The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1940-04-04

these immature and inexperienced
diplomats, we are in constant
danger of being drawn into the
war. We all remember the dis
astrous result of our having been
represented in London by Walter
Hines Page back in 1915-16-17. He
was openly pro-ally. Documents
made public since the armistice
prove conclusively that he lied to,
and deceived President Wilson on
number of important occasions
in order to involve us in the war,
and he finally succeeded in doing
so.
Secretary Of State Hull has ad-
ministered singing rebuke to
Cromwell but he should have re-
called him because he is dangerous
in his present position. There are
rumors that he will shortly resign
to become a candidate for the
United States Senate from New
Jersey. There he will be able to
spout to his hearts content without
doing any particular damage.
How Many Idle
There are two major verbal
battles being fought in Washington
these days. One has to do with
questions that are to be PROFOUND
ed by the census enumerators. The
other Is on the number of jobless.
"A short time ago Dorothy Thorn
pson, the well known commentator
placed the present number of I'M
employed at around two million,
instead of the commonly accepted
figure Including WPA) at be-
tween nine and eleven million.
Dorothy claims that the New Deal
ers and labor unions have been
initiating the unemployment figures
in order to justify wasteful spend
ing and that Republicans have
been initiating them to show what
a mess the New Deal has made of
providing jobs.
The National Industrial Confer
ence Board of New York, is consid-
cred one of the leading economic
statistical agencies in the country.
This group has no connection with
labor. 1t is an independent, fact
finding body that devotes itself to
a continuous study of the general
economic conditions of the country
and is privately financed. Their
figures show that the toal labor
force of this country in January
of this year was 81 million 769
thousand, and that of this number
IS million 473 thousand were en-
ployed, and 9 million 20 thousand
were unemployed. Their estimates
show that in October there were
Z million $50 thousand without
work and that there has since been
a month-by-month rise to the above
figures which was for January.
I may say that these figures tally
with those of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor.
House Acts on Interest Rates
Without a dissenting vote the
House, last week, voted to keep in
effect the present interest rate on
Federal Farm loans for another
five years. The bill reported out
by the committee sought to make
the rate permanent but in order
to avoid a fight on the floor Chair
man Jones accepted an amendment
to limit the extension to five years.
A recent report disclosed that
there are now in effect one million
572 thousand Land Bank and Com
missioner loans, of which 254
thousand are delinquent. Loans
that are in default total 662 million
585 thousand dollars, or approx
imately 25 per cent of the total
of all loans.
There are a number of reasons
for these delinquencies. Some of
the loans were made on high
price levels; some delinquencies
are due to poor management, while
others can be ascribed to droughts
and crop failures. 1t has been nee
essary to reamortize about hun
dred thousand of these loans and
should conditions not improve SIM
liar action will undoubtedly have
to be taken with many more.
Many of us would welcome the
day when farm mortgage Is
again considered gilt-edge security.
There is no reason in the world
why it shouldn't be. There has been
only one crop of land and all must
eat and wear clothing. Certainly
land values are as low as they
will ever be. am thoroughly sat
isfied that it Is possible to restore
prosperity to American agriculture
but 1t is never going to be done
through the application of cumber-
some remedies that are expensive
to administer and Of no lasting
benefit.