The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-10-13
Great Agricultural
States Exceeding
Quotas, as Appeal
Comes in the Flush
Time of Year
BY AGNES c. LAUT.


Il With the banner farm State of Iowa
gone over the top in subscriptions in less
than three DAYS, moi counting Sunday, and
with individual farmers IN snch wheat
States rs the Dakotas and Kansas and
Minnesota coming into the banks of little
towns and taking the entire quota assigned
to the district, farmers think You had
better not ask the question, "Are farmers
buying Liberty bonds"
Yet certain newspapers keep barking
back TO the foolish charge that farmers
are not buying bonds, that farmers paid
only per cent: of the total income taxes
in 1917, that farmers, In word, are
slackers when it comes to taking cash sup
port for the war out of their bluejeans,
though they have been wallowing in the
high prices of the food prpfteer since the
war began. 1t is pretty safe guess that
the town men making these charges don't
know rye from barley unless both are
bottled) nor a cow from somebody's goat.
Food, ships, munitions are the civilian
end of the job to end the war. In ship
yards and munition factories the eight
hour day prevails, with time and half
for over eight hours and double pay for
Sundays. Has anybody heard of an eight
hour day for farmers or double pay for
Sundays, especially on dairy and wheat
farms where work begins at a A. M. and
NAV suspend-it never ends-at ) z. NJ.
or at p. MI
Farmer Guaranteed Nothing.
In the shipyards and munition factories
owners up to very recently were guaran-
teed by the Government cost plus in all
their products. With the one exception
of wheat, which the world must have or
starve, the farmer has been guaranteed
nothing as to price of output, except that
everything he needs to buy has doubled in
price from blue overalls to self-binders,
and not only have wages to his help
doubled and quadrupled, but competent
help at any wages, even shipyard wages,
if the farmer could pay such, does not
exist for the farmer, the farm hours being
from dawn to dark and other war workers
hours only eight day.
I said competent help" Incompetent
help, slackers, skulks, shirks lodging mil
itary service and guaranteed to break any
machine In half an hour, or to run a
tractor into a ditch, or to dry up good
COW in half a week-ineompetent help has
literally swamped the farmer since the
war began, the kind Of gentry that has
worked in a shirt factory and comes out
in kid gloves with diamonds the size and
value of small potatoes to tell the farmer
how to do it.
The reasons for the charge against the
farmer are very similar to the reasons for
the charge against labor. In the three
former Liberty Loans the subscribers
were not carefully classified as to origin.
They were classified only as to districts;
and as the districts focused around the vii
lsge or town or city bank, the village or
town or city really got the credit for the
total which the farmers subscriptions
rolled up.
Rural Agents Not Organized.
Also, up to the time of the third loan,
agents to place subscriptions had not been
organized in each rural district and the
loans did not chance to be launched at
periods suspicious for ready coin among
farmers. The farmer from the very ma
ture of his output is long credit Gus
toner. In spring, if he is grain farmer
he must buy seed, horse power, man power
with the liberality of a drunken sailor.
These spendings he ordinarily pays within
six months. If he is a dairy farmer he
will require the same outlay on a smaller
scale in the spring plus big fat credit in
midsummer for the winter feed, which is
usually contracted for in August.
The grain farm does not get its return
until September, October and November;
and while the dairy farm is supposed to