The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-08-29

very directly in particular the disad-
 yantageous position in which it found l the farmer. 4 It introduced and pass 1 ed bill which became known as 1 the Farmers Free List Bill That 1 bill put many indispensable things on 1 the free list. More prominent among them were agricultural imple-
 ments, because the American farmer l pays more for his agricultural imple- l ments than any other farmer 4ln the world. The American manufacture CTS of agricultural implements, and prove by their eagerness for the for 1 eign business and their rapid expan- i sion of it that they can afford to do so even with the additional cost of the ocean freights. It was a very natural act on the part of the Demo- cratic Congress, therefore, to put ag- ricultural implements on the free list,
 to put fence wire also on the free list. and the bagging and ties which the Southern farmer needs and uses for his cotton.f It added lumber and laths ando shingles and leather and shoes and salt and meats, thinking not of the farmer alone, but of alt of us who are struggling to live and pay our bills. But such changes did not comport with the ideas and plans of the trustees, and the President ve- toed the free list. l daresay he was right from his point of view, for he represented the trustees and not the people.
 The trustees represent also the big bankers in whose hands our banking system lies to be manipulated and no Republican administration. no Repub- lican Congress, has attempted to serve the farmer as he ought to be served in the matter of credits. It is prac- tically impossible for the farmer to borrow money on the kind of securt- oY.iIx 1 646 I1n banks. It does not serve his-purpose to borrow it for the short periods in sisted upon by most bankers. He needs, rather. long credits, and he needs them on his own kind of se- curity. lie can't be mortgaging his farm every time he needs little mon ey. Other countries have discover ed how to assist him. An admirable system of agricultural societies has been developed in Ireland, and an eX- cellent one in Germany, and the pres ent Democratic Congress has done nothing better than to provide for careful investigation of this subject with a view to early action, so that the law may be fitted to the creation of these new instruments of busi- ness which the farmer so much needs and ought to have.
 Moreover, everything that relaXes our present stiff and stupid system
 
 the markets in which the farmer may buy but also brings the farmer very near to his natural partner and asso- ciate, the merchant. The merchants, by the way, constitute another large class of consumers. Their interest is to see trade quickened and varied and multiplied the world over, and they are the natural allies of the farmer. So are the manufacturers,
 if they but saw. the real meaning of our time and the real limitations within which they are pent up. If our markets are not multiplied and our doors are not thrown open, I do not see how the farmer and most of the rest of us are to avoid being overwhelmed by the rising tide of do- mestic prices. We are told that prices are rising the world over, but if you | will look into the matter you will 1 find that it is not so. They are ris- l ing in high tariffScountries, but not in | low tariff countries.
 And if the farmer is indeed part l ner with the rest of us, we shall give
 him good roads and better transporta- tion, and we shall link the markets
 and the fields together i'll every pos | sibIe way.
 For the task of opening the doors
 of our own government to the people and letting them not only see how it's
 affairs are conducted, but actually
 take part in them is very big and tvaried task indeed. If governme ent j is indeed 8 pakkaerahiP. 1t must serYe