Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1916-10-26
DEMOCRATIC LAWS
THAT HELP FARMEr5
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

Do you know that your post office
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 job 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 la
hor 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 Adm nistra-
ton OF President Wilson. The increa&-
ing scarcity of farm labor has become
Il problem to the farmer, especially
in the wheatgrowing and fruit-groW-
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 la
borer of the graft of employment
agencies is necessary. Uncle Sam has
started 1t.
\ single illustration will show how
the system works; liz 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 which
shows that the Wilson Administration
has tried to give both labor and the
farmer a square deal. For the tirst
time in history, this Administration
has placed the needs OF rural districts
suuarely before Congress as Of equal
Importance with the interests OF finan-
cial centers.
And why not? Financial centerS
would not amount TO much without the
nne-billiOn-dollar crop of the Amerl-
can farmer. But the interests Of the
farmer have not always been so prc'ni-
nently and favorably considered by
Congress as they have during the past
three wears. The record of Democrat
ic claims fcS 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
cral 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-
lieye the farmer of the incubus of the
Short-time loan ut ext0rtionate 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
10 the market, under conditions which
will prevent wasteful use of the money,
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSIONS:
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 i'll solving
the business problems of the farmer.
COTTON FUTURES ACT: Deals
TO l,iiprr in tniU
staple.
UNITED STATES WAREHOUSE
ACT: Enables owners of stored prod
ucts to obtain loans on warehouse
receipts more nearly approximatinS the
iUIl value of the product.
GRAIN STANDARDS: A law On
acted last August authorizes the See
retary of Agriculture to establish oil
cal grain standards. This law is
working. The farmer who has be n
robbed through juggied grain grac IS
for years will appreciate its value.
CROP MOVING: The surplus fun IS
of the Treasury Department have be u
placed directly in the banks of the
South and West to aid in moving ere IS
during the customary season Of mon y
shortage.
INTEREST ON GOVERNMENT 1 j.
POSTS: Banks holding Governmi It
deposits are now required TO pay o
per cent interest. This cuts Off lG
graft which formerly came from the
free use of huge sums of the peop IS
money. More than one million doll2rs
revenue annually is now derived II N
this source alone.