The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1907-09-26
SELF-SACRIFICING.
(Up-To-Date Farming.)

There is no excellence without
labor" is saying that has come to
us from the fathers, and it is true
today, though labor conditions are
vastly different compared with the
days of old. Still labor and sacrifice
must precede every important ac-
complishment.
Many who do not reason to the
bottom of things, conclude that with
all our labor-saving machinery the
self-sacrifcing labor of other years
may be avoided, especially on the
farms, but such conclusions are not
we'll founded, and those who act
upon them will be disappointed.
The farm has labor-saving machin-
cry, and a greater amount Of labor
may be performed in a given time,
and the exertion comes perhaps, in
a different way, with fatigue of a
different kind. But the labor is. there,
and so are the difficulties that clog
the way to advancement.
The labor-saving machinery for
use on the farm must be brought
there from other sources. 1t is the
product Of other people, and those
people determine the quality Of each
kind Of machinery that shall be pro-
duced, and they fix the price that
users must pay for it. This gives
the producers Of the machinery such
an advantage that they may virtually
determine how valuable the use of
the machinery may be to the farm
ers, or how much of labor it may re-
lieye them of. So if farmers are
benefited. by labor-saving machin-
cry, others have the power to deter
mine the amount of that benefit,
and make them render to the manu-
facturer as much of the results of
the saved labor as the machine saves
of labor. 1t is true, then, that it
still takes labor to bring rewards
there is no excellence without great
labor"
Now, it must be apparent in all
this that somebody has an advantage
over somebody else, a condition that
is contrary to the fundamental prin-
ciples of just society. If one part of
society may determine the quantity
Of useful articles it shall produce,
and then fix the price that the users
must pay for those articles, it is
clear that that part of society has
such an advantage over any part
that may not so determine the guam
tity and price of its producers of use
full articles from forest part to tax
the other part to the full amount of
the profits of their labor. We ap-
peal to all thinking people if this is
not fair and logical reasoning.
And this is the undeniable condi-
ton of society as it is today. The
manufacturers Of machinery and of
all other commodities, and the pro-
ducers Of useful articles from forest
or mine, determine both quantity and
price of those commodities, while
those who produce from the soil-the
farmers-are expected to do neither;
it is by the interested classes that
they cannot control the quantity they
shall produce, nor determine the price
at which it shall sell. In this we have
condition Of society that Is unequal,
unjust, and wholly contrary to the
original compact upon which society
or government is founded" equal
and exact justice to ALL"
How may the equality of the
classes or the equity of society be
restored? By taking from the other
classes the right to control their
business? Nay. No one has a bet
ter right to determine how much
thing shall be worth than those
who produce it, except that society
may demand that those who take up
on themselves the duty of supplying
an article shall supply the necessary
demand for the article at reasonable
price. The remedy, then, is to re-
} store to the farmers the privilege ex-
ercised by everybody else, Of control
ling the quantity and price of their
productions, subject only to the SUI
perior right of society to require
: that its necessary demands be sup
piled at reasonable price.
: How can that be accomplished?
; There is only one way. The parties