The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-05-23
Farm Labor

The Seventeenth OF the special arti-
Icies that are appearing regularly IN
The Ohio Farmer Is upon tais very
important subject II was prepared es-
tpeciaIly fo- this series by Prof Tlos-
F. Hunt. OF Cornell University. and
should be read carefully by ever
American citizen Professor Hunt was
a farm Iaborer himself for many years
and later was an extensive employer
OF farm labor. He has thus found It
wise 70 study the problem deeply. and
states his ideas in his clear and plain
style II any OF our readers who do
not get The Ohio Farmer desire to read
tae entire article. we have made ar
engagements that they may secure z
copy OF May 60. free Address The
Ohio Farmer. Cleveland. Ohio. The
following are some extracts from the
articles:
That there is a farm labor problem
and that in some places it has reached
an acute form. no one VIII seek to de-
ny. Since all wealth. whether it
arises from the farm or elsewhere, is
directly or indirectly the result of
labor. the adjustment OF labor to the
production of the various forms OF
wealth in the proper proportions must
ever be one Of the most important
problems in any organized community
The causes for the present scarcity
Of farm labor are in part temporary
and in part due to changed conditions
which will doubtless be abiding The
most obvious cause is the unusual
prosperity of the country as a whole
as well as OF the farmer himself.
When every one is employed the
country is prosperous and when every
body has work competition Is bound TO
raise the price of labor Among the
reasons for this prosperity there may
be mentioned two of pertinent import
ance to the farm Iaborer and his labor
problem.
First Is the series of years of unus-
ually good crops To what extent this
has been due to the greater enlighten-
meat of the farmer in matters agricul-
tura1, and to what extent it is due to
favorable seasons we will not here
stop to debate: although it may be
stated in passing that this series of
good years has lasted longer than usu
al and the customary off-years are
over due.
The second cause for the prosperous
condition of the United States in gen
eraI and of the farmer in particular is
the substitution of machinery by
which other forms of labor have rel
placed human labor. Tais has ope-
rated contrary TO expectation to in
crease the price of labor When t-le
threshinS machine was first intro
duced in Ohio in 1881 ii was not only
a great curiosity but it was stubborniy
opposed by all farm laborers.
No class has gained so much from
the introduction of 1abor-saving ma
chinery as did those who formerly did
tae labor by hand Tie reason We are
SO much better off today. the reason
we have the comforts and Injuries be-
yond the fondest dreams of former
generations. is due to the fact that
the labor of each man has been
made so much more effective through
these labor.savinS devices. Tie prop
osition is an extremely simple
one. If man produces just enough
food for himself and his family he
viii have nothing left for clothing,
shelter education or recreation. II,
however. a man produces four times
as much food as he ana his family
need. he may exchange one-fourJh for
clothing. one-fourth for shelter and
one-fourth for education. recreation
or savings. The greater the amount
any man can produce of anything by
a single days labor the larger his 10
come or wages. In passing 1t may be!
remarked that there is often a confu-
sion of thought when this principle is
applied to farming. because clear
distinction is not made between the
return obtained from the unit of labor
and the return Obtained from the unit
of land area. Since all classes OF ma
chinery Including farm machinery
have made mans labor so much more
efficient than formerly. naturally the
price of farm labor has risen and must
rise to meet the competition of other
Industries.