Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-02-04


ago the farmers in this vicinity were up
| against problem in connection with the
| marketing Of their tobacco crop. They
did not know what they ought to get;
whether they ought to sell at once or
hold. a few years ago each Of them
would act alone, and ignorantiy. In
| this case they first got together. and
| then referred the problem to the Hump
den county league. The league put its
machinery into action, and gathered eg-
cry bit Of information that was avail
| able and to the existing and probable
future estate of the world tobacco mar
| ket Three tobacco experts went out
to i meeting Of the farmers and explain
| ed it all to them.
! The farmers do not pay the salaries
| Of these experts. either. The bankers,
merchants and manufacturers Of this and
other nearby towns pay the Greater part
/ of them. There is probably no other
| place in the world where the business
/ man shows such "A tender and intelligent
soicitutle for the welfare of the farmer
as he does here in Hampdcn county.
| There is no altrnism about this solci-
tude, real or pretended. 1t simply indi-
| Gates that the local business man has
discovered that farmers are necessary
! to his own existence. and that the more
! of them and the more prosperous they
are. the better.
This is equally true of the whole Unit
! ed States: and that Is what makes the
| Hampden county league significant The
| problem of the county IS the same. Oh a
small scale, as the problem of the ma
| tion.
Everywhere before the war, farming
was proposition which paid less and
less The middlemen got most Of the
profits on the crops. and the land was
! held at such high valuation that man
| could not make 4 fair interest on an in
vestment in farm. The result was that
more and more people crowded into the
cities and more and more land ran tG
| brush and broom sedge. Then the wal
came along, and showed Us that we bare
| ~ had enough TO eat, while millions OF
acres of land lay idle.
But New England had been Feeling
this same pinch for a long time before
the war Its farms were among the
/ first TO he deserted. because the hard
est to cultivate. The 'abondoned farm
Of New England became Il staple Of mag
azine fiction. And New England import.
/. Cd seyenty-five per cent Of all its food
And this food averaged about ten PEI
cent higher il cost than food IN any other
part If the United States
The result of this condition was that
/ New England manufacturers had TO pay
their workmen higher wages in order
that these people might live. At tht
same time tlle New England manufac
v tnrer was paying more far his coal fhar
A manufacturers iii most other regions
because It had to tx hauled farther Ii
Il word, I'LL Mds being seriously handi-
\ capped
These facts. combined with a superior
intelligence. and tEe New England basi-
ness man IL turn thoughtful eyes nppl
that rare. tfnld and rapidly disappear
ing creature. the New England farmer
I lie realized thar If be could induet that
4 farmer to raise more corn and potatoes
ana fruit and truck. and il he eoult
J. find i way tn get that food t. town ans
Sell ii without five nildlemen gettins
iii on the deal and boosting the price
If he could do these things. liz caalt
get labor III the said town for lower
wages, and could induce more laborery
to come there aud live IN a word b,
] sap that every dollar spent on he farm
er might well return u him seyera
fold in the form Of wages saved auf
more contented workmeu This may no
have been philanthropy. but il was Ger
tainly logic And ii Is logic which i:
not limited IN its application TO New
England
The result Of these eogItations on th'
part of the New England business MAI
in this particular section WAS the itamp
den county league. The purpose OF th'