The Mena weekly star., 1920-03-18
PROBLEMS OF FARMERS
the Editor of The Star.

To the Editor of The Star.
 Dear ir--If you will allow me space will give my ideas on some questions, and well may We study them. It seems the people of this great republic have lost their bearings to a great extent. Are we so conducting the affairs of home. state and nation that we can continue to call our coun- try the home of the brave and the land of the free? l fear not, for we are steadily drifting from the princi- ples upon which this great republic was constructed.
 We are facing election year, and some of the most vital questions. ever before the American people I want to say just here we should be very careful to select the best material pos sibble for all offices, county. state and national. And in order to save the country we must forever abandon the straight ticket and try to select men WAO WAtA oltAlQ tOt LuE u uG MI AotAa4 principles of government. I will say that I have always been identified with the Republican party and yet stand with it. especially so far as na- tional questions are concerned. But would vote for a Democrat who had record as an upright citizen a thou sand times quicker than for Repub- lican who had no such record behind him. We must drop our prejudice and try to select the best possible men to make our laws. And, blythe way, l think we would do better with less laws and rulings and more rigidly en- forcing what we have.
 We hear a great deal said about the farmers leaving the farms and flock ing to the cities, and well may our cause if there is not relief given to the farmers, especially of the south, production will be cut so low that they will sure enough become alarmed And justly so, because the farmer is the bone and sinew and fundamen- tai basis of every other industry, yet he has always been a slave, SO to speak for all other industries. All other laboring classes demand and get their higher wages and shorter houfs, while the farmer (and l am speaking from experience as have been in other lines of business, but have been farming for 20 years). works 10 to IA hours each day, and when he has a few bales of cotton to sell all other farmers have the same, and we hear the cry, lover production" or low grade" or something else. And we sell it for about two-thirds its worth. And just standing ready are line of speculators who never worked a day in their lives, each bobbing the old farmer goes home, after having real ized about two-thirds of what it cost him to produce it and goes to work in cold and heat to try again with about the same results. If we have berries. cantaloupes, frying chickens to sell most all our neighbors also have them at the same time and the markket is over done, while in all other lines it Is very different and unless the farmers are given a chance to make a reason. able profit on their production they are going to continue Hooking to bet ter paying positions, or fruit growing anything aboe their needs. ('Hush, a strike,') some one says. It scares the speculators to think of such, but It wouldn't be any worse than many other lines of strikes. Yet the farmers are not that kind of material, they only demand their rights with the middle men cut out and put to some profitable line of business. It seems that the governments efforts to bring relief makes 1t worse, as they have been ap- pointing Investigating committees for many months with very little results. And although we all stood by our great president throughout the war, I want to say just here, that I believe he has made some great mistakes, and think if he had remained at home and put his attention to home affairs instead of having the Whitehouse at Paris for many months, and costing this country many millions of dollars, fooling with the League of Nations, (which l am glad to know can't be ratified without many reservations guarding our country), we would perhaps had some of our vital questions solved. ] believe that this country should at fond tn o1r cfda opd let fha u,,,roroo,, ,, country do the same, but of course helping them in reasonable way. So l say again that we should all study every question as carefully as possible and try to fill every office with the very best men possible let them be of whatever political party they may.
 Yours for a better America as each year passes.
 W. P. Brewer