The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-03-21
New York Daily Beating
the Tom Toms for Coolidge
Can't Drown Farmers Woes
BY ]. LOUIS ENGDAHL.

TWO publications arrive with conflicting viewpoints
of the problems on the land The New York Herald
Tribune is sefsatisfed with conditions they and
works theoretically for the reelection of Cal Coolidge
"he best president big business had" But The
Progressive Farmer, printed in the Interest of the
Greatest Farm Organization of All Times, the Progress
sve Farmers of America breathes the discomfort of the
farming and gives the lie to the SNUG organ Of
the moneyed interests in the eastern metropolis
The Herald-Tribune is one of the nations powerful
capitalist dailies and it has thousand allies, some
greater and smaller than itself The Progressive
Farmer is small only four pages of six short columns
each It is published in far off Glendale, Arizona But
it is born to fight and speaks for organization that
has grown out of the farmers struggle and it will
tnue to win influence The United States government
itself tells why the victory rests ultimately its SIDE
In literature just issued by it's department of agriculture
After writing five different articles about farming
conditions in the middle west, Edwin s. Mcintosh the
staff correspondent of the New York Herald Tribune
wanders into Fort Dodge Iowa. and turns loose his sixth
barrage Of printers ink
The eastern journalist following out instructions from
his editor found that capital both local and foreign is
investing in Iowa. He says, Iake public utilities for
example:
"The Central Iowa Power and Light Company, I am
informed has spent 100000 in improvements in the
hast 18 months.
"The Iowa Power and Light Company, thru the Des
Moines Electric Company, has spent Ss00O,0OO on i'm
provements in Des Moines in the last 1S months.
"The Sioux City Gas and Electric Company has spent
$4000,00O in improvements recently.
The writer's conclusion is that, Business here
argue that such figures these indicate capital has
fidence in Iowa"
But the interests of the morgaged and tenant farmers
and of the farm workers clash with the interests of
tal. If big business is happy the conditions in
Iowa, that unhappy condition for labor. Cap
ital invades districts where it is possible to take high
profits where the plunderng is good and the haul rich
Capital does not go where the return SMALL if it
possibly help it. The investment therefore of cap
ial in Iowa indicates that profteering good scale
is rampant This that somebody is being robbed
The victims to be found both the land and in the
industries Of the cities
The boast is made that Iowa leads the state of the
union in agricultural products with annual total of
S1,5OO,OOO,OO0.
But this great wealth is being produced by increas-
ing number Of landess farmers the percentage in 1920
being Alt percent, and in 1925, AT percent increase
OF three percent for the fveyear period This condition
OF growing tenantry, is peculiar to the Mississippi Val
ley The following table prepared by the United States
government shows the percentage of farms operated by
tenants in 1920 and 1925 in Is states in which tenanty
has been rapidly increasing: