The Holbrook news., 1921-02-18
FREE YOURSELF FIRST

The belief that during the war ant
 since, the American people have beer
 at the mercy of wartime profiteers
 is the thought that is now upper
 most in the minds of multitudes
 The refusal to buy at war prices an,
 longer is one of the reasons for thu
 slump in prices that prevails il
 many lines. This will have twC
 effects, first, lowering of the cos
 of the requirements of life, and sec
 ond, the consequent necessity fol
 lowering the cost of product In
 evitably the reflex action of lower prices will be lower wages, and the extent to which the wage-earner will eventually be benifited is problemat ical.
 Every worker for wages. however can escape both from the expressions of the profteer and the pessure for lower wages, row or hereafter, at any time in the future, if he will aC | vigorously in his own behalf.
 There is no error more prevalent in economic thought than the de- fusion that everyone who works should first trade their labor for a wage and then in turn trade that wage for food and shelter. Whoever does that places themselves at the mercy of both the constant pressure for lower wages, and the constant effort for higher prices. Cut that Gordian knot and the wage-worker becomes a free man. No people can ever be free unless they are willing to begin with themselves and every man and family fly to the flag of in dependence in the form of determ- ination to Free yourself first"
 This is impossible without Home with piece of ground large enough for garden. and poultry yard. Those who refuse to accept this avenue of deliverance must continue to be un- free, and accept lower wages and higher prices whenever the pressure for either gets beyond their presonal control. Those who are willing to live in the suburbs or in any small industrial city or town, have the key in their own hand for their own de- liverance. ..,.-.
 No economic system or theory that can be devised can ever provide Homes for ethe people that will be as advantageous to the individual or to the families of wage-workers as the plan that each shall have their oya home. And no place deserves to be called home, or is a home, in the economic sense, unless it goes with large enough piece of ground to be made self-sustaining home. With such a piece of ground, everything else becomes possible, with industry and intelligence.
 There is no immediate need or ne- cessity for any legislative, charitable or philanthropic relief in this field. Any family living in the city who are willing to move to the suburbs, or who now live there, on in any small city, town or village, need only to adopt the Homecroft System of Life, and they have settled the prob lem of reducing the high cost of liv- ing. Food from their own garden and poultry yard takes the place of food from the tin can, and the tin can never will compete with the hoe as a producer of inexpensive food.
 Instead of a Housing Campaign, call it a Homecroft Campaign, par ticipated in by every worker who wants to be free man and snap his fingers at all profiteers. Get into the Homecroft Game quickly. If you don't already own lot, buy one. If haven't the cash, buy it on credit. A lot will pay for itself in food pro duction several times over within the period of credit you can get on it. If you lack house, build a progressive house and save your rent as soon as you can. Get a bedrock foundation under your whole family structure before you are hit by the wave of de- fation that is now headed our way. It may last a long time. The man does not live who can tell when the drag down on salaries for clerical work or wages for all workers will end, or when wages will touch bot tom The problem involves the whole question of the Industrial and finan cial future.