Morris tribune., 1906-09-22
CURE FOR LABOR FAMINE.
Small Farms Should Be Sold TO
Farm Laborers.

Every year, as the harvest ripens, the
complaint goes up from the West of
the scarcity of labor" Every year
a large percentage of the grain crop
is lost for want of enough men to
handle it. Make shift methods, to
which resort is had for want of labor
necessary for better work, are
responsible for diminution by millions
in the returns received by our farmers.
This year, in some localities, the
scarcity of men is such as to create
something like a panic. The railroads
do their best, in the way of liberal
transportation rates TO encourage the
movement of workers to the West and
the wages paid are what would in
times past have been regarded as ex-
tremely tempting. But still the army
of harvesters which follows, from the
fields Of Texas to those Of the Dakotas,
the ripening of the grain, is Insufficient
ly recruited; and the story of this
years harvest will no doubt reveal the
usual annual waste-very likely a
larger tribute than ever to the present
radically defective organization of our
agricultural communities.
The fundamental idea of that
organization is collection of big
farms, operated each by it's owner,
with just as little hired help as will
suffice for halfway, superficial care
through the greater portion of the
year, while for the extra amount of
labor required at seed time, and more
particularly at harvest, reliance is
placed upon transient workers who
are expected to come from the cities
and elsewhere, eff nothing unusual
prevents" No provision, or next to
none, is made for supply of resident
wage workers trained to farm labor.
Now the conception of a rural COM
munity made up of farmers, each i'll
dependently doing his own work,
with the aid of a ''hired man" or two,
is an admirable one. But it does not
tit in with the system of big farms.
If such farms are to be maintained
and cultivated in manner to Justify
their existence, permanent, local
supply of labor must be provided for.
And since there are social and politi
cal objections to system of landlords
and dependant tenants, as contrary to
the ideals of our republic, the only
resort would appear to be the en-
couragement of a system of small
land holdings and "homecrofts" for
working men. Under this, small
tracts Of say from one to ten acres
would be sold to laborers, and en-
couragement given them to create
thereon little independent homes of
their own, where they could "make
living" in part, but the cultivation of
which need necessarily occupy only a
part of their time. This would leave
the ''crofter" at liberty to work, dur
ing busy seasons, for some one Of the
owners of the neighboring big farms.
Meanwhile his family could usually
carry on the little operations of his
s'croft."
Little colonies of from ten to hun
dred such E'homecrofts" scattered
through every farming district in the
West would soon bring the annual
"labor famines" to an end. And, as
has been shown, the establishment of
such colonies is incomparably easier
than the enticement of immigrants
away from the seaboard to serve as
wage earners only with but intermitt
ent employment. There is nothing
SO attractive to the agricultural i'm
migrant as the prospect of an ea:ily
attained ownership of a bit of land in
a settled community, with the com
panionship of a group of his own
people.
The abolition of the labor famine
would not be the only benefit result
ing from the establishment of colonies
of homecrofts. The larger returns
per acre which the crofters would |
generally secure from their little |
patches, as compared with those
from the big farms would turn the
of the owners of the latter,
as nothing else could, to the advan-
tages of intensive farming, irrigation.
etc. With labor more readily obtain !
able, such owners would be tempted |
to better use of their acres, and |
would achieve results more creditable
to themselves. We should like to see
the experiment tried in an intelligent