Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1934-11-29
GROUP
HEARS SPEAKER
Young Attorney of Luck, Wis, Tells
ASkOv Audience of Weaknesses of
Governmental System.

The crop reduction and subsistence
homestead projects of the government
were discounted as programs of fun
subject, "Plowing the Farmer Under"
by Charles Madsen, attorney-at-law
of Luck, Wis, when he spoke before
the adult education group at the high
school assembly in Askov last Thurs
day night. He stated that 500 of
the farmers produce 900 of the
crop, and pointed out that in a crop
reduction program, marginal produc-
ton, that in which the net result is
small in consideration of effort put
forth, must be met, raising the prob
lem of eliminating about three mil
to go.
Mr.. Madsen spoke. of the cotton re-
duction program. He stated that the
cotton farmers are represented by
three different groups according to
their financial status. There are the
crop sharers. who do not finance their
crop at all, being supplied with seed.
a mule, some tools, and their living
from the store owned and operated
by the owner of the land. Renters
constitute a second group. These
farmers can finance their crop in
part but are dependent upon borrow
ing money for seed and other oper-
ating costs. The third group are the
large owners who are Independent in
financing their crop.
Land Owners Benefit.
The speaker indicated that there
was not much total reduction in cot
ton and that the only group which
really benefited from the program was
that of the land owners. The crop
sharers, he said, gained nothing be-
cause most of them were refused an
opportunity to work land in the acre
age reduction, and were put off the
land with no place to go or nothing
that they could do. In the case of
the renters, he pointed out that fire.
quently the checks received for crop
reduction were made out jointly to
the renter and the loaner from whom
they had borrowed for financing their
crops, and ultimately the farmer got
very little of the money.
That there is no real over-produc-
tion was shown by Mr.. Madsen in his
citation of government statistics.
when he indicated it is estimated that
if all persons living in the United
States were maintained on an ade-
quate diet, there would have been a
shortage annually of 10 billion quarts
of milk, two billion pounds of meat,
one billion dozen eggs, and 1870 Of
fruits and vegetables available. The
fundamental problem, according to
the speaker, is that of sufficient in
come on the part of the worker, who,
he stated, produced in 1922 the value
of $4,000 per individual working 4S
hours per week.
FaScism is Dictatorship.
A question and answer period fol-
lowed the talk which had been pre-
scented. During the period fascism
was defined by the speaker as an or
ganization around one personality to
place dictatorship over a country,
and usually is characterized by vague
socialistic promises as a means Of
getting votes. The dictator is dom
mated by the industrialists, but he
sometimes becomes more powerful
than they like and the industrialists
are the losers.
He said that the danger for Amer
lea going fascist should be recognized,
but that this country should be able
to profit by observing what had pro-
duced fascism in Germany and Italy
and thus avoid such a condition here
Mr.. Madsen favors a cooperative
commonwealth in which he believes
the fundamental needs of human ma
ture would be most adequately met
by producing for use and not for pro-
fit. He believes the Townsend Old
Age Pension movement is a bait
financed by the large income group
as means Of passing sales tax.