Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-07-25

- =
all the taxes for the support OF the
government. There would be practic-
ally nothing else left to tax, as the
government would own all the indus
tries. The platform of the party
expressly states that the revenues
from the industries shall not be de-
voted to taxes but shall be applied
wholly to the increase of wages and
shortening of the hours of labors of
the employees, to the Improvement of
the service and diminishing the rates
to consumers. On the shoulders of
the farmer will then fall the entire
burden of taxation.
may have miscalulated the amount
Of benevolence of the farmer class.
he may have q burning desire to as
sumo this burden in order to relieve
the wage workers. But I seriously
doubt it, and shall continue to do so
until the farmer vote proves that I am
wrong.
The condition of the American
farmer is not desperate enough to
warrant his taking any such desper-
ate risks. In fact, I must take Mr..
Thompson to task for exaggerating,
probably unintentionally, the condi-
ton Of the farmer. He has studied
him on the outskirts, under the most
unfav orable conditions. There is al
ways q class of never-do-wells In
farming as everything else, and they
are mostly driven by necessity to the
frontier. Add to this that North d.
kota frequently experiences crop
failure, total or partial, and there is
no wonder that there are so many
mortgaged farms there. In fact, after
trying those lands for some years
many persons are mighty glad to
raise some money by means of
mortgage and then leave for new pas
lures. But socialism could not make
those lands bear more crops. If you
should place the tax burden entirely
on the lands there would be few peo-
pie foolhardy enough to try to make
q living in the semi. arid regions of
the west. There are mortgaged farms
in this vicinity, but nothing like it
was q quarter of century ago.
There are many tenant farmers in
this county, but in large number of
instances they are the sons of the
owners, who have retired from active
labor. Those tenant farmers are
probably not pushed very severely by
their landlords.
Mr.. Thompson is in error when he
states that every year the machinery
grows more complex and costly" It
may be more complex, because the
scarcity of farm laborers makes il
more profitable for the farmer to en-
ploy machinery for work formerly
done by hand labor. But it is not as
costly as it was twenty-five or thirty
years ago. If Mr.. Thompson will
furnish me with the money it took at
that time to buy self-binder I will
buy for him self-binder, mower,
sulky pillow. hay rake, drag and drill.
Improved methods of manufacturing
and largely increased market has
cheapened the cost of such machinery.
The only thing that is costlier is
machinery, because in their
insane desire to Guido each other the
threshers have got into the habit of
buying machines adapted for the big
bonananza farms. But the farmer
pays less for getting his grain
threshed than he did when the cheaper
horsepower machines were in use.
This is not, however, saying that
the farmer is getting full justice and
his full share of the products of his
labor. What improvements have
been made in his condition have
mainly been the results Of improved
methods of farming. Instead of rely.
ing merely upon the grain crop, the
farmer now gives more attention to
cattle, hogs and dairying. The re-
suit is that land produces more and
becomes more valuable. Thus many
have been able to sell part of their
land for enough to clear the mortgage
on the whole. Others who hold on to
their land may have used the in
creased income for improvements on