The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-28
THE FARMER is SATISFIED;
AND HE HAS A REASON

A farmer friend for whom we have great respect-said respect
periy Of any kind and respect of all kinds go hand in hand, and
there being no especial credit due for lionzing the opulent-re-
marked to us a few days ago, in the chaste language OF the agri-
cnltnriSt and with the confidence that comes OF a big silo and an
equally big bank account, that we ought to lay off this high cost
o living stuff.
AS we gathered from his language after being reduced to plain
newspaper colloquialsm, the farmer is pretty well satisfied with
the price of everything except wages, the wages in question being
those he is required to pay his laborers.
The farmer is ! better situated now than at any time in the pres
ent decade, Out Of the pastures and the soil come the things he.
eats and ont of his vineyard and apple orchard come about the
only beverages that are now TO be had for drink. How he shall
ne ted Us no longer an issue and wherewithal he shall be clothed
- as u always has been, regardless OF the Scriptural admontion
that it is something to worry over, concerns him not in the least.
II the boil weevil takes his annual toll, the farmer consoles
himself with the thought that he not only has less cotton to gather,
out the prospect is good for a better price for that WHICH remains.
The acorns are about the same quality as they were before the
war and there IS no indication that their food value has been i'm
paired or that the trees are offering substitutes or authorizations.
The approach of hog killing time fails to reveal any demand on the
part Of the victims for shorter working hours and less feed.
Inc farmer pays more for what he buys and gets pore for
what he has to sell, The result isthat he raises more of what he
needs and therefore buys less than ever before and sell more and a
greater variety than he ever offered on the market in the past
He gets what he asks for his produce because the world must
nave 1t and he buys what he can afford because he wants it.
Where does the fault lie and to whom shall go the praise? Let
us hasten to praise the farmer, He has stood by his guns year in
and year out. lie has had to stand and deliver and now he is a
good receiver. He stayed with his farm with the lean years, with
the mortgages; he nursed his cattle through the murrain and
pulled his hogs through the cholera.
His less determined neighbor gave up the ghost, put out the
fire, called his dog and sought employment in the city. Now he
IS trying to find a way TO pay for the things that, had he stayed
on the farm, he might have had for nothing and to sell His
troubles may drive him insane but never back TO the farm. And
after all that is the bottom OF the trouble. The farm offers more
inducement today than ever before, but its call is to the man who
IS willing to work. Perhaps that is why there are not more re-
sponses. The early settlers in this country had a rule among
themselves that he who would not work should not eat. That is
the basis that we are on today but without any guarantee that
the man who works shall have enough for his family to eat.
There isn't much use in advocating the back to the farm move
ment il the opportunity itself does not attract without urging. II
the TACT that no high cost OF living exists on the farm is not sui
ficient inducement nothing else counts.