The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1907-11-28
me Judge waved bis hand towaro

another Held
J THAT Il still mine," he said. 1T
cost me something in labor and money
to get 1t plated, and the uAemployeu
Of the city deprived me Of the crop"
Il, Billiard saw that it had been plant.
ed to potatoes, but had run to weeds.
Before he could speak, the Judge point
ed to an orchard.
That represents part Of my In
vestment,' he said. 'but the unem-
ployed of the city say that it shall bs
nothing but loss to me this year, as
other fields and other orchards have
been in other years."
Billiard saw the fruit rotting on the
ground and began to understand.
THE lack Of labor!" he exclaimed.
THE lack Of labor" repeated the
judge, bitterly. THE country boys go
to the city. and the city boys and men
stay there, even when they starve.
Aside from my own trivial troubles,
is there no menace to the country in
that?"
May not the fault be with your"
asked Billiard. There certainly is need
of work.
There is need Of work, and here is
work" said the judge. "The combina-
ton seemed to be so favorable that it
gave me no worry-at first. But it
proved to be a constant and bitter
struggle. The farmer with the large
family OF boys that he was able to
keep at home was the lucky one. My
financial resources dwindled through
losses due to- my inability to work my
farm properly. I could not understand
it. There always has been cry for
work in the city, and here was work
that any able bodied man could do.
Inc few that came along in the fruit
season were of the restless, romantic
kind, upon whom no reliance could be
placed; they would move on whenever
they happened to take a notion. And
these conditions continued until I
found myself seriously crippled finan-
clally. | sent to the city foH men; I
advertised in the city papers; I ap-
Piled to employment agents; but it
4
We're seeking work, but it was work
in the city they wanted, and the farm
had no attractions for them. l read of
restitution, of appeals to the chart
table; OF the deserving poor who could
not get work-and these unemployed
were taking from me every year the
little profit of my farm. l abandoned
some Of my land, because l was I'M
able to use it.; some of the fruit that
| cultivated proved a dead loss when
the time for picking and shipping
came; | decided that was spreading
out too thin the work that I was able
! to get done. So concentrated all eff
forts on the most promising fields and
orchards, and let the rest CO. But this
made the margin of profits small, even
with success, and I was carrying the
| load of unproductive land l had to
let some of it go, charging the loss up
to the unemployed of the city, who re-
fused to be employed in the country.
! opened a ledger account with the I'M
employed who would not come to me
in spite of my most earnest efforts to
! get their services for fair pay"
| The judge paused for a moment.
Il shall not attempt to give you the
| figures in dollars and CENTS" he said
at last, for they would seem to you
| preposterously large, but nearly a
| quarter of my original purchase has
| gone at sacrifice, even as the farm
| came to me; more than quarter Of
| what is left has been abandoned, and
will soon follow; an orchard has gone
to practical ruin; large berry patch
has become waste land; the margin
OF cash | had has disappeared; my
wife works as no woman should have
to work at her age; and only the most
rigid economy enables us to exist at
all. This, briefly, is my ledger ac-
count against the unemployed of the
city. Now, sir, how much ought to
be expected of me?"
Nothing" replied Billiard prompt
| ly.
"Yet, | wish to be fair, absolutely
fair" said the judge, II must judge Of
them as class by what their per-
verseness has cost me, but know that
many, having families and owning
their own homes, feel the necessity
Of finding work where they are; they
cannot well go to the country. I try
TO look at the question from all sides;
but, taken as whole, the unem-
ployed Of the city are begging for help
while taking from me the little have
left by refusing work offered. Yet I
will make this proposition through
you: will take small family on this
farm, provided my conditions are sat
isfactory. They must agree to remain
here at least two months, and shall
be glod to make a more permanent ar
rangement if things turn out we'll. I
shall expect the man to do q full
mans work, and shall pay him the
wages customary for that work. These
will not be the wages Of the skilled
/ workman in the city, and L do not
know how they will conform to the
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