The Prescott daily news., 1914-10-26
WEEKLY LETTER OF COM
 MISSIONER JOHN H. PAGE
Flood of Advice Through Circular Let ters, Posters, Dodgers, Interviews Etc, in parst Few Weeks Is
 Disgusting to Farmers.

Disgusting to Farmers.
 There has been such a flood of gra- tuitous advice to the farmers from so many sources lately that the farmers are doubtless thoroughly disguested. The greater number of letters, circu- lars, posters, dodgers, interviews and public speeches from and by men who know less about farming than anyth- ing else, that have deluged the col umns of the press for the past six weeks, has been enough to disgust the farmers with what they term "arm chair city farmers for all time to come. Following hard upon the re- cent Cotton Conference called by the Governor and held in Little Rock, there has been a regular flood of advice to the farmers to diversity their crops.
 l hope the real farmers who farm with their hands instead of their mouths, so to speak, will have pity on the city fellows who have been giving so much advice on diversifcation. Doubtless good many of the them who knew nothing about diversified tion thought the farmers were more ignorant than they were. which to my own certain knowledge is by no means | the case. As a matter of fact, would like to see alot of these bankers and business men stood up in a row and taught a lot of things by the l farmers. The farmers of Arkansas are just about as well up on farming as the bankers and business men are on business, and can come a little nearer to teaching them, than being taught by them. In addition to this, it can be said to the credit of the farmers, that they as a class are a reading and thinking people, and bet ter informed about the functions of ] government, Federal and State, than the bankers and business men, and this is said with not disrespect to the lat | ter.
 | All this campaigning to teach the farmer how to feed themselves is gra- tuitious, uninvited and uncalled for ad- vice. The farmers are not such simp- letons as to not know how to raise their own meat and bread, and corn, oats and hay, to feed themselves and their stock They know how and they know the necessity. What they want from the bankers and business men is help to hold or handle their present cotton crop, and keep it out of the hands of the spectators. After the cotton crop gets out of the hands of 1 the farmers it will do them no good for the price to go up. What the farmers need is substantial help now 1 in time of need, and not a Sluice of | advice. It will be an everlasting dis grace if the banks of the South let the cotton get out of the hands of the | farmers for want of financial help, and then furnish the money to the specu- latOr with Wnlcn to noIu anu Hdllule the crop and get the advantage of the higher prices that may come later The high sounding letters of advice to the farmers instead of substantial help. while well meant and consclen- tiously given, is not going to meet the full expectations of the agricultural classes, They have asked for bread and been given stone.
 A campaign is being organized to teach the farmers how to diversity and feed themselves. No campaign has been organized to furnish the money or means to the farmers to enable them to diversity. It is money and credit the farmer needs now, much worse than advice.
 JOHN II. PAGE,
 Commissioner.