Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1932-11-03
all that without being told, so we

ulating credit and industry to the
point where men will be put back
to work and thereby increase their
buying power to the point where they
can pay the farmer fair price for
his product" That sounds good, but
We are told now that we have sur
plus of everything and that is the
reason why labor is unemployed. We
must use up the surplus before we
can expect industry to start the pro-
ductiOn of more goods. Where Is the
captain of industry who will start his
factory to produce more goods when
he already has on hand enough to
last for long time to come.
suppose by credit stimulating Mr..
Lamson means that industry is en-
titled to government dole" NO,
1 will not call it a dole, some people
do not like that term, so we Will
call it something else which means
the same thing
Former Governor Christensen in
speech recently made in Askov made
the statement that our national wealth
now amounts to two hundred billion
dollars. but debts, public and private,
amounted to one hundred and fifty
billion dollars. That looks bad, but
it should be borne in mind that the
notes and bonds and mortgages are
all held i'm the United States so we
are really owing the money to our
selves. Those who hold these securi-
ties evidently do not need any credit
and il seems to me that those of us
who owe that huge amount have al
ready had too much credit l will
leave to the farmer, worker and small
business man to decide for himself
as to whether more credit will or
will not solve his economic problems.
Lamson further says: IL am not
sure this can be done bringing about
a fair price for farm prOducts) with
out discarding the machine in whole
or in part The farmers can promote
that process by junking his tractor
and using his horses as many are now
doing" Get the Importance of this
-"discarding the machine i'm whole
or in part.
Now as the average man sees it,
the machine has enabled us to lower
cost of production. 1t has helped us
to increase the volume Of production
TO such an extent that the tolers
have really had taste of luxury and
comfort. True the machine has not
yet enabled the farmer to produce
corn at a cost of sc per bushel nor
wheat at 25c per bushel and we are
told that the reason why we have
such prices is due to the low cost OF
production in foreign lands. And now
Lamson would have us go back to
the old hand method of production.
Just how that will enable us to meet
the cheap, foreign labor deponent say
eth not This statement of LamsOn's
is exactly on the par with the one
which came out of Washington, d. c.,
about a year ago advising the cotton
grower to pillow under every third row
of cotton. In all seriousness, is it
any wonder that people refuse to lis
ten to such nonsense?
We must hasten on. LamsOn says:
Big business, such as the railroads.
the packers, the mail order houses,
the mining companies have lost more
i'm proportion during the last few years
than have the farmers"
More IN PROPORTION? Well,
there are hundreds of thousands of
farmers who have lost all they had,
and the same can be said for many
city workers and small business men.
That ALL may not have represented
any greater sum than few thousand
dollars than it was 1000 of what
they owned. While it must be admit
ted that big business, etc., have lost
hundreds of millions Of dollars (mOst-
~ paper prOfits) yet they have bill
lions left. No, Lamson, their losses
have been proportionately very small
ANY eighth grade student will be able
to figure that problem out for you
in few minutes. 1t involves moth
ing beyond common arithmetic to
prove that problem.
Just a few words about Mr.. Lam
sons parting shot at Roosevelt. LAM
son says Roosevelt offers three rene
dies for his forgotten man. One is
wOrkmen's compensation, another is
old age pension and the third is un-
employment insurance. If he had
added invalid and mothers pension
| think l would have voted fer him.
1t seems to me that there is some
thing really worth while. Some for
eign countries have these measures
and would not think of discarding
them. Can LamsOn think of any meas
ure which would remove more of the
fear and anxiety of old age than would
the old age pension? Or could he
suggest anything that would have a
more heartening effect on the laborer
than unemployment and invalid COM
pensatiOn?
Even a farmer who has work for
his horses only in the summer will
give them feed and care for the win
ter. Can we do less for our toilers
the creators of all wealth? And
would it be too much to grant a
mothers pension?