The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-01-31


get UP At 4 O'Clock In the morning,
Gays work before y, then milk again,
get through about and l0 at night.
your wife ana children work like coli
ored help to make butter, etc.
Well. my friends told me ] was
used to that. and they were not. but
TO pay So to ~ cents for butter and
eggs was simply outrageous. WELL"
/ said, my dear friends. / have over
100 hens. and am feeding them every
day, and all the eggs 1 have sold
since the first of last November came
to t. dozen. For these / have gotten
SO cents per doxen.> or $2l.70. had
to buy all my feed, which has cost me
up to January 81 $27.ll. During
way am short eleven chickens.
either stolen or eaten by chicken
hawks. Well now. where Is my pro-
mt? Some say the trust. some the
middlcman. etc, etc. This cannot be.
for ] sold these to the consumers my
self
But" I said. my friends. you
don't understand. Hens don't lay
very much these three months. but
just rs SOON as the weather gets
warmer my chickens will lay so to ~
per days and my cows will give more
milk and l. can make more butter,
trust or no trust: then down they 20.
The only man can see to be hurt at
the present time Is the farmer, the
poorest paid man on earth for the
labor he performs. Then comes the
iaboring man. These men who con-
troll trusts are having q good time
now-just laughing how foolish we
all are. Going to starye ourselves to
death for what? Just because some
people think living is high. 1t Is.
In my mind. simply matter of sup
ply and demand"
Then ] awoke and had another
dream. and that was that we had
hundreds and thousands of people In
the country who are just eating up
all the good things we produce, and
they are idlers and drones Ii they
were in a bee hive they would have
to get out or work for a legitimate
business. Lots Of them used to work
on farms. but they have left poor old
dad and ma and the negro on the
farm, and they are getting so old. 1t
is all they can do to take care of
themselves. But they are getting a
big salary playing baseball, football,
fghting. playing monkey for some
body else. There are thousands in
our land to-day who should be pro-
ducers. Just as soon as the good
weather opens every idler should go
to work on the farm and produce
enough to keep himself at least. In
stead of that 1t Is football, baseball,
etc, ETC.. until no one wants to pro-
duce anything.
The good Lord says: Neither will
man work. neither shall he eat: We
shall not eat OF the bread of tdfenessn
does not exist only in the United
States. but in Europe there are thou
sands Of acres Of land ready for the
laborer. but they are not going on the
farm to work, because they can make
more money doing other things So
living is bound to be high until we
train our children to leave the foilies
of the city and go to the farm and
be producers and not only CONSUMERS
Then / awoke and had another
dream. 1t was this: We had the trust
all beat. Meat came down to 10 cents
per pound for the very best cuts;
chickens, rs cents each: eggs. cent
each: butter. Is cents per pound. and
other things in proportion. We are
now all happy. We can live now. We
don't mind paying 81 to IS to 60
to theatres, picture shows, 500 to
$500 to go and see the coming big
prize fight. and few hundred dollars
to take a trip abroad In the summer
as long as We can get what we eat
cheap and beat the trust. Then he
gan to think what one-sided affair
this all IL. If we can only get the
trust man. he will break the farmer,
for he Is the man we want to reach.
Some say 1t Is not the farmer they
want to reach. Well. he 10 the pro-
Queer, and II you~must have things
cheap he must produce them cheap.
because the trust ID not going to pay
him big prices and sell cheap. II
what we cat has got to come DOWN.
the farmers prices come down. and
so does labor. Well. then. we got
the trust man broke and they tell
me he has just discharged all his
men, sold all those large horses. etc.
cheap and Is giving away his goods
to get the building empty. The peo-
pie want to rent them for picture
shows, baseball. prize fights. ETC.. etc.
They must have pleasure. They tell
me the farmer IL bringing in his pigs.
sheep. chickens, butter, eggs and other
produce and selling them for song
In fact, l know q man, a trucker,
who went to market this week with
a small load OF truck. paid 10 cents
never sold cents worth. People
seem to have plenty of money for
theatres. picture shows and sporting.
but no money TO buy things to eat.
This Is right at home. What has the
trust to do with II? II our people
won't become producers things are
bound to get higher.
@"cNS OnA VA MY uEeAIuS dnu
went to thinking what In the world
is the matter with our people. Are
they not better of. fed better. clothed
and housed better and have more
money and pleasure than any other
people under the sun? What do they
want to bring on disaster upon them
selves and ruin agriculture and the
farmer? 1t Ii a knife with three
edges to the farmer II people won't 4
eat the good things he raised for
them. he must stop selling them, and
they get them from other countries.
II II is cheap living only we are after
We must get cheap labor. The farmer
here in this country 10 selling wheat
much cheaper than In England and
paying two or three times the anounr
OF wages they do there.
reader Of your jcurani.
FARMER.
Henrico. Va. Jan. 81.