The Bismarck tribune., 1934-02-24

able 70 get necessary food from
bountiful Uncle Sans granary.
We believe this Is the chief reaSo1
why farmers who still have an equity
in thier personal property are finding
their banker creditors unwilling x
scale down their debts. These mer
must pay to the last cent with higf
interest rates added for good measure
And we will soon find out that wher
livestock prices come back to what
they should be. It will Be the bank
and not the farmers who will reap the
reward.
In the parable. the prodigl sor
took his patrimony to far country
and wasted 1t In riotous living. Wher
the famine came he was without
money and without friends.
Let us compare that picture with
the one we have painted today. Good
times meant high wages. High wages
were earned and went as fast as they
came. Nothing was saved for time
Of need Finally the famine (depres-
sion) came and there was no more
work. Times became worse and
worse. Uncle Sam had to step In and
feed them else they perish.
Thus We have the picture Of the
thriftless.
Now, let us look upon the elder
brother (the thrifty. These people
are also to be found In all classes Of
industry. They did not spend every
cent they got hold Of. They built up
the country and took care Of the
schools. They were the builders. not
the wreckers. Surely their portion
should not have been defeat.
They had given their best and they
deserved no less Of their country On
them. too. the depression fell. Banks
In which they had deposited their
money closed by the thousands.
Farmers found their farms and per-
sonal property worth less than one
fourth what they had originally paid
for them These farmers. too were In
debt. but not so deeply but what they
still had an equity in their property,
but an equity that was swiftly vanish
Ing under such unfair conditions.
Today these men, too. are in need
but. because they still have small
equity In their property. they are de-
MED any help from the government
Because they have paid their taxes
land God knows they we're needed tr
keep open the little country schools,
the government has refused them any
work on relief projects. This has
been the reward Of the thirfty--a
stone given in place Of the asked-fo,
morsel Of bread.
| These farmers see the tilriftless
man who has moved from farm Il
farm. getting deeper and deeper tr
debt through his own carelessness
and his family being cared for by the
government. This man still has his
cattle and other livestock. fed at gov.
ernment expense. Banks won't take
them under such conditions. He Il
able to get work on relief projects al
more than good wages.
Personally We feel that there woulC
not have been SO much competition or
these projects had wage been sci
much lower than what was decided
upon. Work done at government ex.
pense is vastly different, according tt
our notion, than that paid for by pri.
vate industries-and a wage scale
should have been set accordingly. W.
think two dollars per day for labor
and two dollars and half for mar
and team would have been plenty
considering the money came out d
the peoples pockets. Then the work
would have lasted longer under ths
original amount set aside for such
work-and there might not have beer
such q rush and scramble to get or
such projects as there was.
You can 90 from one end Of this
country to the other and look over
these government projects-and you
Will find the laborers are largely made
up Of "prodigal son" who did moi
save when they had chance. Farm
ers who had to have every new con-
traption that came upon the market
Men who squandered and still squan-
der every penny they make for hoocf1
and gimcracks Of all kinds. Then
turn to the "elder sons" the folks we
have penalized for their very thrift IN
not one but thousand ways.
Was 1t any wonder the elder son in
the parable rebuked his father for
what he felt to be base ingratitude
toward him. and that he felt he was
getting far from square deal?
We think that II the "old man. had
~ n,S& kn lo<
would have taught a more wholesome
lesson to our young folks who think
they can get by without earning their
bread by the sweat of their brow.
A Farmer,