Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-04-22
WHOM:

In a resolution demanding a congressional investisa-
ton OF farm problems, the National Farmers Union in
session at Washington declared that 1.-The farmers have
been branded as profiteers.' By whom have the farmers
been so branded, and when, and where? In asking for an
investigation intended to lead to a disproof Of charges 1t
might be well for the trainers ofsthe resolution to show
that such a charge has actually been made, and that it
has been made in, such a manner and under such circum-
stances as to warrant some attention being paid to 1t.
1t is quite possible that some fellow on a street corner,
or in a saloon, or at a cross roads, may have spoken slight
ingly of the farmers Of the country as a class. What Of it?
Is the froth from every foul mouth proper subject for con-
sresslonal investigation? II so, we should have plenty
OF Investigations. There is probably no occupation on earth
the followers of which have not at some time been made
the subject of aightins remark. Yet the occupations go
on, and their members as a rule pursue the even tenor Of
their ways, unruffled by unappreciative remarks from
persons whom they do not know, or whom, If they do
know, they do not respect. @
The attempt which is industriously being made to
classify the farmers into one group on the basis of man.
hood and character is bound to fail, as it ought to fail.
Most OF those who make it have axes to grind. By re-
peating certain statements often enough they obtain =
certain measure of acceptance. of those statements by an
divfduals, sometimes quite numerous. When they pile eu-
"losy upon euloey on the members Of a particular group,
the less sophisticated members of that group come to &C.
cept them as sincere tributes to their own worthiness, and
when, having achieved this object, the pleaders shed tears
OF pity for the hard lot Of those who, they assert, are
abused and downtrodden, and Disseminated against, SYM
pathetic tears are easily set flowing. The result is the
achievement of a certain spirit of solidarity which can be
made useful in the working out Of the financial schemes
or the political ambitions of the schemers.
The farmers of the United States CONSTITUTES approx
mately one-third of the population Of the country. They
are scattered all the way from ocean to ocean and from
the Great Lakes to the Cult. They are Of all sorts and con-
ditions ranging from wealth to poverty, from illiteracy
to the highest degree Of culture, and ranging through all
the degrees of thrift. idleness, enterprise, Indifference and
all the other qualities that characterize human beings.
To group all this mass Of thirty million people in one, and
to say that "the farmers are characterized by any quality
whatever, as distinguished from any other group, is rank
absurdity. Sill. ~s~& .
The one thing that the farmers have in common Is
their occupation. They are all engaged in agricultural
pursuits. In everything else they are as varied as are
the members Of any other class. In all that represents
citizenship they are on a par with any other group, being
equally varied. They are engaged in their particular vo-
cation for the same reasons which lead others to adopt
other callings. Their ealing entities them to respect no
more than does the calling Of any other group entitle Its
members to respect. They have the same rights. privl-
ages and duties that other persons have, and no more.
Their occupation is as honorable as any other, and no
more. And it is a pernicious doctrine that Is preached
that they, or the members Of any other craft or calling,
are to be estimated on a different basis from that used in
relation to any others.