The pioneer-review. [volume] (Philip, Haakon County, S.D.) 1920-current, 1922-09-21
SACRIFICED THE FARMER

VoSHi1S lOH, ~. ~. aug. AO-s IL
boast of Mr.. Gompers that ther
has been no substantial reduction
in the scale of war time wage
in industry will occasion som,
timely reflection remarks the Re
publican Publicity Association, il
statement issued through tht
President of the organization, Hoi
Jonathan Bourne, Jr. in the pros
perity Of the wage earners,-in thu
prosperity Of any class-the whole
country will rejoice, provided tina,
prosperity has not accomplished
at the expense of some other. class
against which undue advantage has
been taken. In this connection, il
is worth while to review some oi
the record Of the Democratic party
which is now seeking return tt
power through election of Sena-
tors and congressman in Novem
ber.
In the latter part Of 1919, rht
railroad brotherhoods were de
manding an increase in wages and
threatened to tie up the railroads
so tight they will never run again
unless the demands were granted.
President Wilson pleaded with the
leaders not to call strike anc
promised that if they would defer
action, all the power of the gov
ernment would be exerted to re
duce the cost Of living.
"lmemdiately after that promis.
was made, the Democratic admins
tration started it,, campaign to
cut the prices Of farm produce,
which make up a large part oil
the cost of living of the railroad
workman. The dehation program
got we'll started in July 1920, and
before the harvest of that year
was completed the bottom was
knocked out of prices Of grain
livestock and other farm produce
Hundreds of thousands of farmers
were compelled to sell their crops
at far less than it cost to produce
them. They were still paying war
time wages for labor and wartime
prices for machinery and supplies
They sacrificed in order that the
Democratic President might keel
his promise to exert all the pow
er of the government to reduce
the cost of living.
Nor was this all. The defatiol
of the farmer meant tremendou:
reduction in buying, and what was
called the buyers strike hit the
retail merchants, who had thci
shelves filled with goods boughl
at wartime prices. Many a mer-
chant took losses that wiped ou1
practically all the profits of hi,
war trade.
AT the same time that these
losses were being sustained b,
farmers and merchants, every
holder of stocks and bonds suffer
ed loss through depreciation of
his securities. A glance over mar
ket prices as reported in the daily
press shows the enormous fall in
market values of securities in 1920
and 1921.
If it be true, as Mr.. Gompers
says, that there has been no sub
stantial decrease from wartime
wages Of men employed in indus
try, that class of our citizens has
been a specially favored class. As
before, no one will be-
yrudge anyone else prosperity, un-
less enjoyed at the expense of 9TH
ers. The Democratic administra-
tion, always arraying class against
class, turned all the power of the
government against the farmer,
the merchant and the security hol-
der.
This is a fact that will not be
overlooked by all those voters who
believe in equality under the law
md under governmental admins
5ration. They will keep it in mind
when listening to the pleas of De-
nocratic campaigners between
low and November.