The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1915-01-21
PAYROLL Of
| EATON ]! ! ! | ! NET
BY FARMER |
*
WANTS NO aDEADHEAOs" Oh
LIST OF EMPLOYEES. J;
a CALL upon the LAW aAkeRe
TO PREVENT USELESS TAX
UPON AGRICULTURE.
BY Peter aadforo
Lecturer National Farmers. t,nscu

Lecturer National Farmers. ruanu
The farmer 10 the paymaster o
industry and - such he must meel
the nations payroll When Industry
pays its bin 1t must make q sight
draft upon agriculture for the amount
which the farmer is compelled to
honor without protest This check
drawn upon agriculture may travel to
aud fro aver the highways of CON-
merce: may build cities; gtrdle the
globe with bands OF steel: may search
hidden treasures in the earth or
traverse the skies. but in the end it
will rest upon the soil. No dollar
will remain suspended in midair: 1t 10
rs certain to- seek the earth's surface
as an apple that falls from a tree.
When q farmer buys a pillow he pays
the man who mined the metal. the
woodman who felled the tree. the
manufacturer who assembled the raw
material and shaped it into an ar.
ttcle OF usefulness. the railroad that
transported it and the dealer who
sold him the goods He pays the
wages Ut labor and capital employed
in the transaction as we'll as pays
Tor the tools. machinery. buildings.
ETC.. used In the construction of the
commodity and the same applies to
all articles of use aud diet OF him
self and those engaged in the sub,
eidtary lines of industry.
There Is no payroll In civilization
that does not rest upon the back
OF the farmer. He must pay the bills
all OF them.
The total value of the nations
annual agricultural products is around
Sl2.O00.00O.OOO. and it is safe to esti:
mate that IS cents on every dollar
goes to meeting the expenses of sub,
stdiary Industries. The farmer does
not work more than thirty minutes
per day for himself; the remaining
thirteen hours of the days toll he
devotes to meeting the payroll of the
hired hands of agriculture. such as
the manufacturer, railroad, CONNER.
cial and other servants.
The Farmers Payroll and How He
Meets Il.
The annual payroll of agriculture
approximates $12,0OO.OOOOO A per!
ton Of the amount is shifted to for.
eign countries in exports. but the
total payroll of industries working for
the farmer divides substantially as
follows: Railroads. $1,252. 100000:
manufacturers. $4,365. 100000 mining,
$685.. 100000; banks, $2O0.O00,OOO;
mercantile $3,50O.O0O, 900, and heavy
miscellaneous payroll constitutes the
remainder. I
1t takes the corn crop. the most
valuable in agriculture. which sold
last year for $1.e92,o00.oo0, to pay off
the employees of the railroads; the
money derived from our annua. sales
of livestock of approximately $4,000,
100000, the yearly cotton crop. valued
at $920.000.000: the wheat crop!
which is worth $61o,o00.O0O, and the
oat crop, that is worth $4,000. 900!
are required to meet the annual pay!
roll Of the manufacturers. The
money derived from the remaining
staple crops is used in meeting the
payroll of the bankers. merchants!
etc. After these obligations are paid.
the farmer has only few punches of
vegetables. some fruit and poultry
which he can sell and call the pro.
ceeds his own. /
When the farmer pays of his helm
he has very little left and to meet
these tremendous payrolls he has
been forced to mortgage homes, work
women in the field and increase the
hours Of his labor. We are, there.
fore. compelled to call upon all in.
dustrfes dependent upon the farmers
for subsistence to retrench- in their
expenditures and to cut OF all IN.
necessary expenses. This course 10
absolutely. necessary In order to avoid
Q reduction In wages. and we want
Il possible. to retain the present wage
scale paid railroad and all other ins
dustrial employees. !!
We will devote this article to n
discussion of unnecessary expenseS
and whether required by law or per.
United by the arrangements Of the
concerns. 10 wholly immaterial. We
want all waste labor and extrava,
gance. of whatever character, cut ont
We will mentioo the full crew bill al