The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-11-16
GREAT PROBLEM OF NATION
Not Tariff Nor Money Questions, But
Economic Distribution OF Neces-
saries Of Life.

saries OF Life.
II By A. c. DAVIS, National secsstarys
Treasurer of the Farmers Union.
r The Farmers union never began "a
year with brighter prospects than
II marks this beginning of our ninth
year as national organization. Some
years we have had considerable mora
noise and excitement at our conyen.
tons than was manifested at Chatta-
nooga, but noise counts for very little
In this movement The men whose
4 leadership insures success for the or
ganization are the men who have
lived through the days Of loud denun-
citation and extravagant promises and
have learned well the lesson of quiet
determination. Such we had at Chat
tanooga.
Could the individuals who have
kicked out the traces because OF some
fancied grievance or because they
/ thought every dime invested as dues
should return dollar in interest, re-
alize what tremendous force this
union has been in the affairs of. met
/ during the past decade, / am sure
that every one Of them would hurry
back to the fold. II is safe to say that
at no time in the history Of our great
! country has there been d more wide
spread determination to diagnose the
disease of our body polite and apply
| a specific. Men in all walks of life
4 know that something is radically
wrong. This can now be stated with
/ out the fear Of being called an alarm
list. 1t is SO evident that the most
/ pronounced optimist recognizes its ex-
istence. and it is happy sign that
our great nation Is getting right close
up to the real trouble.
Politicians used to feed the people
on the poetry of politics, but they
! didn't fatten. It takes hard work to
supply the beans and bacon to put on
i flesh People found out that it took
effort to succeed and that the particu-
lar color of the political party in pow
er had little to do with the problem Of
existence. They are willing to work,
and work hard, bSt are insistent in
the demand that their labors shall be
properly rewarded.
The great problem before the Amer
lean people is not the tariff, it is not
/ the money question, it is not the IA
vorite planks of the political parties,
i but it is the economic distribution Of
the necessaries of life. Man is first of
| all an animal. His higher intelligence
! makes him desire to be q hrst-class
4 - ~ 4cn IA MI Fn
essentials, first essentials. In our de-
/ sire to conquer the wilderness and
make a great nation we have neglect
ed to study closely this all important
| subject. Countless multitudes are suf-
fering and will continue to suffer until
we learn that every being must have
the opportunity to provide the crea-
1 ture comforts. Our responsibility
1 ends not with the present, but ex-
tends to generations vet unborn.
This problem has never been treat
/ ed as national question. The indi-#
vidual has been left to solve it as best
he might. Look at the awful condi.
tons that prevail as a result OF this
neglect. A few wax fat because they
can and do manipulate the products Of
the many, while the great body Of
producers must fight hard to get even
| enough for an existence.
Why do l say that our great think
ers are getting close up to the real
trouble? Because all of the efforts
now being made to find what is the
matter will eventually get around to
] this problem. Soon all Of this crop
ing about and striking here and there
viii stop, and, il common parlance,
we will get down to brass tacks.'
The country life commission and the
agitation about the rural credit syss
TENS Of Europe are steps in the right
direction. 1t will not be long until
the leaders in these movements will
be abreast Of the Farmers union in
the effort to handle American prod
/ ucts economically and equitably
Take all the help you can get in
working out this problem, but be sure
that you do not depend entirely upon
the help. Let US all work at 1t. Leg
islation will help some. Commercial
bodies will lend assistance SO long as
it means dollars to them. Railroads
are getting anxious about freight ship
ments and will help considerably to
eliminate grafters in the fruit and
| vegetable business, SO that farmers
won't get discouraged and quit rails
ing these things. But all OF these
agencies combined will amount to but
little unless the farmer is in the
proper attitude. The whole thing
hinges upon the determination Of the
farmer to be a business man. e he
really means business he will get into
the union, the only organization that
| has SO far attempted to reach the root
Of the matter
/ For the benefit Of the doubling