The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-16
10 the Editor of The Times:

To the Editor of The Times:
would like to give few impressions
from the farm. am sure the people who
are holders of bank stock and Govern
ment bonds and members of the great
trusts and corporations, and the lawyers
who get big fees, and Il lot of other folks
who have their millions and their luXu-
rious homes, and never has Il wish I'M
gratified which money can satisfy-yes, l
am sure these same people who talk
gold haven't the remotest idea how
life is on the farm They do not any more
realize the distress among many farmers
and farm laborerS than they desire to
help it.
There are numbers of farmers who
were once in easy circumstances, who
cannot make both sides meet now OH the
farm with the strictest economy. Taxes,
doctor and dentists bills and the drug
gist's are almost rs high, some of them
quite as high. rs ever. Most kinds of re-
pairs for machinery ale also very high,
while prices Of nearly everything the
farmer produces is way down yonder.
| saw IN editorial in the Baltimore Sun
IL few weeks ago which said: eff silver
wins and wheat should go to 81 per
bushel and corn so cents, is the farmer
prepared to make Il corresponding adj
vance in the price paid to labor" an
swer, "Yes. and gladly While the
farmer does not expect his wheat and
corn to advance to this price, even under
free silver he would like for it to
advance beyond the cost of production,
and he could afford TO give good waves and
employ more labor.
Let ME i'll Illustrate. Three years ago
two farmers right here on two adjoining
farms employed six regular hands at
prices from $l2 to Sl4 per month by the
year. Now they have been compelled to
cut down their hands to two, who are
paid 81 and 50 per month. Why? Not
because the farmers hadn't the work to
do, and not because they would not be
glad to hire the labor, but simply because
after they pay the taxes, feed the stock,
pay inevitable farm expenses and buy IL
few clothes (and the women have to sell
most all their butter and chickens to buy
the clothes) he has nothing left to pay for
labor. They have to do what needs do
ing the worst and leave the other work
undone.
Now, suppose on these two farms the
other four men were employed These
men would buy shoes, clothing, gro
ceries, dry goods and other things, which
would put factories to work coal which
would give more work to the miners,
give the railroad more hauling, put more
men to work manufacturing and han
ding these things. Now suppose the
thousands Of farms laborers could get
work at good wages, look at the thou
sands of other men it would put to work
to supply their wants, for farmers and
farm laborers spend their money freely
when they have it,
1t is all stuff to say all the big factories
and other works belong to the gold men,
and they will not run them if silver wins.
They will run them whenever it pays
them TO do so, no sooner, no later, and it
will never pay them to run them until
there is money enough in the country to
move the corn, cotton, wheat and meat
crops at paying prices to the farmer.
Then he can employ labor and ut good
wages. ! don't know the statistics of
farm labor as compared with other labor,
but know Il great number of men were
employed by the farms, who now help to
swell the great army of the unemployed.
Talk about overproduction. Why,
anyone with common sense knows il isn't
overproduction, while there are Thousands
OF people who haven't half enough to eat,
and almost nothing to war, and not in
the great cities either, but right here
among us, in the country, where every
one should have plenty.
| know of little half. clad children who
wouldn't be so if their fathers could get
work. know of families doing without
coal because they have nothing to buy it
with. know of plenty of families who
have cut their sugar supply to one-third,
coffee TO almost nothing, and are patch
ing up their old clothes and making use
of every possible little economy. | know
of families who have neither shoes for
their children nor money to buy with
and not half enough to eat, yet it is
'overproduction.n Yes it is an overpro-
duction of rich men who can corner the
money market as they can corner every
thing else when it suits them to do it.
1t is useless to call us anarchists, Pop.
ulists and ignorant farmers. We may he
ignorant, but we are beginning to have
our minds enlightened after three years
of an altogether gold standard since the
repeal of part of the Sherman act Aud
if the hope of the future Of this republic,
us II republic. doesn't lie iii the farmer 5
hands, and its liberties aren't guarded by
him, | am afraid for the republic.
We on the farm do not tx pect riches,
but we work hard and we want to be able
to educate our children little and to
haze Il comfortable living for our hard
work We do not expect TO get II dollar,
either silver, gold or paper, without
working for it, hut when we do work
hard we would like TO have IL reasonable
return for oul labor. And we often rise
at 4 O'Clock ip the morning and labor UNI
til in the evening. Now how is it in
the shops and mines, brother labo-er?
Isn't it the same? And you gold brethren
since we have been on the strictly gold
basis, how many gold dollars have you
handled If / am not mistaken the paper
and silver ones haven't been very numer-
ous. No, brother farmer and brother
laborer, we want and must have more