Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-06-29
Embarrassed Power.

Mr.. Bryan's magazine, he has the
following to say:
SIN fight to the death the farmer
will die last. If bigbusiness thinks il
can bleed him without limit it had
better consider his resources. When
it comes to the pinch he can stand
squeezing longer 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
he raises no more than he needs the
rest of the people will starve. The
farmers surplus supplies the world
suppose the surplus fails?
''The farmer can raise the material
necessary to clothe, himself and fam
ily-wool, cotton and silk, but if he
raises no more the rest of the people
will go 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 con cobs
and even corn if he must, but what
will 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
will the wholesalers do when the lit
tie stores close? And what will the
do when the whole
salers. go out of business? And what
will the clerks in the stores, the
workers in the mills and the. railroad
employees 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 he flower fades-not only live
but furnish sustenance for new flow
ers, 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 die in the struggle
for existence"
It is undoubtedly true that the
farmers are in better position natur-
ally to take care of themselves thans
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 profitably in good
times, without surplus capital, but
in times like these through which we
are now passing, it is the surplus
capital 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 Difficult
ties brought about by depression, or
defation 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 to other people. They man
age to get along and have a good
time just so long as everything looks
upward. When they make little
money they are tempted to buy more
property or or buy things which are
not necessary and still do business
on a credit. We do not say that they
should not do this in any case, nor
do we say that no farmer should go
into debt in the first instance to Sc
suce a homestead, or home. But
once he has it, we say that the next
thing he should do is to establish a
surplus fund for hard times. He
should have money in the bank. The