Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-10-22
Y0AKUM'S VIEW OF FARMING
Prominent Railroad Man Delivers an
interesting Address Before Farm.
O ers' Union.

MT B. F. Yoakum, chairman Of the
executive board Of the Rock Island.
Frisco systems, recently delivered an
address before the Farmers union of
S Oklahoma. His views upon the mu.
tual interests Of the farmers and the
railroads are interesting. Railroad
interests and farming interests are
more or less in partnership, the
prosperity Of the one influences the
prosperity of the other. From Mr..
YOakum's address are gathered some
statements that are worth preserving,
In that they shed practical light on
the relationship between the practical
railroad business Of the country and
the prosperity Of the farmer.
In the first place Mr.. Yoakum says:
The farmer must have the railroad
and the. railroad must have the farmer.
Their interests are inseparably linked.
Moreover, the prosperity of all bust
ness depends upon the farmer, for the
farmer is the basis of the nations
credit and wealth." After putting
himself on record as believing in hon.
esty in business methods, he states
That one Of the most important prob
iems is the proper regulation of the
railroads, which should be fair regula.
ton by the government preventing
discrimination or injustice toward the
public, In other words, "the country
now needs what our forefathers used
IN laying its foundation-a lot Of old.
fashioned common sense. Good judg.
ment and fair dealing are found more
generally among the farmers than
In any other occupation and when
they earnestly take hold of public
questions they will occupy a place in
our political structure that will make
their good judgment and fair conclu.
gions felt more and more in solving
che relation Of the government and
q Its Institutions"
Mr.. Yoakum crlticiseS very severely
? the business methods Of the govern
ment in Its wasteful construction Of
water transportation and states thai
there has been In the neighborhood Of
. $so,OeO,0OO Of wasted money along
this line. He states, however, that tht
improvement of the Mississippi rive
is important and should be handled II
q businesslike manner, Systematic
ally and properly planned and bull
in such a manner that it will. perform
the service for which the money wa.
expended"
Mr.. Yoakum believes in downward
revision of government expenses, "cut
ting down expenditures rather thar
raising taxes" The development o
the country Is the main essential. al
Europe there are FIVE acres to on
person and in this country, % acre
to each person" With the deyelor
ment Of our country We need not fea
var with other countries, as he SAYS
THE extension Of the grain and col
ton fields Of the Mississippi valley an,
Of the west are stronger military de
lenses than are the warships."
The farmers should be very mucI
interested in good roads and goo
railroads, according to Mr.. Yoakun
The amount of crop per acre mus
esbe increased and the cost of haulin
1t to the railroad station reduced. I
America 1t costs on the average 2
cents to haul a ton of produce on
l2ile On the country road; in Europ
. il costs but eight cents, the condition
. Of the rnads making the diferenc,
By having as good roads as those /
EUROPE, a saving IN transportatio
eoould be made of something like $3.50
O0H000 a year, '$27.OOO,0OO Of whic
would be on wheat, corn and cotton.