Montana labor news., 1938-12-22
Farmer-Labor ReIa-
ti0ns in Scandinavia

AA"N
publicists who are informing us to-
day of how in an era of dictator
ships the Scandinavian countries are
holding on to the methods of demo-
cracy and at the same time achiev-
ing genuine social progress. Labor
governments are in power in
Sweden, Norway and Denmark by
the votes of the mass of the workers,
the farmers, and a minority of the
middle class. Their social and eco
nomic setup is built around coopera-
tives, state-owned public utilities
and collective bargaining between
workers and employers, and it
works.
In the Autumn number of The
Yale Review, Mr.. Childs has an
article that ought to be of interest
to every American who wishes to
see effective cooperation between
farm and labor forces in our coun-
try. In it he says: From the super
fetal view, there is every reason
why city workers and farmers
should unite politically. Yet in al
most every country in the world in
recent decades a bitter opposition
between farmer and factory worker,
city and country, has come into be-
ing. Shrewd politicians have capt.
talized on this opposition, realizing
that it is to the interest of the own
ing class to foment such a division,
But the politicians have not created
this split. They merely exploit it
The split is a profound malady fol-
which a cure must be found if rep
resentative government is to sur
vive. In Scandinavia there is a deer
awareness of the problem, and g
serious effort is being made to re-
solve the opposition between the
townsman and the c%ountryman,
The Danes are in a particularly
unhappy situation, according to Mr.
Childs. Farming is their principa.
industry. But the Danish farmer
must buy his raw material at 8
comparatively high price, and Their
he must send his finished product
across tariff barriers and agains'
quota restrictions at a relatively low
price. In addition to this the Danish
farm population is suffering from {
malady from which every country
is suffering. 1t is the malady o.
debt, built up in the short boom.
time after the war. The methods
of scaling down the debt structure
have not been drastic enough. The
result has been that many of the
farmers in their discomfort are
ready to follow the first man whC
talks loud enough and long enough
The Farm Workers Association
has come into being to give mas
expression to the unrest prevailing
on Danish farms. The program 0
the association is very vague. Be
hind their avowed program is al
underlying hostility towards tn,
workers in the city. Trade uniol
wages, the farmer feels, are too high
The danger is that in the event O
another worldwide depression thu
farmers votes might sweep out tn,
labor government, and with it thu
system of benefits and reforms tina
has SO painstakingly been built VI
over a long period of years. A
present it is the votes Of the one
half of the 100000 farm families tina
keep the Laborites in power.
In Sweden the farm problem i
far less acute, and they have begul
there to build what Mr.. Child
thinks may be a longtime solution
The government has provided ex
port subsidies on certain majo
commodities. But within the So
cialist party there were those VIII,
regarded the export subsidy system
as at best a stop-gap, and one whicI
put a definite penalty on familie
with low incomes not only in tn
cities but in rural areas as wei
They have asked, Is this surplu
that is endowed for export really
surplus? Does it represent so muc-
butter, eggs, bacon, grain beyon,
the needs of every last Swedish Cit
zen? They set out to make a
objective examination of all the fac
tors and forces that make up a wa.
of life. Mr.. Childs says he does nc
know of any country outside Q
Scandinavia in which such a hig
degree of scientific detachmen
would be possible. All too often else
where the ruling class has decree
a living standard that is al empt
fiction; any realistic examination Q
the facts is avoided. Instead Q
scientific examination of reality
there is propaganda to convince tn
masses that they must be well of
But in Sweden they found the fact
, and published them.
The picture presented, Mr.. Child
adds deploringly, is not at all flatter
ing to the ego of the average Swed'
| proud of the progressiveness of hi
/ country. 1t was found that Their
were wide areas of malnutritior
particularly in the rural districts c
the North. Shockingly low income
of both city and country worker
! were brought to light. Striking dill
ferences were shown between fam
/ lies with one or two children an