The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-10-29
THE IDAHO REPUBLICAN

wheat. Why didn't he ask for an
embargo ON all agricultural prod.
ucts? l have been asked what IL the
matter with the wool. Our wool is
just on the free list. like every other
farm product. That's all. One-third
Of all last years wool Is in the east
ern markets unsold, and all Of this
years clip is there waiting for a
market. What opportunity do you
think there is for the livestock in
dustry to exist with wool and meats
both on the free list? The cattle
industry is suffering today just as
much as the sheep industry, and
when you destroy the livestock in
dustry of this country you break
down and destroy agriculture, for
livestock Is natures remedy for
keeping up the fertility of the soil.
Our farms IN the great valley of the
Snake must be fed just the same as
you and I. They must have a bal
anced ration If they are to produce
good crops. There is very little
hunts in our soil in it's raw condi-
tion. You can grow one or two very
good crops, but after that you must
grow alfalfa to bring 1t up to a high
standard Of production. At least
one-third of all the arid lands in
Idaho should be in alfalfa. Alfalfa
is the greatest fertilizer that, the
world has ever known. This country
is essentially a livestock country.
Without market for alfalfa hay in
this country, and alfalfa is the king
of all crops, prosperity in Idaho will
soon be thing of the past.
Idaho's Freight Rates
LET me tell you why we can't
have any prosperity in Idaho with all
of our products on the free list.
We pay the highest freight rate in
this state of any farmer or livestock
grower in the world. We are thou
sands of miles away from the great
markets of the east and all our farms
and range products must be shipped
over long line of railroad. Paying
as they do, the most expensive labor
in the world, freight rates are of
necessity high. More than one-third
of all the American people live in the
great cities in this country, which
can be reached by water transporta-
ton. There is not farmer or live
stock grower in any of the old count
ries or any of the new, in reach Of
water transportation, who can not
lay his produce down in these great
markets cheaper, as far as transpor-
tation rates are concerned, than we
can from Idaho. There are more
people living in the great cities of
New York and Boston alone than live
in the states of California, Oregon
Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah
and Nevada combined. Africa, which
completes with this country in wool
and livestock and other farm prod
ucts, pays laborers there $500 per
month and they board themselves. In
South America the price of labor is
not worth more than 25 per cent of
what it is in the west, and Australia
and New Zealand pay about half
what we do. Freight rates in some
cases are less than half what we have
to pay from Idaho, and with labor
many times less in some cases, what
hope is there for Idaho with all of it's
products upon the free list? The
Australian wool grower today is able
to ship his wool thru the yards at
Pocatello for $1.55 per hundred from
Portland to Boston. The wool grower
ships his wool from Poeatello to Bos-
ton and pays 1886 hundred. l am
not able to understand the policy of
government which permits its rail-
roads to give foreign people cheaper
freight rates, over its own lines, than
it does to it's own citizens. Your
freight rates from Idaho are nearly
twice as much on all products as they
were during Grover Cleveland's
second administration, when we only
used to run one passenger train over
the Oregon Short Line day, and one
freight train. Just keep the products
of Idaho on the free list a little
longer and by the eternal Gods the
Oregon Short Line won't need half
the equipment it is using today, for
If we have got to compete with the
poems of a foreign country, and
foreigners who have the advantage of
freight rates, Idaho will have to quit
producing. 1t is the great resources
of Idaho which have built the Oregon
Short Line and made it what 1t is
today--one of the greatest railroads
the world has ever known. The