Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1916-10-13
THE FARMER AND THE STRIKE

| The republicans have never been able
| to regard the farmer as they do other
| business men. or to treat the farmers
| business as they do other business. The
whole legislative record of the, party
shows this; the line of argument used
to the farmer by their speakers and in
| their campaign literature shows it.
The latest and most remarkable in
stance of this is the preachment.* they
are now putting out that the settlement
! of the strike by President Wilson was
of no value to the farmer and that a
| great burden in the; way of increased
| freight rates will fall upon his shoulders
There is no basis for either assertion
The strike would not have caused the
| farmer to actually suffer for food or for
fuel as the poor in cities would have
suffered But his business would have
| suffered. :.
With the railroad traffic of the nation
! blocked the farmers business would
| have suffered along with all other busi-
ness-in some ways more. He would
have seen his grain, his corn, his cotton,
all his staple products, held on the farm
or running up storage charges in ware
| houses of no present use or value, and
to be. later sold in an impaired market.
Were he shipping on contract he would
have been forced to break his contract.
! He would have seen his fruit and .ye-
I
for lack of transportation to narket-a
dead present loss to him, and a dfsor-
ganized market at the end.
! Those farmers who are feeders of live
stock and who depend in part on pur-
chased foodstuff would have suffered ex-
ira losses. .'''
| The farmer would have suffered; incon-
venience and loss as to everything he
ships to market and as to everything he
! buys from other points. a..
And in addition to this direct loss, he,
too, with the rest of the popn4atSon.
would have suffered from the disastrous
state of the business of the e-sfcountry
brought about by the strike. Tic farmer
is not prospered by labor being fdle,
manufactures, mines, mills and stock
yards closed and all commerce handcuff-
ed; with the poor suffering for food and
the babies for milk in the cities.
! The harped on increase Of freight rates
the farmer is going to- have to pay is
mere presumption. No promise of In
crease has been given the railroads. What
has been promised is: that an investtga-
| ton shall be made and just and fair
freight rates allowed. How welcome the
| fulflment of this promise will be to the
| railroads is a question::
The net earnings, Of The railroads of
the country for the year ending June l.
1876 were 76S millions dollars more than
the last year of the Taft administration
| This indicates a possibility that the es-
| tablishment of just ,nates does not ne
cessarily mean higher rates The water
| in railroad stocks, the manipulation in
railroad deals and management, may
cause it that the burden is to be borne
by the men in Wall Street who got mil
lions for slight or even dubious services
to railroad management, as i'm the New
| iocf SO If CHI
bearing the burden, be the . shippers
farmers or miners or manufacturers or
| lumber men. r.,.-. ..ssEg.S|%s.
| For two years the Interstate. commerce
commission has been having; made a
physical valuation of the railr0ad Prop
erty in the United States. Upon its act
ual value and not upon their watered
| stocks are taxes and freight rates to be
computed and based The question of
just and fair freight rates is already be-
ing carefully investigated by the eora-
mission and will be investigated by con-
gress when it meets in December. The
railroads are going tOcnbet allowed to
charge just freight rates 5And their sue
| cessful operation is Of; So much value,
so necessary to the well being Of the
country that no good business nsaa,
I farmer, merchant, miner or manufae-
| turer, is going to begrudge them the
| right. ./..& .$+%t
The position and the arguments of the
republicans exemplify and prove their
total inability and continued refusal to
view the farmer in his true position in
American life--a business. man; that
there is producing end to His business
as to that of the minersor nae4u-
facturer; that there is a selling end to
| his business as to others, a financial
phase to his business as to others; that
as a shipper and as g. receiver of freight
he stands in the same shoes as the other
shippers and receivers. =
And a main fundamental diference now
between the two parties is that the dem
ocrats under Wilson have recognized the
farmers real status Publicity Bureau,
Democratic National Committee
| MUNICIPAL COURT