The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1921-01-06
FARMING NOT LEGITIMATE INDUSTRY
SAY DEMOCRATS

It is a little difficult to imagine by what line
of reasoning the Wilson Administration arrived
at the conclusion that farming is not a legiti-
mate industry and yet that seems to have been
the conclusion reached 1t will be remembered
that in 1912 when the Democratic party with
Mr. Wilson as it's candidate, was seeking con-
troll of the United States Government, one Of
the distinct pledges made was that, if vested
with responsibility and power, the party would
mot injure or destroy any legitimate indus
try. The conclusion would seem to be newt
able that if the party did in any instance in
jure any industry it did not consider that indus
try legitimate
OF course, as every one knows, it has been
remarked for many years that farming is a
gamble. The agriculturist invests his money
in seed He spends his time and labor in tiling
the soil, in sowing the crop and in harvesting
and threshing, without knowing until after all
Of his expenditures Of time and money have
been made whether he will get out of it enough
TO pay the costs Of production or even enough
to pay for the maintenance of his family. Be-
cause of the uncertainty of farming as bust
ness it has been referred to as gamble" !;
vet it would hardly seem probable that the
Democratic party had put farming in the class
of gambling and therefore construed it to be
not a legitimate industry.
However that may be, the fact remains that
not only by its legislation but by it's admins
tration the Wilson party did injure the agricul-
tural industries of the United States Soon
after the enactment Of the Wilson-Underwood
tariff law, Argentine corn was sold in the mar
kets of Illinois. Immense shipments of cattle
came in from Mexico. Because Of the early
outbreak of the war many other importations
which would have been made under the en-
enlargement of the Democratic tariff law were
shut off, but as soon as the war ended and trade
got back into normal channels, these huge pur-
chases of foreign products for sale in American
markets were resumed. Large quantities of
wool came from Australia and South Africa /:
flood of wheat from the Canadian Northwest
has depressed the price of the product of the
American farm; cattle have been coming in
large quantities from Argentina; peanuts and
vegetable oils from the Orient, and increased
mportations of lemons from Italy This in
furious competition was made possible by the
enactment of the Wilson, Underwood tariff law.
Anyone possessed of ordinary knowledge of
economic principles must have known that such
result would be inevitable Knowing in adj
vance that the farming industry would be in
jured and deliberately enacting the law the
Democrats must have reasoned that farming
was not legitimate industry.
Moreover, it will be remembered that during
the war the only commodity on which the Gov
eminent undertook to fix a price was wheat
Congress had authorized guaranteed price in
order to encourage the farmer, but the Wilson
Administration usurped the power to declare
the guaranteed price the maximum price with
the result that after deductions were made at
the mills and elevators for inferority of quail
lty the farmers received far less than the price
named in the legislation Congress had enacted.
In addition to this, when the Wilson Admins
tration began its process of forced dehation
the process was begun at such time and in
: such manner that the farmer was the first
to feel the injury Of declining prices
With all this record before them, we would
like Democratic editors to explain how the
Democratic party arrived at its conclusion that
farming is not a legitimate industry. and,
therefore, was a fit subject for injury at the
hands of the Democratic Administration.
LAWYERS