Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-07-18

OouAruptcy anu tauS lO8Q LQem money
on mortgages and then complete their
exploitation. These conditions in
crease in severity from year TO year,
until the farmer becomes more and
more like the wage Garner. he NOM
inally owns his land aud machinery
practically he owns nothing. The
capitalist class owns everything. The
farmer works lor ger hours and a
great deal harder than the wage ear
ner. His wife usually works with
him to the very limit of endurance
and his children too.
The writer has taken especial pains
to study conditions in agricultural
sections in Minnesota especially as
we'll as other western states. In one
county in the Red River Valley the
county records show that 80 per cent
Of the farms are mortgaged. It is
not unusual to find farmer who has
bought land, has lived and labored
upon it, and after 25 years is still
S8, 10000 in debt. Then q crop fails
and he borrows 100000 to pay interest
and other expenses. To show the
extremely narrow margin upon which
some western farmers live the writer
found that in one county in North
Dakota after q single crop failure in
1900 there were 48O farms mortgaged
in the single month of February, and
March was nearly as bad.
So everywhere modern capitalism
by means of the private ownership of
the material means OF production
reduces the agricultural class to
practically the same level as the wage
earning class. And thus they have a
common cause because they have a
common enemy.
Socialism will entirely relieve this
situation. All transportation fscilit-
les, railroads etc., will be owned COL
lectfvely and transportation furnished
at cost. All great farm machinery
factories will be operated in the same
way. All foreign land holdings will
be abolished, all railroad land grants
revert to the people and all arid land
reclaimed by irrigation will be held by
the people in common. This item
alone would be of incalculable value
to the farmer class. With this land
reclaimed the farmer who rents, or
who is today burdened to death with
debts and mortgage could escape and
get the use cf land without becoming
the victim of the land shark and
speculator. Henceforth under Social
lism every worker who chooses to toll
upon the soil would be able to have
the use of land without the payment OF
prices which are 50 hard If not impos.
sible to pay.
And If it be objected that Socialism
would injure the farmer because II
would take his farm away from him,
the reply is that Socialism would net
take the farmers farm away from him
If he chose to retain and use it. It
would take land away from those who
are holding it for purposes of specu-
lstion and exploitation. But taat
would be- oil. Socialist theory does
not contemplate the cosfisca*ion of the
farmers farm. At the very best it
would only transfer the title from him
to the collectivity charging him for
the use of his farm about what our
present government charges him in
taxes. But in return for that slight
conceasion-if indeed even It would
not be . positive blessing Social.
ist society would secure to him the In
calculable advantages Of the use of oil
public utilities at actual cost besides
the immense advantage Of cooperative
society. = r. ... s.. ...:s j. s=z s..
But even the taking over Of small
farms IN the method described is not
essential 70 the carrying out Of the
socialist program. i Is not in the