The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-02-24
FARMER FOOLED IN POLITICS
Allows Politician to Give Him Toy to
Play With and Detract His
Attention.

To the Officers and Members OF the
Farmers Union:
The main reason the American far
mer is not now and has not for some
years been enjoying the benefits OF
general parcels post Is his own lazi-
ness. Added to that, perhaps, is his
practice Of letting the politician give
him toy to play with and detract his
attention, when he begins to seriously
demand a general parcels post. me
same rule applies to other needed leg
islation.
The hardest reforms or measures to
enact into law are those favored oy
the overwhelming majority or people,
but for which this same majority VIII
not develop sufficient energy to get
out and make q fight There are no
reasonable men in America opposed to
a general parcels post, except those
few who have, or think they have,
selfish interest5in defeating it or post"
poning it, Yet we have the spectacle,
these years, Of representatives OF the
farmers striving In vain to obtain the
crystal1izing into legislation OF
measure self-evidently just. and sen
evidently popular.
The express companies have been
charged with maintaining rich ana
powerful lobby against the parcels
post. Other interests have been plas-
tered with the same indictment. 1t
would not be surprising or unnatural
if either, or both, accusations We're
| well founded.
But all the express lobbies and ALI
| the other Hobbies in America couldn't
prevent the enactment OF general
parcels post if the American farmer.
| whose vote controls congress brought
sufficient pressure to bear or ais rep
resentative and senator to get results.
Under treaty agreements We now
have a general parcels post with con-
siderably more than half the civilized
nations Of the world. It is possible TO
mail an eleven-pound package from
! San Francisco to London, to ST. Pc
/ tersburg, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Hong
Kong, to the negroes IN Port-au-Prlnce'
Hayti, for IL cents pound.
But it costs LIS cents pound to
mail the same package from your
county seat to the county seat ad1o1n-
! ing. and even then you have to Split
the bulk into three or four parcels.
The president has recommended 6
parcels post on the rural free deliv-
cry routes, with an investigation as TO
the advisability Of general parcels
post. That Is progress, but it IS OF
the crab yariety-very slow and tortu-
GUS.
/ Just suppose you sit down right
now, write your representative and
senator, and make your support OF
him in the next election contingent
q upon his supporting a general parcels
4 post bill. Talk about practical poll
d ties. That's praetical politics with a
I. vengeance. You just Insist upon
! straight answer, though, and then
. YOU must follow up the answer with
letters prodding him until his vote
is actually recorded for a general par
:. cells post Be from Missouri. You
: would everIastingly keep your eyes
peeled to keep yourself from being
: skinned in a horse trade. You'd thfnh
/ it a disgrace to admit you had palmee
} of on you q spawned or wind-gallee
T nag. Yet you get skinned, time aftel
: time, in important political measure:
by the fellow you're paying to repre-
3 sent you and attend to your business
: Isn't it about the time you applied thu
: same vigilance to politics you do, @
+ ought to do, to horse trading and bust
4 ness generally?
g CHARLES s. BARRETT.
D Washington, 0. G.
a