The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-01-12
AGRICULTURAL.
The Labor Problem on the Farm.

The labor problem confronts men
everywhere. Work must be done, hui
man hands must toll, and civilization
has brought it about that some must
work for others, the many work for the
few, labor work for capital. And hui
man greed of gain has abused the
power which capital enjoys, has used it
to Cypress the poor, to withhold from
the liborer his just due. Hence labor
and capital are organized for warfare
en- each other, and the industrial world
10 agitsted by strikes, lockouts, and all
the strife we read of in The papers.
But how is it on the fsrm7 There are
no organizations among the hired men,
no walking delegates to order the men
to stop work. But on the other hand
there is most abundant opportunity for
the irresponsible hired man to make
any quantity of trouble for the farmer.
The great corporations that employ
Thousands of men, hire them at arms
length, the foremen and superintend-
ants stand between the men and their
employers, but the farmer hires his
man, works with him, takes him into
his family, eats with him, and perhaps
his boys room with him. No such vast
gulf divides them as does the man who
shovels dirt on the railroad from the
capitalists who own the road. 1t mat
ters little or nothing to the railroad
magnate what kind of men are en-
ployed on his roads, provided they do
their work well. Almost all other en-
ployers of labor hire men who procure
their board and lodging. But most
farmers are 80 situated that the hired
men must form a part of the family.
This makes heavy burdens for I'll e wife,
nakes-too often-bad company for
the children, and is enc of the worst
evils of farm life. Then the hired man
often has a chance to tyrannize over
the farmer by threading to leave if any
thing does not go to suit him. So that
while good hired man is one OF the
greatest helps on the farm, the bad
hired man is one of the greatest curses.
The ideal wsy for the hired man on the
farm is for him to be a married man
and live in a cottage near the farm
house. But the trouble is that it costs
too much, so the farmers think. You
have to pay man much more TO board
himsel If than when he lives in the far
mer's family. 1t is not good plan to
hire unknown men who come to you
without references, and bring no bag.
gage. They can skip out at moments
notice with whatever they can con-
veniently take with them.
But good hired man is one Of the
greatest blessings farmer can have.
A man who takes an interest in his en-
ployer's work, who knows how to take
hold of work, such man is simply in
valuable on farm. But such men are
hard 10 find. And one trouble with
hiring men farm hands is the fact that
on most farms the work is such that a
hired man is not wanted in the winter.
There is work eight months, then there
is not work enough to pay for hiring a
man, go even the best man has to be
sent off with the risk to run of his
never being hired again.
But in the summer the work must be
done, help must be hired, and often
the first man who presents himself is
engaged, no matter if he is wholly un-
known. But when a well known man
can be secured, and first class one at
that, it is not best to let dollar or two
. month stand between such man and
ene's self in hiring him. And if it is
possible, let him get boarded elsewhere
30 as not to burden your own house.
hold. This course removes one of the
greatest evils of the labor problem on
the farm.