The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1922-08-31
FARMERS SHOULD
SERIOUSLY CON-
SIDER SITUATION
Farmers Have Proven Them
selves Good Servants BY
Learning to Produce Largely
and Economically While 9th
ers Take Opposite Position

How far should farmers support or
ganized labor!
These conclusions do indeed need to
be seriously studied. Farmers as
laborers are trying to produce just as
much as they can. Every farmer is
proud when he makes . little more
to the acre than anybody ever made
before. And farmers prove them.
selves good servants of the world by
learning to produce largely and
cheaply. On the other hand, as has
just been suggested, many laborers
in mines and factories are taking just
the opposite position. They are try
ing to hold down production. They
prevent workers from turning out as
much product as they could. The re-
suit is that farmers and every body
else must pay more than is right for
the products of these factories. The
farmer is striving to make this land
of plenty and wealth, so far as his
production is concerned. But men
who are trying to limit the production
Of labor are doing their best to make
this land a scarcity and hardship.
Whenever it is question of get
ting fair and just wages for labor,
farmers should side with labor. 1t is
indeed to the farmers selfish interest
to see that labor gets its full share of
the wealth that it created, Laborers
with good wages will buy more liber-
ally of food the farmer produces and
of the clothes made from the farm
er's wool and cotton.
On the other hand, it is Just as sure
ly not to the farmers interest to have
labor wages so high that they force
the price of goods beyond the farmers
reach. What the average American
farmer is thinking of to-day is some
thing like this: 81, as farmer, wish
to see good wages for the men who
mine coal, run railroads and operate
factories. On the other hand, if these
men get exorbitantly high wages then
the raise the price of these products
to such an extent that /, as farmer
could not buy enough of these pro-
ducts to support my own family in
comfort and l am therefore hurt by
the unduly high wages paid to labor.
Moreover, if labor unions hold down
the efficiency of labor so that it takes
so per cent more time than it should
(and therefore so per cent excess lab
or cost), to make my farm tools, or
household furniture, or to haul my
freight then organized labor has just
to that extent increased prices on
these things-and by reason of in
creased prices has put these things
out Of my reach and forced my family
to use fewer Of them"
1t seems to US that the farmers of
America should say to the laborers:
1--WE want to see you get good wag-
es. You have our sympathies in ev-
cry fight you make for a square deal.
And at the same time, we farmers are
doing our best to make as much as
possible and therefore to give you food
as cheaply as possible. No we want
to see you get good wages, but we al
so want to see just how much work
you can turn out in a day so as to
make your products cheaper for US
and let US have more of them and live
in greater comfort. We want basis
of exchange where one days hard
work on the farm will buy the output
of one days hard work in the factory.
And there is no fair exchange until
we get this"