The Nevada County picayune., 1922-01-19

ment favor for farmers. Are tney not rather the outcome of laudable efforts to eoualize rural and urban condi- tfons? And about all the government does there Is to help set up an ad- ministrative organization and lend little credit at the start. Eventually the farmers will provide all the capi- tai and carry all the liabilities them selves. It Is true that Farm Loan bonds are tax exempt; but so are bonds of municipal light and traction plants. and new housing Is to be ex- empt from taxation, in New York, for ten years.
 On the ether hand, the farmer reads of plans for municipal housing proj- ects that run Into the billions, of hun@ dreds of millions annually spent on the merchant marine; he reads that the railways are being favored with increased rates and virtual guaranties of earnings by the government, with the result to him of an increased toll on all that he sells and all that he buys. He hears of many manifesto tons of governmental concern for par ticular industries and interests Res cuing the railways from insolvency Is undoubtedly for the benefit of the country as whole, but what can be of more general benefit than encour- agement of ample production of the principal necessaries of life and their even flow from contented producers to satisfied consumers?
 While it may be conceded that special governmental aid may be nee essary in the general interest. we must all agree that it Is difficult to see why agriculture and the production and dis tribution of farm products are not ac- corded the same opportunities that are provided for other businesses espe- cially as the enjoyment by the farmer of such opportunities would appear to be even more contributory 10 the gen eral good than in tne case of other industries Tie spirit of American democracy is unalterably opposed, alike to enacted special privilege and to the special privilege of unequal op- portunity that arises automatically from the failure to correct glaring economic inequalities. I am opposed to the injection of government into business, but I do believe that 1t is an essential function of democratic gov ernment to equalize opportunity so far as It Is within its power to do so, whether by the repeal of archaic statutes or the enactment of modern ones If the antitrust laws keep the farmers from endeavorng scientifically to integrate their industry while other industries find way to meet modern conditions without violating such stat utes, then 1t would seem reasonable to find a way for the farmers to meet them under the same conditions. The law should operate equally In fact. Re pairing the economic structure on one side is no injustice to the other side, which Is in good repair.
 We have travelled a long way from the old conception of government as merely defensive and policing agency; and regulative, corrective, or equaliz- Ing legislation, which apparently Is of a special nature, is often of the most general beneficial consequences. Even the First Congress passed a tariff act that was ayowedly for the protection of manufacturers but protective tariff always has been defended as means of promoting the general good through a particular approach; and the statute books are filled with acts for the benefit If shipping, commerce, and labor