Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-09-30
INTERESTING COMMENT PICKED
UP ~ NEWSPAPER MAN ON
HIS RURAL ROUNDS.
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION OF
ROAD LAWS NOT A SUCCESS
Must Be Enforced q. Expense Of
Nsishbor's isndship-Farmers too
Busy to Hold office-orssnization Of
Farm Help, Male and Female, Urged
az Solution Of Difficult Problem.
Special to mes-Republican.

Eagle Grove, Sept. 30.--"I hope" re-
marked a wel-known Wright county
farmer the other day, that when the
next revision of our road laws comes,
the last vestige of the local govern
ment feature will be eliminated This,
for instance Is the way it works as
matters now stand. "A little clump of
trees grow up and make trouble in the
highway and l say to the man living
on the farm which the road bounds, 4
wish you would cut down those trees
one day this week. All right, Ed, I'll
do It, he replies. Well, of course he
doesn't give the subject another
thought and the trees remain uncut.
Now the good Lord knows ] need all
the friends I've got so don't proceed
to lose one of them by saying, I told
you once to cut those trees down and
YOU said you would. Why don't you do
as you Agreed l simply remain silent
on the subject and the obstruction re-
mains in the roadway and the news
paper writer's continue tn complain
that the laws are all right only they
are not enforced. What is needed is
an outside man who will say, You have
those trees cut down between this and
Saturday night or will see that some
one else does it at your expense That
does the business"
One day last winter Franklin coun-
ty farmer said. Local government is
a fine thing theoretically, still it doesn't
work out SO we'll sometimes in practi-
cal applications. Look at this yard
Ever see such disordered one before?
RI; 1roo, xhnf 81
other township assessor. A man can't
handle that kind Of a proposition and
keep things in order at home. You may
say for me that farmer has no time
for holding public office. OF course he
is as capab BILE as anybody else and as
deserving of honors but as a financial
venture office holding for him is q
total failure"
former business man sold out,
bought farm near a town in Wright
county and went into the dairy bust
ness. In talking about the matter he
said: Il have done we'll since 1 came
here. My land has almost doubled in
value and 1 have made money besides,
but believe I'll sell out and quit the
farm. Farming isn't what some think
it to be. The problem of help is the
nightmare of farming. Not only the
outside help. but that in the house is
even worse than the other. My wife
was i'll fora time and am just eight
pounds lighter than I was when she
cooked our last meal. The present
housekeeper uses more soap in week
than my wife used In a month. and
things are not half SO clean as they
were before she came. One night I
came into the house and the hired man
sat in the parlor with his feet on the
piano. Farm labor, male and female,
ought to be organized. Then 1t would
have some standing and with that some
sense of responsibility If those on
whom we must depend for help were
members OF associations that refuse
membership except to worthy appli-
cants, there would not be such q thing
as month man quitting job in
harvest or haying time, and hiring out
to his former employers ne!ghbor at a
half dollar a dav higher wages, nor a
girl leaving n housewife the evening
before silo filling began. Every other
form Of labor Is organized and 1T would
be better for both farmer and his help
If this class had it's association to dig.
nifty such work and regulate the con-
duct of it's me:nbers. Blu. I'm going
to get out of it, I'm going to sell out and
quit"
A retired farmer, speaking on the
subject of renting farms said The man
who owns farm of more than quar-
ter section is finding it more and more
difficult to rent his land satisfactorily.
He is compelled to accept a consider
ably lower rental figure than the owner
of a smaller farm. About the only man
who will take one Of the larger places
any more is the father Of two or more
boys large enough to manage teams and
machinery and as soon as the time
comes for the boys to leave home the
father must either drop out CT go to a
smaller farm which he can handle |
without help"
Here is the kind OF complaint that
isn't altogether new. x happened to |,
be in Des Moines one day few years
ago when farmers cooperative |,
was being held said a farmer |
who sometimes tells about things that |
need fixing and :. l went in and sat
down to listen awhile to what the wise
ones would have to say. Pretty soon |
to my surprise the name Of one Of my |
neighbors at home was announced. 1t |
was the year that so much corn was