The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-06-22
'UNHARNESsED POWER

In the current issue of Commoner,
Mr.. Bryan's magazine, he has the
following to say:
'In fight to the death the farmer
will die last. If big business thinks it
can bleed him without limit it had
better consider his resources. When
It comes to the pinch he can stand
squeezing better than any other class.
Food is the first necessity, and he
can feed himself. He can raise all
that. he and his family need, but if
&c raises no more than he needs the
rest of the people will stsrve. The far
-ner's surplus supplies the world
suppose the surplus fails?
''The farmer can raise the material
necessary to clothe himself and fam
::iiy-wool, cotton and silk, but if he
2.:ses no more the rest of the people
uill 90 naked. 1t is the farmers sur
plus material that clothes the world
suppose the surplus fails?
'.The farmer can, if necessary, pro-
:. duce his own fuel. He can raise his
own wood; he can burn corn cobs
and even corn if he must, but what
I'll become of the railroads when
the farmer neither buys nor sells?
.:What, will become of the packers
when they have no meat to pack?
And what will become of the grain
gamblers when there is no market
grain to gamble on? What will be-
come of the little stores when the
farmers cease to trade? And what
viii the wholesalers do when the lit
a:c stores close? And what will the
manufacturers do when the whole
G;;iers go out Of business? And what
viii the clerks in the stores the work
ers in the mills and the railroad en-
ployes do when business stops? And
what will the banks do when they can
not grow rich loaning the peoples
money? What will all the people do
when nobody needs them? What? Go
to work WITH THEIR HANDS and
wiring living from Mother Earth
that is the last resort as it was the
first. .- .
"Will the middlemen continue to
lord it over the producers of wealth,
or.will they learn that they must
SERVE if they would live, and serve
for reasonable toll? The flower that
blooms in beauty on the stem should
not despise the roots that do their
work in the dirt. The roots will live
when the flower fades-not only live
but furnish the sustenance for new
flowers, season after season. So with
the farmer, he lives near to Natures
heart, he draws the milk from Ma
ture's breast and Nature will protect
him as mother protects her child.
He will be last to de in the struggle
for existence"
>. 1t is undoubtedly true that the
farmers are in better position natur-
ally to take care of themseles than
other men, but they do not do so.
And there is a reason why this is
true, The merchant and the manufac-
turer, if either succeeds, must have
surplus capital. Anybody, of course
can do business proftably in good
times, without surplus capital, but
in times like these through which we
are now passing, it is the surplus cap
ital which carries business men over.
The men who are failing and going
into bankruptcy are mostly those
who have not the additional capital
necessary to bridge the difficulties
brought about by depression, or de-
flation, or just plain hard times.
And this is the farmers trouble
we, think. Few of them have extra
capital. In fact most of them, even
the property owning farmers, are
debtors of other people. They man
age to get along and have good
tine just so long as everything looks
,,o,yord Whan thov make a little