The St. Joseph observer. [volume] (St. Joseph, Mo.) 1906-1932, 1916-10-14
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 Mar Other
Benefits.
BY FRANK c. opELL.
editor Of the Nebraska Farm Magazine
MONEY FOR CROP MOVING
BY FRANK G. opELL.
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 Ad-
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
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 I'm the interest of the worker,
IL is really one Of the numerous far
reaching things started fer the bene-
fit Of the farmer by the Administra-
tion Of President Wilson. The increas-
ing scarcity of farm labor has become
a problem to the farmer, especially
in the wheat growing and fruit-grow-
ing sections. This labor, which is of
seasonal character. necessarily must
be performed largely by itinerant
workers. Some agency which will
meet this demand and relieve the la
bOTtI VI lut VI tihbiOs
agencies is necessary. Uncle Sam has
started it.
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 a
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 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-
eiaI centers.
And why not? Financial eenters
would not amount to much without the
nine-billion-dOllar crop of the Ameri-
can farmer. But the interests of the
| farmer have not always been so promi-
! nently and favOrably considered by
| Congress as they have during the past
| three years. The record of Democrat
ic claims for farmer support is a rec
ord of accomplishment. Ii 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-
| lieve 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 tn,
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 Smlth-Lever Ac
brings to every American farm
through the joint cooperation of tn,
Federal Government and the States
the help of these agencies In solvin,
the business problems of the farmer
COTTON FUTURES ACT: Deal
death blow to gambling in this grea
staple.
UNITED STATES WAREHOUSE
ACT Enables owners of stored prod
ucts 10 obtain loans on warehous
receipts more nearly approximating tn
full value of the product.
GRAIN STANDARDS: A law en-
acted last August authorizes the Sec
retary of Agriculture to establish off
clal grain standards. This law
working. The farmer who has bee
robbed through juosled grain grade
for years Will appreciate its value.
III CROP MOVING: The surplus fund
Of the Treasury Department have bee
placed directly In the banks Of tn
South and West to aid In moving crop
during the customary season Of none
shortage.
INTEREST ON GOVERNMENT DE
POSITS: Banks holding governmen
deposits are now required to pay tw
per cent interest. This cuts on bi
graft which formerly came from tn
free use Of huge sums Of the people
money. More than one million dollar
revenue annually Is now derived froI
this source alone.
IMPROVED MARKETING SYs
TEN: The farmer has for years fe
the power of the market combln
with its waste, inefficiency and di
honesty. The Office OF Markets an
the Rural Organization Service, e
tabllshed in the Department of Agr
culture during this Administration, al
working on scientific lines to promoi
better marketing and cooperative bus
ness organization among farmers.
/ These beneficlent measures, vii