The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-06-03

VN0tA Nx0eSCA
DR.. w. j. Spillman, associate editor
of the Farm Journal and for many
years head of the bureau of Farm
Management of the United States De
partment Of Agriculture, has writer
an article on the present condition o,
American agriculture and the par
the Nonpartisan League is playing il
the emancipation Of the farmers Of
the nation. DR.. Spillman is %conversant
with farming conditions in all parts Of
the country and has studied the Lea,
que on the spot. He will be remem,
bered for his clash with David F
Houston when the latter was Secre.
tary of Agriculture. Houston obstruct'
ed and tried to discredit DR.. Spill,
mans studies in the cost of production
of farm crops which tended to show
that for a long time the American
farmer and his family have been un-
derpaid for their own work and for
the use of their capital invested in
the farming industry. The facts dis
closed by DR.. Spillman when he re-
signed created so profound IN inn
preston that Secretary Houston was
forced to appoint in his place a man
who is now continuing the investiga-
tions along the lines laid down by Dr..
Spillman.
"A century ago farming was all
hand work. The average family could
produce little more than was required
for their own su%stenance, and there
was little surplus for city populations.
Consequently the only large cities
were those about which world markets
conferred, and which could therefore
bring together for their own use the
surplus of several continents. The fac
tory system had not yet developed and
such manufacturing as was done was
done mostly by hand.
"The past century has witnessed
the most remarkable development in
the use of machinery and power in the
production of the necessities Of life.
Mans power has been multiplied ten
fold, and the products of human in
dustry are now ten times as great
per individual employed as they were
a century ago.
II presume you are wondering what
this has to do with these troublous
times. 1t has everything to do with
them. This great development has not
been accompanied with the develop
ment of methods Of distributing the
products of industry equitably between
the individuals whose labor is respon-
sible for production.
"After paying all expenses of op-
GRAFTON, including the setting aside of
proper reserves for replacement of
worn out and antiquated equipment,
the products of industry are distrib-
uted in four ways: as wages for labor,
salaries for management, returns to
capital employed, and surplus for the
extension Of industry.
1.-THE last Of these four items is
mainly a modern development. Form
erly capital for extending an industry
was obtained by the sale Of stocks and
bonds. Now, in many industries, es-
pecially those that have grown SO
large as to dominate their respective
fields and are thus able to extort al
most whatever profits they think
proper, there is little thought of ex-
tending business except from the prof
it's Of the business itself. AS these
profits are invested stock dividends
are declared from tine to time so as
to keep the ca%pitulation somewhere
near the actual investment. This was
formerly referred to as stock water
ing. We hear little Of this expression
now-a-days-it has become 81 FIRMLY
established as a custom in the indus
trial world.
1.-THE salaries paid the principal Of
ficers of industrial concerns are an
other means of absorbing exorbitant
profits.
Crisis is Impending
"The main cause of the present un-
satisfactory condition in this coun-
try is the fact that too large a pro-
portion of the products Of industry
is being absorbed in salaries for man.
agement and as surplus for the extern
sion of business. Industry has extend
ed so rapidly in recent years that la
Dor sufficient to man it is lacking.
The enormous profits made in many
industries have led to such wages as
to remove well-nigh the whole avail
able supply of labor from farms. We
are probably in for a crisis this year
because Of this shortage of farm la
bor-but that is another question.
1--WE sometimes overlook the fact
that every dollar paid in salaries above
a reasonable reward for services eff
cietly rendered, every dollar paid in
excess Of a reasonable dividend on
capital, and every dollar set aside for
c11rn1,1c ia deducted from tho incnmns