The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-03-05
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War;
GREAT NEED is PRODUCTION
Men Must Be Given Inducement to
Work and Guaranteed Fair Deal
ing In the Distribution Of
the Result.
Article VI.
BY FRANK coMERFoRp.

WA cpCht III bidhlhS thhl6os AL th's
way we get the things we eat and
wear. We have eaten up our surplus.
The worlds reserve is gone. We are
literally living from hand to mouth. To
overcome the food shortage we must
put every inch Of available ground into
production. Only by doing this can we
live and gradually get back the sur
plus which stood as protection
against crop failures.
Production is not automatic, 1t is the
work of man. There is not anything
complex about 1t. You can't use
magic. To grow things men must
pillow and gather. The will to work
Is our greatest need. The land is.
available. God furnishes the sunshine
and the rain. To get the plows, trac-
tors and farm tools we must look to
the industrial arm Of life. Here again
is the call for men. We are short of
man power. Men were killed and
crippled in the war. The men who
survived the war must help do the
work that would have been done by
those who did not come back. In
their present frame Of mind they do
not will TO work, at least under the
old conditions obtaining before the
war. 1t is necessary to furnish them
with an inducement to work. There
was little inducement for men to work
before the war. The disconnected are
not kicking at work. Their objection
goes to the unfairness shown In dis
tributing the result. 1t isn't any Sc
cret. They are shouting 1t from the
housetops of Europe. they demand a
larger share of the things they pro-
duce, or they refuse to work. There Is
a good deal of human nature in it, too.
1t is only human nature to think of
self. There isn't anything unnatural
In the workingman looking for reward.
Willingness to work Is largely based
on the thought Of working for oneself.
Five things are necessary to start
and keep production going. In other
words, to get the clothes. shoes
stockings coal and comforts of life, to
give the farmer the tools he needs for
agricultural production, so that we may
eat: to provide the transportation
necessary to collection and distribu'
ton, to bring the city to the country
and the country to the market We must
| do five essential things.
Production's First Need.
tH;.,. ,,.o ,,,,ct hoyo ,,tonto oud
use the word in the most general
sense. These plants must be equipped
with machinery and tools. they mus
be ready for work.
Second, a plant is useless anc
stands idle unless we provide raw ma
| terial. the thing furnished by nature
| that man and machine work into thu
finished product.
Third, we must have coal. Coal runs
the machine and keeps warm the hom'
| of the man who runs the machine. TIT
helplessness of the world without Goa
is brought home to me while am writ
ing these articles. The miners hav'
left the pit. The government, through
the courts, has tried to force then
back. The effort is failure. TIL
streets are dark at night. The house
are cold. Business Is crying on
against necessary restrictions impose'
because of the coal shortage. realiz
as never have before how dependen
we are on the men who pick and di
the coal. Ali of the intelligence an
culture. the courts. the gold. are Blu
symbols of power. When the cos
miners folded their hands and set thei
teeth things stopped.
/ Fourth, transportation Is necessar
to the gathering. collecting and deli'
ering of raw material and the distribi
ton of the finished product.
Fifth, and last, but first in impol
lance. is man power. The purpose
production is man. He is master of
at every stage. In every department
, Without him production is impossible
The business men who proceed on tn
theory that men could not live withol
their business, It's pay roll, forget III
first and greater truth that there woul
be no business without the worker
: Man cuts. digs. gathers and hauls Il
raw mnterial. He news the WOO
builds the plant. He mines the ore. !
. makes the tools. the machinery. =
oils II. sets It In motion. He runs
/, He makes the furnace and the boile
! He digs and shovels the coal whlt
makes the power. He defies the hei
! of the furnace. He builds the LOGON
tive and pulls Its throttle. He max
the freight car and stands In the sic
in the dangerous railroad yard wi
the signal Of safety.
Railroads All Worn Out.
9 Transportation In Europe is part
n paralyzed. During the war railroi
tracks and roadbeds were allowed
: deteriorate. 1t could not be helpe
! but the fact that It was unavoidab
y doesn't alter the situation. ROadb'
and rails have fallen to pieces. The
i, IL terrible shortage OF cars. Ever
where on the Continent this Il Re
s3. ----- --.--- --t4- ~. - ~ ~ 5-ss--ss :