Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1915-05-21
PAYROLL Of
CIVILIZATION met
BY FARMER
WANTS NO "DEADHEADS" ON
LIST OF EMPLOYEES.
A CALL UPON THE LAW MAKERS
TO PREVENT USELESS TAX
UPON AGRICULTURE.
BY Peter Radford
Lecturer National Farmers Union


The farmer is the paymaster o.
industry and as such he must NEE,
the nations payroll. When industry
pays its bill 1t must make a sight
draft upon agriculture for the amount
which the farmer is compelled t.
honor without protest. This check
drawn upon agriculture may travel te
and fro over the highways of com
merce; may build cities; girdle the
globe with bands Of steel; may search
hidden treasures in the earth OF
traverse the skies, but in the end II
will rest upon the soil. No dollar
will remain suspended In midair; it is
as certain to seek the earth's surface
as an apple that falls from tree.
When farmer buys 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.
ticle of usefulness, the railroad that
transported it and the dealer who
sold him the goods. He pays the
wages of 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 and diet of HIM
self and those engaged In the sub
sidiary 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
$l2,OOO.O0O.0O0. and 1t is safe to esti.
mate that 95 cents on every dollar
goes to meeting the expenses Of sub.
sidiary 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.
Tho Farmers Payroll and How He
Meets Il.
The annual payroll of agriculture
approximates $4,000. 100000. A DOR.
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, 900 900:
manufacturers, $4,365. 100000; mining.
$655.0O0.OO0; banks, 100000, 900;
mercantile $500, OOO, 900, and a heavy
miscellaneous payroll constitutes the
remainder.
1t takes the corn crop, the most
valuable in agriculture, which sold
last year for 1892, 100000, to pay of
the employees of the railroads; the
money derived FROM our annual sales
of livestock Of approximately $4,000.
100000. the yearly cotton crop, valued
at $920,000000: the wheat crop.
which is worth $610, 100000, 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 a few punches of
vegetables. some fruit and poultry
which he can sell and call the pro-
ceeds his own.
When the farmer pays off 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.
dustries dependent upon the farmers
Tor subsistence to retrench in their
and to cut Off all un-
necessary expenses. This course Ia
absolutely necessary in order to avoid
a reduction in wages, and we want.
Il possible, to retain the present wage
scale paid railroad and all other In
iustrial employees.
We will devote this article to q
discussion of unnecessary expenses
and whether required by law or per.
nitted by the arrangements of the
concerns. is wholly immaterial. We
want all waste labor and extraya.
sance, of whatever character, cut out.
We will mention the full crew bill as
Illustrating the character of unneces.
sary expenses to which we refer.
Union Opposes "FuIl Crew" BILL
The Texas Farmers Union regis.
Tered Its opposition to this character
d legislation at the last annual meet.
ing held in Fort Worth, Tex, August
= 1914, by resolution, which we quote,
rs follows:
The matter Of prime Importance
% the farmers of this state is an ade-
luate and efficient marketing system:
'nd we recognize that such a system
. impossible without adequate rail.
'oea facilities. embracing the grssisss