Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-03-20
&MS
THE FARM AND PRODUCTION.

that ~confronts the country from an
economic standpoint Is the great
ed on the subject of production ever
since the armistice was signed as
being the only solution for the high
cost of living and the chaotic condition
Of the world generally. Until the peo-
pie get back to work in real earnest
and produce we can never hope TO
make good the awful loss caused by
five years of the most destructive war
the world has ever known, let alone
meet our ever increasing needs of the
present day.
But to get back to the farm-here
is the basic industry of the world.
All wealth comes originally from the
land. The greatest wealth is produc-
ed on the fertile plains where the seed
Is sown and the harvest is reaped.
The world must be fed. But farm
Ing means more than hiatt means
the actual creation of wealth. When
the farmer fertilizes his land and
sows his seed at an investment Of q
few thousand dollars and, within a few
months gathers from that same land
I.- - 4J1,tga do nf
dollars, he has made the world that
much richer. And the more he plants
and the more he reaps tho richer the
world becomes.
Today, however. this basic produc-
ton on The farms is greatly curtailed.
The farmer is not going to plant as
many acres as formerly for the simple
reason shat he cannot get the help re-
uuired TO cultivate the land and reap
the harvest. Farm labor IS not 10 be
had. Men who formerly worked on
farms are now employed III the in
dustries in the towns and cities where
labor Is now on a scale of eight hours
or less a day with a half day off Sat
urdays and with numerous holidays
thrown in. When common labor can
secure Sc a day under such conditions
and skilled labor proportionately
higher, there Is nothing on the farm
to attract men. They are not willing
to work on the farm even were hours
and wages made equal with hours and
wages In the factories because farm
work is too hard. there is too much
d%rudgery to 1t and the ~conveniences
are not to be had. These are days
when we are all looking FOR the soft
snap and the farm is the last place to
look for that.
But suppose the farmer did make
an effort to compete with the other
industries In the matter of hours and
wages. what would happen? Imagine
work on the farm starting at s
o'clock with the cows vet to be MIXED
and all the chores to be done.
But why continue the comparison?
The only way the farmer could get
by would be to employ two shifts OF
eight hours each.
Right here the wage scale in.
Let us take the pay that the common
laborer receives-S6 a day-and apply
it to the farm; imagine what the cost
of farm produce would be and how the
cost of living would jump even If the
farmer a only one shift at work. If
q farmer had to pay Sc a day for
merely picking peas beans and other
vegetables and then at the rate of Sc
n day to have the produce carried to
market, we leave it TO the imagination
what fresh vegetables would cost the
housewife.
But why go on? The fact is, it is
impossible for the farmer to grant
the hours and pay the wages that
other industries do. The result is,
farm labor, scarce even under
ordinary circumstances, simply cannot
be had. Many fields cannot be planted
and there are only small harvests to
reap. Production IN this basic in
dustry falls off tremendously.
But the world has got to be fed.
With a shortage of food nation will
begin bidding against nation. prices
will soar and it is n case of the sur
yival of the httest. America can hold
out as well as any of them. but she
will have to pay dearly TO do 1t. /,
When production on the farms falls
off the bubble that we have seen con-
stantly growing is about to burst. The
crisis tina we have been approaching
through the endless circle of wage
raising, hen price raising is reached.
Up until now the farmers. largely
through patriotism. have been keeping
up their production through one way
or another. With no laborers left they
can no longer continue. We may be
able to struggle along without steel
Snd iron. without shoes and clothes.
even, making our old things do. but