The Washington times., 1923-12-20

the farmer must organize to protect
| himself against organized labor; that
their interests are in conflict; that
the FARMER should place the blame
for the gross disparity between the
price which he receives for his
product and the high cost of what he
must buy upon labor.
Paid PrOpaCandists Busy.
The President did not originate the
thought. Paid propagandists are
busy with it's promulgatiop. II
| comes before US every day. It is
presented. in a Thousand forms.
ThereSane great selfish interests HI.
v0lFed. Theagc5egries of sfnalI~put
powerful group. iepend upon selling
the idea to the public and farmers
and 1ab0rers. -
Labor is told thatsthe high cost of
the food and clothing which he buys
IS Que to high prices on the farm.
me farmer is told that the high cost
OF the articles which he buys is due
TO nigh wages exacted by the factory
worker. 1t Is boldly stated to both
.nat the interests of farmers and
IaOor cannot be reconciled. The
propaganda goes to the extreme OF
saying that the hardships which
eacn OF the groups suffer are due to
the other group.
typical Of this propaganda is the
,oIloWlng from an editorial in Wal
lace FARMER, named for and
owned by the Secretary of Agricul.
ture: Railroad rates cannot come
down materially unless RAILROAD
labor is reduced. The cry of the
general public for lower rates is
meaningless unless railroad wages
are to be reduced. While the labor.
Ing man is not living any life of
r1otous luxury, he is nevertheless
penefiting to a considerable extent
at the expense of the farmer"
False Statements Made.
OF course these propagandists are
not content with the plain truth.
The truth Is that for the month of
september, 1923, railroad labor re
ceived the smallest percentage of
railroad income since 1917. The
high price of shoes is falsely at.
tributed to high labor costs, A
pair of fine shoes could be bought
in 1913 for $3.50.
The labor cost then was about
II per pair. The same shoes are
now being sold at from $14 to SIS
81. 40. ~
You pay 81 for necktie, yet the
labor cost is only 10 cents. In 500
worth of structural steel, the share
Of labor is only $40. BY the same
token, labor should not blame the
high price of bread on the wheat
growers. for wheat is cheaper than
1t was ten years ago, yet the price
of bread is from rs to so per cent
higher.
Traced to Groups.
The source of this inspired propa
ganda Is not hard to find. Small
groups are enjoying the chief bene
fits OF our economic and political
system. They have seized upor
political power and are using II
for their selfish advantage. They
have usurped economic positions
which enable them to exploit their
less enterpr1sing or less favored
fellow citizens.
Through monopolistic trade prac
tlces and by perverting oul
economic system, they have col
lected the bulk of the wealth Of
the nation into a few hands, have
made industry their personal serv
ant and have monopolized our
mineral wealth, water powers anC
| other natural resources. Only the
farms are left now in distributed
ownership but the number of farm
workers who own their own farms
Is becoming smaller, farm land
holdings are increasing in size and
the owners of small farms have be
come, through a mortgage system
mere tenants, in substance, Of great
financial intel ests.
There is q present reason for this
propaganda to keep farmers and
labor apart. They are finding each
other out. They are coming to know
their interests are not hostile but
mutually beneficial. The situation
Is not satisfactory to the powerful
selfish groups. Their victims are
abfut to get together.