The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1921-05-19
Mr.. POTTER ADDRESSES OPEN
LETTER TO AMERICAN PEOPLE:
DEAR READER:
Grangeville, Ida ho, Ma,


between the product and the manufactured article
remember when very small boy about forty five
years ago. my people owned small farm There was one
fellow whom they always employed to cradle their grain,
and my older brother raked and bound behind him. They
figured five for days work This unusual
performance probably four would be
age Figuring their wages $3.50 per day each would
$25 per if they cut four day. The
Irvine alone now costs about fifty cents an acre. binder at
this place costs $32500; the harness the horses that pull
it, costs 100000 No would contend that you could afford
bind your grain and furnish Irvine for less than $3.50
acre.
Shortly before my they thresh grain on the
barn floor with fail have been making inquiries Of
old genemen who familiar with this question
and they tell to gnre from twenty fifty bushels per
For basis will call it thirty bushels 3d. per day.
would be 13 cents per bushe Threshng machines will
charge from Is to 20 cents bushe and Of the
cost of the machinery, belts oil and repairs the bulk of them
lose money at that
ed throughout the countryneary every village had
and every community had its shoemaker The
hides to the to be tanned and paid for the work with
additional hides, produce from the farm After this
hide had become leather it taken home the shoemaker
sent for and boots and shoes made for the family He
paid for his services largely in the the
tanner paid.
large of the cloth clothes we're made from
manufactured a home Ns &fs AAM
Our medium of exchange consisted great extent
the products which produced
The huctuation of the dollar had percepble bearing
people Then gentlemen with inventive minds invented
machines to do the tasks then doing by hand These
inventions have been improved upon have the almost
human mechanical devices of today All of which should
been great benefit to humanity the contrary it has
proved And will leave this assertion any jury
OF thinking men, after the proposition has been brought
their minds and they thoroughly digest the idea.
will further and assert that these machines go
ing to upset present system Of civilization; unless by
legislation there is relative value maintained between
matrial and the manufactured article.
Ii you will establish relative value and maintain it.
regardless of what that value is ought say spread
between the two commodities, then there will be talk or
propaganda of boshevism socialism any other ism.
The ductuaton of this spread between raw material
and the manufactured article might say the uctuaon
OF the dollar which amounts to the thing is what
all trouble
For illustration, take wheat and farm machinery and
maintain the spread of values think of where
would land with the natural laws of economies
In the foregoing have shown that the products of
farm can be produced cheaper in the oashoned way than
they can under the oae methods of the present time
OF the production per would be much less and
the natural result is if maintain the present spread
tween the product and the manufactured article there
going to be continually of these articles mauactur
ed at home and gradually would doing our work on
the farm in the oldashoned way; would to in order
to make ends meet Farms would be cut up into smaller
from the factories would and do their farm
work on the farm instead Of in the factories Eventually the
factories would be dsmatled; factory towns would
deserted and the country districts would become hicky
settled Twenty and forty farms would be rule and
we would have happy and coptented people However
am not advocating this.
1t would be better TO retain our present sven,
doing work In ordero this must narrow the spread
between the prodnet and the manufactured articles get
o0o enough oSetheI paws 10 90 the work the
factory instead of the farm After this point or ratio has
been determined maintain it by legislation %
When this is done the rise and fall of values or
the nuctuauon OF our circulating medium would have
very slight effect upon the masses
In the matter of business relations with each other
under such legislation, would be practically where we
We're fifty before the bosevism had been
coined, and socialism hardly thought Of
OF organization of the wheat TO con
ol poducuon would be OF as much benefit to the farmer
ndouptedy morethan law controlling the spread between
ne raw product and the manufactured article but would
not be good policy for the at large An oreanza
ton of this kind would have enroll cd per cent Of the
wheatr6wers With that percentage voluntary member