Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1932-08-25

that during that same week while
stock spectators were adding mil
lions to their fortunes, every product
of the farm fell still lower. Here is
the record taken from Sundays paper
Of Aug. 18th:
On Monday, Aug. 8, September
wheat was 81 cents. After stocks
had been sky rocketing all week
wheat fell to SIC on Saturday, Aug. 13.
Oats fell from 171ac to Ice. rye from
33c to 29c, barley from 26c to 24c, and
flax fell from 99c to 97c.
Can you beat that?
What comfort can the farmer get
out of furry in the stock market
in which nothing happens except that
millions pass from Peter to Paul.
What difference does it make whether
Peter. the speculator, or Paul, the
gambler. has gained or lost?
What we need is better prices for
farm products, secured if we had bet
ter times and men were employed so
they would have normal purchasing
power.
We are the wealthiest nation in the
world. We have an abundance Of
everything-food, wool, cotton, lum-
Der, cement, coal, steel, iron, copper,
oil, natural gas, water powers, trans
portation and manufactured products
everything that contributes to
human happiness, comfort and con-
tentment.
Wealth In Hands of Few.
Yet with all of these things heaped
upon our doorsteps we find that many
men in this nation have reported
annual incomes averaging several
millions for each one of them while
ten million people are destitute and
unemployed-while our whole farm
ing population is literally tottering
on the brink of bankruptcy.
This is a condition that calls for
serious thought, not only on the part
of the farmer but on the part of those
who have raked unto their own yard
the wealth of this great nation.
Mr.. Hoidale said we produce in
America some 20 billions in new
wealth every year. Nearly all of this
new wealth produced each year goes
in a steady stream into the hands of
a few thousand men, nearly all Of
whom live east of the Mississippi
river.
You ask, how does this drainage
take place?
The answer is high interest rates,
insurance premiums, transr ortation
charges, monopolized business which
maintains the prices of their products
at high price, special privileges and
advantages granted through tariff
laws and in hundred different ways.
Also high salaries paid to thousands,
at the expense of the farmer and con-
sumner.
Fat Salaries.
Consider, for instance, the salaries
paid by the Federal Farm Board, a
body which was supposed to help the
farmer. The salaries indicate that
they helped themselves.
Mr.. Creekmore, manager of the
American Cotton Cooperative Associ-
alton, gets $4,000 annually; H. D.
Stafford, sales manager, $4,000;
George S. Minor, general manager,
$4,000; ]. M. Chiffon, assistant man
ager, $4,000. Walter 1. Beam, treas
urer, $4,000; William Mangel, vice
president, $4,000; w. B. Joyce, dis
trict manager, $4,000; H. w. Collins,
Portland manager, $4,000; F. w.
Lake, Kansas City office, $4,000;
Stanley Reed, $4,000.
There is nothing small about the
Farm Board except the prices which
their activities have obtained for
farm commodities.
Even railroads that claim to be
losing money pay salaries running
into hundreds of thousands while
large industrial concerns such as the
great steel corporations pay salaries
running as high as a million.
These unreasonably high salaries
to thousands throw tremendous bur-
den upon the consuming public, said
the speaker.
There are plenty of adjustments to
be made and that could be made
W1IuOuI uOIHS lHJuotICS W duy Ouc.
If these adjustments were made the
farmer and the common man in the
cities would have a fair chance
a fair share of the national income
which they produce each year by
their toll.
Out of about 20 billion in annual in
come produced each year the farmer
receives only seven billion, or one
tenth.
While the farmer represents more
than one-third of the population and
is at the foundation of all income his
share of wealth and income has been
cut in two in the last IL years while
on the other hand the income of the
multimillionaire and the Millionaire
has gone skyward.
No Defense for Injustice.
Figures compiled by the U. s.
Treasury Department from the income
tax reports shows that in 1920 in
comes amounting to over a million
for each individual totalled $4,000,
OOO In the 10 years up to 1890 these