Milford chronicle., 1927-09-09

farmers: .,.-4;o,, hos
made has resulted from man uls
satisfaction with old conditions anu
bic determination to build better Ior
+bo f,ture. That there is unrest
onong our farmers today is not "
he denied. neither is it bad Sign Il
+ho dissatisfaction results from an
earnest desire to correct present oay
dif9cnlties. Rural unrest has leIt d
dafnite impress upon the worlu
history The prophet Isaiah ana tne
noet Virgil tell story lnolcaIine
tbat some of our present day IN
oouaIities are almost as old as ms
tory In more recent times we Inu ~
was the yeomen of England uLi'Sn t,..
tn desperation, in part at ieasC W
rural and land problems tnaC ln
Dalled them to resist King JoIn al
Punnv-Mede and secure the Magma
Cbarta Later we find that the rootS
of the American revolution toucheu
1aDd nroblems. taxation and rurdl
difHcnities of Colonial times. IN re-
cent wears we note that an awaken
od s9ricultural public opinion was
1,osnonsible for the creation OF the
1nterstate Commerce Commission
+be Granting of Free Rural Dellvery'
tho odontion of the Federal Farm
loan system, and a host OF other
things that have benefited agrlcul-
ture and the nation. o.iro
The United States is recoVeIlhs
from a rural depression greater tnan
some realize. The government cen
ens indicates that there has Deen d
decline of approximately $15,OOO,OOO'-
O00 in farm wealth during the last
fiva wears. It may be answered thaI
form lands were too high. rms Is
trna but relatively they have Deen
lower than city real estate. We must
remember that rural wealth has ue-
cIined during a period in which ma
+ional wealth has increased 1l80. we
find an increase in the mortgage IN
debtedness upon farms and we alsO
find an increase in number OF tarm
hankruntcies. At the same time we
note a decline in rural populatloSn!'
These are danger signals thaC 4llul
cate in no uncertain terms the neeu
of readjustments.
We have no desire to emphasize
the dark side of the picture, because
we have been deluged with pess1mls-
tic statements of present-day agrl-
culture which frequently come from
those who find it easier to talk tnan
tn think out the causes and e1ectS
responsible for our present prop
Iems. It is fair to say that the root
If our present problem is found IN
the fact that those engaged in agrl-
culture could not readjust them
selves after the war as quickly as
those in other walks of life. This re-
= suited largely from the lack Oh OF
ganization and from the inability OF
the farmer to adjust production to
,changing world consumption de-
mands.
There is another very serious
cause to be found in the fact that our
: legislative and commercial fabric mas
siven more consideration to indus
trv. commerce and labor than to ag-
= riculture and because the manutac-
trrer and the laborer could apply
practices that were apparently I'LL
a possible for the farmer.
Farmers Greatest Problem
Whenever the American farmer
Arealizes that his difficulties are
largely in his own hands and that he
must meet organization by organiza-
tion. his troubles will begin to van
Sish. The bankers of America can
sneak almost as one man; the rail-
roads through their organization
~can secure almost 1000 agreement; |
manufacturing and business agen-
cies always get together on legisla-
Ative or economic problems; the Am
erican Federation OF LABOR always
presents a united front; agriculture
alone insists upon its Amerlcan-glv-
en- right of individualistic 1ndepend-
ence.
: When Samuel Gompers stated a
few years ago that labor will relin-
uuish none of the wage ADVANTAGES
that came to it as result OF the
war" he did not rely on talk, ne dld
not trust publicity or public sentl-
ment. but through organization ana
Through such legislation as the Al.
amson law. and restricted lmm1gra-
tion. he was able to carry out MS
srogram. When the manufacturers OF
America wanted to keep out the Hood
of cheap European goods they saw TO |
it that our tariff rates were ralseu
and that legislation protected their
interests. When the bankers OF Am
erica wanted to extend the life OF
the Federal Reserve System and deal
with the problems of branch bank
ing. they amassed lobby sufficient
lv powerful to pass the McFadden
bill.
This is only mentioned to indicate
that organization is essential 10 the
massage of legislation, and also TO
remind farmers that our friends IN
other walks of life have been willing
TO use organization for their own
4beneft. We must learn this lesson
Whenever more than 5O?o OF the
farmers of America are members OF
a bona fide farm organization, rural
INEQUALITIES will begin to disappear, i
because the farmers will have the
ability to correct their difficulties
swhether they be educational, social,
economic or legislative.
Legislative Benefits
Americas great weakness is our
present-day tendency to rely too
much on legislation, too much on
the government and not enough on
ourselves. Agriculture is not alone
in this error. We have indicated
above how business and labor groups |
Ahave relied upon Congress. We have
recently had an impressive example
when the railroads and brother
,.5z o,ooesad n 1OhhV in Washing