Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1944-12-08
The
Beam
By
Clayton w.
Fountain


Editors Note: Clayton Foun-
tain who has been on hunt
ing expedition in his own state
of Michigan resumes his col
umn with a thought provoking
article on building farmer
labor unity in the political
and economic field. His col
umn will appear here regu-
larly.
Political commentators are
again making much of the
fact that the farm population
cast enough votes in some
states to account for local COP
victories. This Republican
mindedness of large sections
of the agricultural community
is being interpreted as proof
that the average American
farmer is welded to the phil
osophy of conservatism.
1t is on the basis of this
supposed conservatism of the
farmer that reactionary forces
continue their efforts to deep
en- the artificial cleavage be-
tween farmers and industrial
workers.
We have to admit that, so
far as the total political pic
ture is concerned, this cleav-
age does exist. What's worse,
there seems small hope of
building a nationally effective
progressive political move
ment until some way is found
to clear up the misunderstand-
ings that make farmers so hos
tile to the labor movement.
1t is time that we of labor
give this problem serious at
tention.
START OVER AGAIN
To begin with, we are going
to have to revise completely
in order to get him to accept
a political program aiming at
some form of leftist statiSm.
This was the old Socialist
Communist approach. The idea
was that you had to convince
the farmer that he had to come
over to support trade union
ism; and that by so doing he
would strengthen labors ef-
forts to set up a labor govern
ment strong enough to plan
every detail of economic life:
1t was always assumed by
proponents of this thesis that
such a basis of farmer-labor
unity would ultimately lead to
socialization of the land under
supervision of the state.
REPEATED FAILURES
But this policy always re-
suited in repeated failures to
unite the American farmer
with our tongue in our cheek.
We have listened too closely
to those leftist master minds
who insisted that the farmer
was a reactionary at heart,
and that his ideas would dilute
a progressive program.
And we have nearly always
said to the farmers: Look,
Zeke, we of labor have pro-
gram here that you ought to
come along and support; it's
good for you"
OF course, as long as labor
held to the view that none but
laborites knew what was good
for the farmer, the farmers
rightfully a b S t a i n d from
lending their backing to pro-
grams which they did not help
to shape.
BASIS OF UNITY
Actually, the average Amer
ican farmer is not conserva-
tive: and he is far from reac-
tionary.
The vigor with which farm
ers in this country have
thrown themselves into the
building of cooperatives
proves that they are not back
ward-minded. Co-ops are the
purest form of free collec-
tivisim, and American farmers
have shown that they can
build strong, democratic CO.
ops.
And, in depression periods,
when bankers moved in to
grab the land away from farm
ers, the folks on the land have
not hesitated to fight back
bravely.
So the first task today in
starting to build farmer-labor
unity is the job of proving to
the farmer that labor is not
trying to jam a labor program
down the farmers throat.
We have got to convince our
country cousin that all we
want is for him to sit down
with us and write his own
planks into the progressive
platform.
trsvl lIrNA