Pocahontas star herald., 1911-07-21
KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES
Reason for Low Price of Farm Prod.
ucts Is Lack Of Organization
Among Agrieulturists.

The United States of America, in
a6e is an infant, In strength full
grown. From thirteen struggling col
onies, we have become a 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
Hent 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 condi-
tlon. The vast areas over which
roamed the hunter the trapper, and
he savage is giving life to a more
complex civilization, and an age OF in
dustry has survived the art of war
The question arises, has the farm
or kept pace with the movement of
ankind? 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,
Uudisputed 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 fiocking to the
already congested conditions of the
cities. What is the trouble? 1t is
financial The hope that by some
means the desires of life may be sat
isf1ed with less exertion. The pay the
farmer gets for his products is too
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 a moneyed aristocracy,
which shall be separated from the
common herd, just as the Bourbons of
oh hn 90 no
government realizing that the condi.
tions on the farms should be improved
appointed a commission for that pur.
pose. If 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 nc
necessity for commission to improve
the country homes. With money the
farmer will do It himself
But artificial laws, and schemes tC
enrich the few at the expense Of the
many, are like artificial heat and mus
burn out when the means by which
they are kept in force shall be sup
planted by a natural order. In The
long run nature asserts itself, and thu
oppressed rises above the oppressor
The increase in consumption i
greater by more than ten to one thai
production The land is the basis o
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 al
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 a home In less time than
~ NCdl0 lOD lNAt VI ltlllNl III lAlllit
stone county, Texas, will represent a
fortune. With a population of 15O,.
900, 900 the scramble for land will be-
come the problem of the age. It is
possible that some benefactor of the
race, not engaged in politics, will mod
ify and adjust the question of taxa
tion advocated by present economists,
and by such means protect the people
from the encroachments of the money
power, and make It so that man may
cwn home.
The man today who wants to serve
his country cannot do better than own
home, remain upon IT, and stand for
the interests of the agricultural class.