose
by our ability or inability to pay our bills.
The merchants and professional men have
the intelligence and vigor to get more for
their services in facilitating the business
of the world than we get for doing that
without which the world could not live.
We need not blame them; if the circum-
stances were reversed we should be living
on them.
Now this is frank talk. but it is truth;
if accepted and acted upon as such we may
help ourselves. If, on the contrary, it is
resented and the truth-teller assailed, we
shall remain as we are.
When bankruptcy threatens a man his
first duty to himself is to look the situa-
ton squarely in the face, foot up his obi
cations and look to his assets ana the pos
sibility of realizing on them. Then only
can he determine whether to go on and
try to win through or give up. This is
what | am trying to do; and having gone
through the subject pretty well in my own
mind | will say now that am convinced
there is an outcome to it which in due
time we shall reach; there are many
things which favor the farmer after ALL
ii it were not so there could no good come
of these plain talks, which by and by
hope will not be all on one side, for it would
be heartless to destroy hope even were our
=, i, oh, -
But before coming to remedies we must
look further into conditions, and if pos
sible | wish to get clear to the bottom of
things and lay such foundation that we
can build safely upon it knowing that the
superstructure will stand. 1 have said we
were fools, of course using that word for
whatever of startling effect it might have
and to determine at once whether | am to
have any further hearing or not. for II my
readers stand that they will stand anything,
since nothing meaner can be said than to
call man fool or a woman homely. In
potter phrase L might have said that we
lacked knowledge, which would have been
less likely to offend, although it means the
same thing, but there is a certain virtue in
these plain Anglo-Saxon words to con-
dense into very few letters whole world
of meaning and set men thinking which
no other words possess, and I use them
wherever I can.
Now, all men lack knowledge, and none
feel this SO keenly as those who know most.
One cannot properly be called a fool because
he does not know all that is true, even re-
lating TO his own business but we must
know what is actually essential in order to
make our incomes larger than our outgo,
and so much we can know if we will, and
we farmers as a class do not know that;
which being the case, if we are not fools
what are we? The grain farmers should
know the worlds consumption of the
cereals, its areas of grain-bearing land, with
cost of production in each, and cost of
transportation to the price-making market,
and the area of land not raising grain but
which may do so, and should measure his
power to compete with the whole world;
he should have known of the first ship
ment of farm machinery to So1th America
before it even reached there, and should
have forecasted it's probable effects. The
fruit-grower should know when he plants
an orchard, not only what varieties of
IrulC Will succeed pest Win MIN, out
where the market for those fruits is to be
found years hence when his orchard comes
to bearing; at what cost he can deliver
those products, to what market, what con-
sumption he may expect at rates which
will yield him profit, and what COMPETE
ton he will find there. The men who to-
day are shipping plums to New York with
out knowing what competition they will
meet from Oregon are fools, and am one
of them. II L say that my output does not
justify the expense of learning what COM
petition [ am to meet, may be answered
that [ was fool to engage in a business
which / could not understand.
Now the farmer may say he could not
know these things. He can. Plenty of
people know them who are not farmers,
and, because they know them, they have
money while we have none. 1t is, of
course, true that no small farmer like N.Y.
self can unaided find out all he needs to
know, but any community of farmers can
do so if they have the wisdom to unite in
the necessary expenses. 1t is also true
that in all lines of business there are
changes of conditions which no precedence