Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1916-10-12
DEMOCRATIC LAWS
THAT HELP FARMERS
Federal Employment Bureau
But One of Many Achieve
ments of the Wilson
Administration.
MONEY FOR CROP MOVING
Rural Credits, Federal Reserve Act,
Good Roads, Grain Standards
and Many other
Benefits.
By FRANK G. ODEll.
Editor Of the Nebraska Farm Magazine


Is now an employment bureau? That
Is one of the new things Uncle Sam
has started during the present Adj
ministration. Secretary Wilson of the
Department of Labor has tackled the
task of bringing the jobless man and
the manless lob together, and now
every post office is an agency OF the
United States employment service.
The postmaster is equipped with
blanks for listing applications for Ia
Dor or for employment and is instruct
ed to help get the worker and the JOB
in contact.
While this might appear to be prin-
cipally in the interest of the worker,
it is really one of the numerous far
reaching things started for the bene-
fit Of the farmer by the Administra-
ton Of President Wilson. The increaS-
ing scarcity of farm labor has become
a problem to the farmer especially
in the wheat growing and fruitgrow-
ing sections. This labor which Is OF
seasonal character, necessarily must
be performed largely by itinerant
workers. Some agency which VIII
meet this demand and relieve the Ia
borer of the graft of employment
agencies is necessary. Uncle Sam has
started 1t.
A single illustration will show how
the system works; in the willamette
Valley of Oregon thousands of tenn
porary workers are needed in hop
picking time. On August 20 the Ore
gon Journal of Portland printed
news article about the new govern
ment employment agency, stating
that six hundred families could OBJ
tain Immediate employment in the
hop yards by applying at the Portland
division of the Federal employment
service.
This is another item added to the
mass of accommodating evidence when
shows that the Wilson Administration
has tried to give both labor and the
farmer a square deal. For the first
time in history, this Administration
has placed the needs Of rural districts
squarely before Congress as Of equal
importance with the interests OF finan-
cial centers.
And why not? Financial centcrS
would not amount to much without the
nine-bilIion-dollnr crop of the Ameri-
can farmer. But the interests of the
farmer have not always been SO proml-
nently and favorably considered by
Congress as they have during the past
three years. The record of Democrat
ic claims for farmer support Is rec
ord of accomplishment. 1t reads like
this In the passage of laws and admin
istrative acts:
What Has Been Done for the Farmer.
CURRENCY REFORM: The Fed
eral Reserve Act under which the
farmers paper is given special con-
sideration, including permission to
National Banks to loan on the security
Of farm lands.
RURAL CREDITS: An epoch-mak-
ing legislative measure which will re-
Iieve the farmer of the incubus of the
short time loan at eXtOrtionate inter
est. This measure alone, when In
full force will save the farmers OF the
United States one hundred and fifty
million dollars annually in interest
charges.
GOOD ROADS: Seventy-five mil.
lion dollars made available for the
development Of roads from the farm
to the market, under conditions which
will prevent wasteful use of the money.
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
The passage of the Smith-Lever Act
brings to every American farm,
through the joint cooperation of the
Federal Government and the States,
the help of these agencies in solving
the business problems of the farmer.
COTTON FUTURES ACT: Deals
n death blow to gambling in this great
staple.
UNITED STATES WAREHOUSE
ACT: Enables owners of stored prod
ucts to obtain loans on warehouse
receipts more nearly approximating the
full value OF the product.
GRAIN STANDARDS: A law en-
acted last August authorizes the Sec
rotary of Agriculture to establish Off
cial grain standards. This law is
working The farmer who has been
robbed through jusgIed grain grades
for years will appreciate its value.
CROP MOVING: The surplus funds
of the Treasury Department have been
placed directly in the banks of the
South and West to aid in moving crops
during the customary season OF money
shortage
INTEREST ON GOVERNMENT DE
POSTS. Banks holding government
deposits are now required to pay two
per cent interest. This cuts off big
graft which formerly came from the
free use Of huge sums of the peoples
money More than one million dollars
revenue annually is now derived from
this source alone.
IMPROVED MARKETING SYS-
TEN: The farmer has for years felt
the power of the market combine,
with its waste, inelliciency and dis
honesty. The Office of Markets and
the Rural Organization Service, es-
tablishcd in the Department of Agri-
culture during this Administration, arc
working on scientific lines to promote
better marketing and cooperative bust
ness organization among farmers.
These benetcient measures, with
many others, show why the farmer
IS pretty we'll satisfied with the Will
son Administration.
President Wilson hasn't been able
W hsuie oul yet WHETHER he Is going
to be on the stump or up one.
II the paper shortage becomes much
more serious the first thing we know
the machinery Of the State Depart
ment will be coming to an abrupt stop
Then, too, according to the Demo-
cratic campaign book that among the
more important enactments Of the
Wilson Administration may be men,
toned Magma Charta and the Ten
Commandments.
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