Evening star., 1923-04-11

5amin Franklin. All the code of So
ciety of Paris could not conform him
to the customs. Yet he was honorcd
as the American ambassador. not be
cause of, but in spite of, his oddities.
At a dinner given by the king and
queen Franklin was a guest. The af
fair was long and ceremonious Asnd
Franklin's shoes hurt his feet. he
therefore. slipped off the torturing
shoes, as he sat at the table, intend
Ing to slip them on again, surrep-
titiously, in due time.
Unfortunately, the queen rose TO
take her departure before he had re
shod, and instantly all guest6safose
stepped back from the table, IA re
spect to royalty, to let the queen pass
Franklin. with no time TO seize his
shoes, stepped back. in his socks but
maintained all the solemn dignity
that the occasion required Thai
proved the innate gentleman. far
more than the bows of the trained
courtier could do for another. He
was q gentleman in socks. but that
| fact does not set the style for a hay
seed from the wild to proclaim y
! raucous voice that he is too goon AZ
American representative of the pee
| pup' to wear the habilirnents of good
breeding. A hayseed in socks Is q
hayseed still, and he Is nothing
more-not even daisy.
X X
| A bill is to be introduced in Cor
gress at the next session for the gov
\ ernment to insure farmers against
! loss in crop growing. If a farmers
! crop fails to be profitable the GO
i ernment will make UP the loss. pro
vided this non partisan farm bl"r
measure is adopted.
| Farmers can now insure CROPS
against damage by hail or wind ar't
! insure live stock against sickness and
death, but no insurance company VIII
| take the risk against the possible
| failure of maturing the crop before
| frost comes or any mistake or neeiect
| in cultivation. II a farmer errS y
| Judgment in planting in the wane O.
| the moon instead of in the waxin6
he has TO stand his loss at present
| and nobody helps him. If he persists
! in planting potatoes when the acre
age of the country Is so great tina
| potatoes sell for 5 cents bushel, II
| will be up to the government. under
| this new bill if passed, to pay hi't
! the difference between the mark3t
I price and the normal price. Ism that
| what a public treasury is for:
, Senator Smith of South Carolina
! favoring this farmers insurance
says: THE business man. and sub
! stantialiy every one else, can obtalI
| insurance on his business except the
| farmer If we can work out som"
! plan by which his tthe farmers) IN
| vestments in making crop Will no.
/ be a complete loss to him, in case Of
| crop failure or partial loss when
he has a crop shortage, VIC will 60
| far toward stabilizing the farmer
Crop failures come from many
| causes, and most often without warn
ing No farmer can control the
| weather condition except to GER
tain extent. Drought can be con-
trolled largely by the method Of cul-
| tivation of the soil, as Senator Ladd
might tell to the senator from South
Carolina.
In the semi-arid region of the
northwest farmers have learned to
plow deeply, pack the subsurfaces
and leave dust blanket on top.
which has little capillarity whereby
moisture is pulled to the surface and
| evaporated In the hot air. With such
preparation Of the soil crops thrive
on one mans farm, while in identt-
cally the same kind of soil across the
road, where the farmer refused mod
ern soil methods. the soil bakes ana
the crops die. With the government
guaranteeing cash remuneration out
Of the public treasury, how many
farmers will care whether the soil is
made droughtproof or not? Would
that crop failure be IAN act of Provi.
dence" or an act OF bad agriculture
| That is just one illustration OF the
difference in what insurance experts
might term the moral hazard" of
ultra insurance against crop failures
However, insurance men say, II this
is to be a campaign for subsidies
maybe the farmers might as we'll get
into it and see how far the plan vii!
work at the expense of the United
States Treasury. If the insurance OF
crops is a business insurance. propo-
sition, and not a subsidy, surely there
are many scientific insurance plans
for either "oId line" or cooperative
insurance companies that will fit and
under which insurance can be put On
a business basis.
Copyright. 1923. by P. Y. Cpllinsl