The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1911-05-05
KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES
Reason for Low Price of Farm Prod
ucts Is Lack of Organization
Among Agriculturists.

SIOWU. from LQlTteGu bli u66Hho W.
onies, we have become nation. the
strip along the Atlantic has enlarged
until our country is washed by the
waves Of the Pacific, and over those
waves we are looking after the Islands
OF the sea.
Factories turn on ceaselessly their
thousands of cog-wheels and spindles'
Cities have sprung up as if by magic
Long lines of railroads wind through
valley and over mountain. The motor
Car Is abroad, and with the improve
nent of our public roads, distance
will be practically dispensed with. 1t
looks as if the future life will be lived
on wheels. People will no longer be
separated by distance, but by condl'
ton. The vast areas over which
roamed the hunter, the trapper. ana
the savage is giving life to more
complex civilization, and an age OF IN
dustry has survived the art OF war.
The question arises, has the farm
er kept pace with the movement OF
mankind? Are his burdens lightened
by invention? Is he better housed
and better fed? Land is the basis OF
all life, and those who till the soil
should enjoy the fruits of their labor
Undisputed facts open to observation
should be faced with candor. VIII
the average man In town exchange
condition with the man In the coun'
try? The answer Is no, writes Frank
A. Collins in the Groesbeck (Texas)
Journal. On the contrary, people are
leaving the farms and flocking to the
already congested conditions OF the
cities. What is the trouble? 1t Is
finan cial. The hope that by some
means the desires of life may be sat
isfied with less exertion. The pay the
farmer gets for his products is toe
small for the amount Of capital In
vested and the labor performed. The
| reason of this Is the farmer has
worked without organization, and fol-
lowed the noise of the politician. In
the financial centers, state craft Is un-
derstood, and the meaning is that
there shall be moneyed aristocracy,
which shall be separated from the
common herd, just as the Bourbons OF
France stand above the peasants. The
government realizing that the condi.
lions on the farms should be improved,
appointed a commission for that pur.
pose. II the government would see
that just and equitable laws are
passed, abolishing discrimination in
favor of manufacturers and specula-
tors, and give the farmer a chance to
get pay for his products in proportion
to the investment, the sacrifice and
the labor he uses, there would be no
necessity for commission to, improve
the country homes. With money the
farmer will do it himself.
But artificial laws, and schemes to
enrich the few at the expense of the
many, are like artificial heat and must
burn out when the means by which
they are kept in force shall be sup
planted by natural order. In the
long run nature asserts itself, and the
oppressed rises above the oppressor.
The increase In consumption is
greater by more than ten to one than
production. The land is the basis OF
all production. Cities are growing al
most beyond the means of calculation.
These vast centers of population have
to be fed and clothed or perish. The
time will shortly come when the finan-
ciers Of these centers must see that
unless they change their tactics, the
entire population of cities will be at
the mercy Of the country. Then will
come the scheme to get control of
the land, and If they succeed we shall
finally become a nation of renters,
similar to Ireland. Each day that rolls
around It is getting harder to get land
and own home. In less time than
so years. 100 acres of land in Lime
stone county, Texas, will represent a
fortune. With a population of 150,-
100000 the scramble for land will be-
come the problem Of the age. 1t is
possible that some benefactor of the
race, not engaged in politics, will mod
ify and adjust the question of taxa.
ton advocated by present economists,
and by such means protect the people
from the encroachments of the money
power, and make 1t so that man may
cwn a home.
The man today who wants to serve
his country cannot do better than own
home, remain upon 1t, and stand for
the interests of the agricultural class.