The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1931-05-22
Friday, May y, 1881
WHEN FORCED LABOR is NOT
FORCED LABOR

The following editorial under the above captio
taken from the Stanley Sun, of Stanley, Mort
.kota, the farmers paper of that place and on
the old League papers that still has spine emu
state propositions in logical and UNDERSTANDABLE
mas. The paper is managed by that old Viking
e Bull Stray, farmer who has few ideas Q
!. own We don't know who writes the editorial
that paper but who ever does, has pepper, pune
d reason that rings the bell every time. Thi
e is on Prison Labor and the Farmers Union.
IL kick you in your Stats:
at seems that there are two varieties of
forced labor in the world. One variety is
good and the other is bad, it make a diff
ference in what country the labor LIS forced
and who does the forcing The bad variety
originates over in Russia, and is condemned
by such men as President Hoover, Ham
Fish, Alex. Legge, MyrOn Thatcher and
Some more. The good kind of forced labor
is in the United States, especially around
the prison Irvine plants in the states of
Minnesota and North Dakota. The bad kind
of forced labor over in Russia, pays union
wages; while the good kind in the United
States pays nothing to the convicts who do
the work.
We were rejecting upon this forced la
Dor business the other day as we were scam
nmg the pages of the exchanges, during
the course of which we picked up the Farm
ers Union Herald, issue of April goth.
There they were, Myron Thatcher's picture
in its customary spot at the top of the
front page, with G. E. Huff just under him.
To the right and still further down was A.
w. Kicker, who had just been clear fowls
consin. G.. C. Talbot did not make the front
page of that issue for some reason. But
what caught our eye was the largest ad-
vertisement in the paper. 1t was on page
six and advertised binder Irvine, "Lower
this year than ever before"
In case you have forgotten, the Farmers
Union is selling agency for North Dakota
prison Irvine. The Irvine, of course, is made
by forced labor" The farm board has
said that the American farmer cannot COM
pete with Russian "forced labor" but the
Farmers Union asks the American laborer
to compete with North Dakota forced la
bor." When the American laborer finds
himself out of a job, and has no money
with which to buy the farmers produce
and the farmers prices suffer a sa direct
consequence, the Farmers Union proposes
to relieve the American farmer by telling
him that there are 20 per cent too many
of him and selling him forced labor" bind
er twine at lower price than ever If that
isn't cure for your whiskers We'll eat our
shirt
there are 20 per cent too many farmers, and
that our only salvation is to reduce acreage
Next year, when unemployment gets un-
der way in earnest, in place of having ten
million joblesS. people in the country, we
will probably have twice that many. With
out buying power for the consumers, of
course, there will still be an over produc-
tion. The only cure will be to lop off the
heads of another 20 per cent of the farm
ers. This probably will be repeated until
there is only one farmer left. and when he
has shared the last gopher and eaten it,
the county agents will be satisfied, and will
come forward and without blush, claim
that they rid the world of gophers, and the
politicians will claim that they solver the
farm problem. Ho-hum.
In the meantime we will hear much about
Russian dumping" We will hear it from
the people who are being beaten at their
own game, namely, dumping on the worlds
market. For in all the world there are no
bumpers" like we Americans We skin
ourselves with high tariff and dump"
what we cannot consume in foreign lands.
We have just about dumped" ourselves
out of business. And we will hear much a.
bout forced labor" from the very people
who seek to sell us prison binder twine"
OF course there is no objection to the idea
risoners working, providing they are paid for
n the basis of going union wages and hours f
he sort of work done. But to put man in pr
n, force him to labor, rob him of his pay, fol-
ne county from which he came to feed his deper
hts, and then sell the product of this stolen lab
i competition with the product of free lab,
utting the free labor on the bread line and stal
ag it into criminal activity, is wrong, is att
ious, is indefensible from any and every point
lew, and should not be tolerated or encouraged
nybody, much less by an organization like t
'armers Union which would pretend to help
armers by handing and selling that which h
cen stolen from those unfortunate men whC
ociety feels it must imprison for the benefit
he rest of us.
The act of putting man in prison for steali
maybe horse worth five dollars, for three yea
IS was done in Sheridan county last fall, force I
nan TO work and produce, rob him of his pay
lis work. and send him broke out into the wo
It the end of his term, is an example of burgls
N the part of the state not calculated to insp
owe or reverence for it in the heart of the pris,
n. Nobody but the state perpetuates crimes
his sort It is worse than burglary, worse I'll
murder, and cannot be described otherwise II
ow down robbery
Prison labor should be employed-it should
'aid as well as any other labor, and the prison
wages should go to family and dependents Of
prisoner if he has any, and if he has not Il
should be invested in interest bearing securit
md given to him when he leaves jail to start ]
new.
The American farmer is humanl He does
want Irvine that is stolen from unfortunate m
re does not want to make profit by taking br,