The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1914-04-02
Whv "Down" the Middle Man :?

To THE EDITOR OF The JOURNAL: This
is an age of specialization. Men choose
a vocation and proceed to concentrate
their efforts upon it. The shoemaker
makes shoes, and does nothing else. He
is specialist. Not only does this fac
tory confne itself to the manufacture of
shoes, but each individual employed
therein performs only single operation
of the many required to turn out pair
of shoes. This individual is an expert,
and so nicely is his work done that when
the parts of a shoe are assembled they
fit together, making one complete and
perfect unit. When work is done in
this way the largest possible amount of
the product is turned out, and at the
lowest possible cost. Thus, only, can
competition be successfully met-thus,
only, can a margin of profit be saved.
So it is in the production of all staple
and everyday articles having large
and constant demand.
The farmer must specialize. The de-
mand for his product is constant and in
creasing out of all proportion to his abil-
ity to supply. Long ago people of Euro
pean countries were driven by the eco
nomic pressure to scientific methods of
farming.
With older aud poorer soil, denser po-
pulation and primitive tools, foreign
countries lead us in quantity produced
per acre, as, for illustration, wheat and
potatoes. Of the last named article our
average crop per acre in the United
States is only 80 bushels while in Bel
GUM, France, and Russia the respective
yields are 226, 100 and 1876 bushels.
Thirty years ago in our country two
men out of every three were tillers of
the soil-were producers. In recent years
the drift from country to city has pro
ceeded so rapidly that today only one out
of every three men remains on the farm,
the two others having gone to the city.
and are consumers. Thus the producers
problem IS large and growing one. In
these thirty years the population has so
now nearly ninety-two millions, within
hundred years the cost OF staple articles
has steadily decreased, so that now
household commodities are on lower
level than ever before. Specialization
and expert methods have done this. This
is true of all kinds of production. But
within four years a new condition with
the item of beef, (affecting also its relat-
ed provisions), has entered into the sit
uation. In that time the head of beef
cattle has fallen off seven millions, while
during the same period our population
has increased about the same number.
During the last ten years our export food
stuffs have fallen off one hundred and
fifteen millions while our imports have
increased thirteen millions, and we are
rapidly approaching a condition. where
we will be unable to feed our own po-
pulation. What has happened to beef
and wheat will surely happen to other
products in their turn. Farming must
be intensive. Fruits of the soil must
have as careful attention as is given in
Kingdoms others than vegetable. Some
plants will never come to fruitage with
out careful selection and cultivation.
Even as GOD, in order to make nucleus
for the perfecting and perpetuation of
His Kingdom, set apart the Children of
Israel and cultivated them -intensively.
Our people are beginning to realize
the situation, and before the present
congress is bill proposed by represen-
tative Lever, for the giving by the fed
eral government to each State ten thou
sand dollars per year for term of years,
to be used in conjunction with the State
Agricultural Colleges, to disseminate
agricultural knowledge, as most farmers,
though working and frugal, are
pursuing wasteful methods.
Not all men are temperamentally |
adapted to any one kind of work, so we
have learned that it is good economic
policy to have men do that part of the
worlds work which they can do best.
Some men love the soil, some make the
shoes, others keep accounts, prepare our
food, teach the young, heal the sick, and
preach the Gospel. This is classification
of labor. Such was not wholly possible
in the Pilgrim days, but since that time
every man who ''done things" has been
aiming to make it SO, because in this
way he could better minister to the needs
of his wife. his children and his neighbor,
according to his hearts desire, and be-
world.
in the places of our ancestors, perform
ing all those various tasks as they were
obliged to do? If we would live up to the
present day American standard many
people must serve us, bringing to us the
wished-for things which lie outside of
of immediate grasp, for at each meal our
table holds articles of food brought from
many lands. These people are all our
middle men. Looking from their stand
point, we are also theirs. Can we get
along without each other?
The carriage-builder cannot afford to
bother to raise all the potatoes his fami-
ly requires for the winter. But the
farmer is we'll prepared to supply his
need-so the one man builds strong bug
gies, while his neighbor raises nice pota-
toes. This again is Classification of
labor. We cannot grow raisins, neither
can we go to California after them. Some
fellow has got to do the job for us-he is
our middle man. Naturally, we would
prefer the fellow who is intelligent
enough to buy and ship when the market
and other conditions are right.
To do this work requires, at times, a
large amount of money, apd the buyer
draws from the bank, not alone his extra
funds, kept there for safety, but occa-
sionally much larger amount, such as
banks make it their business to loan all
worthy applicants.
A few days since heard Farmers
Union man advise his brethren to go to
the bank for working capital, instead of
it in their former hap-hazard
way. Yet at this same meeting one of
heir slogans demanded inconsistently,
Down with the local banks, and let
one large institution serve our people.
When our Farmers Union man goes