The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-12-01
MONSTER PROTEST
TO GO TO CONGRESS
MILLIONS OF FARMERS SIGNING
PETITION TO CURB NATION
AL EXTRAVAGANCE

zone person out of every dozen
ever 16 years old gainfully employed
IN the United States, using 1920 cen
sus figure as a guide, is on the pub
lie payroll, and as a result the Amer
ican people are footing huge sal
ary bill of nearly four billion dollars
a year." says the Portland OregOnian
in a recent editorial.
"The annual cost of salaries paid
directly to active and inactive gov
ernment employees is $91 per person
over 10 years old gainfully employ
ed," says recent report of the Ma
tional Industrial conference board
which the Oregonian quotes on the
subject under the heading, TOO
Many On Nations Payroll" Conclud-
Ing the Oregonian says: 'There are
100000 public servants on the pay
roll of national, state and municipal
governments, the board has ascertain
ed"
A year ago the Farm Journal of
Philadelphia, one of the widely read
farm papers in America, organized a
nationwide campaign calculated to
arouse the farmers of the nation to
what it termed governmental extrav-
agance and waste. This great pa
per, reaching about 100000 farm
homes monthly, and read by some g.
100000 people regularly, started it's
field men, of whom it employs over
500, located in every state in the
Union, to circulating petition
among farmers and those interested
in the welfare of the people, request
ing congress-, which meets in few
days:
First. Vote against all nonessential
appropriations at this session. Sec
ond, to eliminate all government en-
ployes not actually needed. Third,
vote against any further increase in
salary of public employees.
The program was calculated to be
a monster demand for governmental
economy and a slowup that would at
least call halt on rapidly increasing
taxes, falling heavily on the backs OF
the American farmers, who are now
the hardest hit of any class.
Since last spring an army OF
trained men have been travelling the
rural routes of the nation, inviting
farmers to sign these "tax petitions"
the plan being to get 100000 farmers
to Join the protest. The movement
has met with nationwide approval;
the National Grange, the Farmers
Union, the Farm Bureau, and many or
the nations leading magazines and
big daily papers like the Portland
Oregonian, have given the movement
favorable publicity.
Almost one million names are now
enrolled and thousands more are be-
ing added daily as 900 men ride or
drive through the rural commun-
tiles of the nation and give farmers
an opportunity to add their approval
to this monster protest which Will go
to congress in December, probably
about Christmas time. The Farm
Journal petition will go to the farm
bloc, headed by Senator Capper OF
Kansas, and will hardly be disregard
ed by congress.
P. L. Orcutt, we'll known newspa-
per publisher, has been employed by
the Farm Journal and for sometime
has been working the rural routes or
Palouse country towns, circulating
one of these tax petitions. Mr. Or
cutt began working out of Moscow
this week, being sent here from Spo-
kane to- complete the work started
in November by two others who were
transferred to the Spokane territory.
Mr.. Orcutt says business men are
not excluded from signing these pc
titions if they desire, and many city
people are joining in this protest.