Mountain advocate. (Barbourville, Ky.) 1904-1935, 1915-01-15
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


Lsri,r,r National Farmers Union
The farmer is the paymaster OF
industry and as such he must meet
the nations payroll. When industry
pays its bill 1t must make sight
draft upon agriculture for the amount,
which the farmer is compelled to
honor without protest. This check
drawn upon agriculture may travel TO
and fro over the highways of CON-
MERGE; may build cities; girdle the
globe with bands of steel; may search
hidden treasures in the earth or
traverse the skies, but in the end 1t
will rest upon the soil. NO dollar
will remain suspended in midair. 1t Is
as certain to seek the earth's surface
as an apple that falls from tree.
When a 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
ticle of usefulness, the railroad that
transported 1t and the dealer VINO
sold him the goods. He pays the
wages of labor and capital employed
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
sl2,00O,OOO 600, and 1t is safe to esti-
mate that IS 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.
The Farmers Payroll and How He
Meets II.
The annual payroll of agriculture
spproximates Sl2,000,0000 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
follows: Railroads. sl,252 100000;
manufacturers, s4.365,000, 200; mining
$655,O0O,OOO; banks, s2OO,OOO,OOO;
mercantile $3,500,000 900, and a heavy
miscellaneous payroll constitutes the
remainder
II takes the corn crop, the most
valuable in agriculture, which sold
last year for 1892 100000, to pay on
the employees of the railroads; the
money derived from our annual sales
of livestock of approximately $4,000.
900 600 the yearly cotton crop, valued
at S920O00,000; the wheat crop
which is worth 100000. goo, and the
oat crop, that is worth si4OOOO.OOO
are required to meet the annual pay
roll of the manufacturers. The
money derived from the remaining
staple crops is used in meeting thu
payrul of the bankers, merchants
etc. After these obligations are paid
the farmer has only few punches o
| vegetables. some fruit and poultry
which he can sell and call the pro
ceeds his own.
When the farmer pays off his hell
he has very little left and TO NEE
these tremendous payrolls he ha
been forced TO mortgage homes, worl
women In the field and Increase tn
. hours OF his labor. We are, there
fore. compelled TO call upon all IN
dustries dependent upon the farmer
for subsistence to retrench In thei
, expenditures and to cut on all VI
necessary expenses. This course l
absolutely necessary in order 10 avoi
5 n reduction In wages, and We wan
, II possible, to retain the present wag
scale paid railroad and all other II
dustrial employees.
We will devote this article to
discussion of unnecessary expense
: and whether required by law or Pei
. mitted by the arrangements OF IN
a concerns, Is wholly immatsrial. w
want all waste labor and sxtrsy'
sance, OF whatever character. cut on
We will mention the full crew bpl