The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1915-01-27
PAYROLL IOF
MET
BY FARMER.
7 ----
WANTS NO "DEADHEADSv ON
LIST OF employees.
"a CALL UPON THE LAW MAKERS
70 PREVENT USELESS TAX
UPON AGRICULTURE.
BY Peter Radford


| industry and as such he must mey
| the nations payroll. When industr
pays its bill 1t must make a sigl
draft upon agriculture for the amour
| which the farmer Is compelled I
honor without protest This chec
drawn upon agriculture may travel /
and fro over the highways of con
merce; may build cities; girdle tn
globe with bands OF steel; may scare
hidden treasures in the earth 0
traverse the skies, but in the end |
will rest upon the soil No dolla
will remain suspended In midair; 1t i
as certain to seek the, earth's surfac,
as an apple that falls from tree.
When farmer buys a plow he pay
the man who mined the metal, thu
woodman who felled the tree, th,
manufacturer who assembled the raw
material and shaped it into an ar
ticle of usefulness, the railroad thai
transported 1t and the dealer who
sold him the goods. He pays the
wages Of labor and capital employed
| 4
In the transaction as well as pays
for 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
$12,000,000,000, and it. 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. ass,.s. ,I..
The Farmers Payroll and How He
Meets 1t.
The annual payroll Of agriculture
approximates s12,000,OO0000. A por-
tion of the amount is shifted to for
eign countries in exports. but the
total payroll of industries working for
the farmer divides substantially as
Railroads. 1.252,O00,000;
$4,365, 100000; mining,
s655,00O,000; banks, $200,0O0,000;
$500, 100000, and heavy
payroll constitutes the
1t takes the corn crop, the most
in agriculture, which sold
last year for 1862, 100000. 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
1T $920,000,000; the wheat crop,
which is worth s610,0O0,00O. and the
oat crop. that is worth s440,000,0O0.
ire required to meet the annual pay
oil Of the manufacturers. The
money derived from the remaining
staple crops is used in meeting the
payroll of the bankers, merchants,
tic. After these obligations are paid,
he farmer has only a few lunches of
some fruit and poultry |
which he can sell and call the pro-
leeds his own.e sa.gN
When the farmer pays off his help |
le has very little left and to meet |
hese tremendous payrolls he has
een forced to mortgage homes. work |
gomen in the field and increase the
ours OF his labor. We are, there |
ore, compelled TO call upon all in
ustries dependent upon the farmers |
Or subsistence to retrench in their
Expenditures and to cut off all un-
ecessary expenses This course is
bsolutely necessary in order to avoid
reduction in wages, and we want,
possible, to retain the present wage
cale paid railroad and all other in
ustrial employees.
We will devote this article to a
lscussion of unnecessary expenses
nd whether required by law or per-
lifted by the managements of the
,ncerns, is wholly immaterial. We
ant all waste labor and extrava-
ance. of whatever character, cut out.
'e will mention the full crew bill as
the character OF unneces-
ary expenses to which we refer
Union Opposes "Full Crew" Bill.
The Texas Farmers Union regis
cred its opposition to this character
I legislation at the last annual meet
ng held in Fort Worth, Tex, August
1914, by resolution, which we quote.
S follows:
THE matter of prime importance !
, the farmers of this state is an ade- ,
uate and efficient marketing system;
nd we recognize that such system
J impossible without adequate rail-
bad facilities. embracing the greatest
mount OF service at the least pos a
N.l