The record., 1911-11-30
ROMANCE OF The REAPER
The Lecture and the Real Facts Fac
ing the Farmers and the Busi-
ness Interests Of Kentucky.

ware & Grocery Co., our loca
implement dealers, were able tc
present the entertainment,
"The Romance of the Reaper" al
the Court house, last Tuesday night.
The lecture tells the story of the
progress of agriculture from the
earliest times down TO the present
day, and it traces the development
of farm implements and machines
from the reaping hook to the scythe
and cradle, through to the first
reaper, the automatic binder, gas
oline tractor manure spreader; and
other modern machines.
The lecture was illustrated with
colored views and motion pictures.
These not only showed the different
farm machines in operation, but the
audience was taken on a trip to the
International Harvester Company S
system of plants, where the machines
are made.
The farmers and others in at
tendance followed the lecture with
interest. 1t contained much lnfor-
nation. When we consider the
millions of farms in the United
States, to say nothing of the rest of
the world, and the big crops raised
on these farms, we realize that the
making of farm machines is a large
and important industry.
In spite of the fact that the cost
of raw materials and wages have
greatly advanced since the organ
izalion of the International Harves
tor Company, the price of farm
machines is but little more now
than then. 1t was pointed out that
the modern binder, composed of
more than l., 200 separately formed
parts, and made of the best steel,
malleable iron and seasoned wood
is to day the cheapest thing farmer
buys. Taken pound for pound, a
hinder costs him less than his plow
or cast iron cook stove. The price
of binder twine has steadily fallen,
until today it retails for only a
little more than half of what it did
ten years ago.
During the evening The puees Of
farm machines at home and aboard
we're discussed. Il was shown, 10y
an inves;ig alton made by the
pnited States Cove nment, that
six foot binder which a Krntuck,
farmer can buy for about SIas 90.
costs the l. lgllsh farmer SI3s,. the
French farmer SI7s, the Swedish
farmer 500, the Russian farmer
$3.50, the Siberian farmer SIS7, and
the farmer OF Germany Szos 90.
Just now, on account of the
over zealousness and agitation of
certain petty lawyers, Kentucky
farm ers are threatened with the
worst sort of hardship in the purch-
ase of their farm machines and re-
pair parts for same.
Sad to relate, in this State there is a
law by which any prosecuting attor-
ney can bring suit against any corpo-
ration doing business in kentucky:
the Commonwealth pays the cost of
prosecution. and should jury assess
a fine, and the fine ever be collected,
e"N eoNPoySio Oh-lhC county III WHICH
suit is brought are not benefited, but
the attorneys and court officers put IS
per cent of the fine into their own
pockets.
Recently one of these suits was
brought in Bullitt county. Here is
what the Shepherdsyille News said
about it: "In the Circuit Court last
afternoon the jury trying the
case of the Commonwealth VS.. the In
ternational Harvester Company of
America returned n verdict for the full
allowed by law, $1,000. OF
this amount, If the verdict stands, the
attorney will get
s., 500: county attorney. Sl,250; circuit
clerk, $500; trustee of the jury fund,
$50; and the State 5000, less SIaO paid
twelve jurors for five days and SIS paid
the jailer and sheriff leaving the State
$3.50 out of $4,000. Bullitt county gets
nothing, and ultimately the farmer
pays the whole thing"
But ultimately the farmers will pay
more than they imagine. No company
can afford to pay the lawyers a $1,000
license for the privilege of doing bust,
ness in "A county, and sooner or later
they viii drive large companies from
the State. To take modern farm ma
chimes out of Kentucky would set the
State back a hundred years, and great
ly reduce the earning capacity Of our
200, 600 farms.
Those who saw "The Romance Of the
Reaper" more fully realize than ever
before the great progress made by ag-
rieulture and the entire business world