_ mighty Value in them to the farmers. ‘farmers have just about decided to discard The only Independent Farmers Weekly owned and Edited 111 Michigan Vol VI; No. 51 MT. CLEMENS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 23 1919 OF. ONE YEAR yrs 82; 6 s. 8 $11? (3 Part of a Panorama of the Calhoun County Demonstration, Marshall hat the Tractor ShOws are Doing 1n Michigan RACTORS, which are a strong arm of machine farming, are jumping ahead by leaps and bounds, both in the interest of busi- ness. farmers and in actual production and successful use. When 5, 000 people, mostly farmers representing nearly all counties in the ‘ southern half of Michigan, turned out at the big tractor demonstration near Marshall the ‘ other day, there was no doubt as to the inter- est—of farmers in the new mechanical Wonders of agriculture. There are other tractor shows being held in Michigan and nearby states Which exhibit the same thing. Not only is there a great amount of interest in tractor shows, but there also is a Many Old Dobbin for most of the plowing and try cut a tractor of Some sort. So by actually see- ing what the various makes of tractors can 'do when competing in the same field, the pros- pective farmer- buyer can better decide the kind he wants. One farmer may prefer speed; _. another, :low costs; another, excellence of the 'maChi‘nery; another, smallness and ease of handling; another, great bulk to cover the largest amount of ground. Of course, these haphazard desires may not be technical, but '- they represent Some of the things buyer’s look for and demand. Now when a farmer sees a dozen tractors of all shapes and sizes and prices and kinds run- ning about on definite'parts of a field with ac- curate results tabulated and with the privi— lege given to him of examining and having special demonstrations made—why, he will be j twice as likely_ to be satisfied as he would be from studying Several catalogs. Shows Bring Farmers Together One of the finest things abOut these great tractor demonstrations is the getting together of farmers frOm all parts of the state. Natur- ally many farmers will be present who have Qt . Here are Some of the Tractors which Showed Up Well B. already had experience with tractors and know them from A to Z. So there will be a helpful exchange of ideas and suggestions. A tractor show is a sort of experience meeting. If one make of tractor is a fizzle, farmers who Some of this Issues’ Contents: WHAT THE TRACTOR SHOWS ARE D0- ING drives home a dollars and cents lesson to many farmers, as 'shown by the demonstration in Calhoun County . . ....... pages 1, 5 FARMERS AND THE PACKERS—are in battle royal over the Kenyon Bill to curb the packing combine . .page 3 GRANT SLOCUM, in his “Just Between Ourselves," rips open the food . question. AGRICULTURAL DIGEST tells what bus- iness farmers in many parts of Michigan are doing . . . . . . . . page 2 News of the State Fair, editorials, letters from readers, service bureau, depart- ments for women and children read- ers and other valuable material round out an issue you can’t well afford to miss. have used them have the frankness to say so; and they have no incentive as a rule, to praise machinery unless it is tried and true. Just getting together to rub elbows with one an- other is one of the things farmers want to crystallize their views on public and business matters. It has always been hard for many farmers to get together in one place so that they can get really acquainted, due to the way the farms are spread out. But the coming universal use of the auto, rapid railways and so on, is eliminating space, and business farm- ers can. turn out at least 5,000 strong to just one of the tractor shows. ere 5,000 Farmer Spectators. August 8th. Monroe county is. another center which held a tractor show during the same week that the Calhoun affair appeared. Other counties have been holding similar demonstrations and many more are taking shape. The expressions by many business farmers who attended one or more of these shows should prove to all the value of breaking away from the hard farm duties once in awhile to attend one of these manifestations. The tractor industry is still an infant. There are still fewer tractors in all the nation, we are told than there are farms in our own state. With more than 30,000,000 farmers in the United States alone the poten-. tial field of the tractor is enormous. The busi- ness started just a few years ago, and already there are scores of great tractor plants boom- ing up the industry which is expected to be a great factor in making farming a really pay— ing business. Little Giants Compete The throng wliich came out near Marshall several days ago saw what is declared to be the largest tractor demonstration ever held in Michigan. Tractors still are a curiosity to many farmers, and they eagerly watched the little giants plowing up the big field, each ma- chine doing the work of several horses. The demonstration was simultaneous with the an- nual farm bureau picnic, which aided in the drawing of the big crowd. Paul C. J amleson, county agricultural ag- ent for Calhoun county, was responsible for most of the great success of the event. He had arranged for plenty of publicity throughout the lower part of the state, co-operating with farm organizations. And once that the crowd was present, the agent had seen to it that none would be disappointed. About a score of tractor companies accepted the invitations to be on hand with machines and demor'lstrators. The event was given pep in the nature of a contest to prove the (Continued on page. 5)_ STATE FAIR PREPARES . ‘- -3 FOR MAMMOTH UROWDS Record crowds, totaling consider- ‘ably more than half a million per- ‘ Pious, are expected by the Michigan State Fair to be held August 29 to September 7, at Detroit. Farmers 4have been showing great interest in ’ placing exhibits. . The Michigan exposition has just secured a sweeping victory through G. W. Dickinson, secretary-manager “of the State Fair, as the moving spirit Of the committee of the Inter- national Association of Fairs and Ex-‘ positions. Through this work the government railroad administration has broadened largely its ruling of the railroad return free privilege for ‘ fairs. The administration also has yielded to the fight which has been conducted for several years,.and-i-t has announced that the railroads wbuld give a one and a third fare to all passengers to county and state fairs. Prior to 1915 the railroad return- ed free, exhibits to fairs when the ownership had not been changed. During that year the privilege was taken away and full rates were lev- ied up to last year, when Mr. Dick- inson succeeded in having the return free privilege reinstated. However, the new reduced rate for exhibits, as now granted by the Railroad Admin- istration goes farther than anything ever before obtained. Under the old return free privi- lege an exhibitor making a circuit of a number of fairs was allowed to return free only from the last fair in the circuit to the original starting point. The concession obtained by Mr. Dickinson and other members of the committee this year is such that the exhibitor pays only half the fare when making the circuit or visiting a single fair. Horses were not in- cluded under the ruling of last year; Practically every feature of the Michigan State Fair has been en- larged and improved this year. Free exhibitions especially will be more numerous and the management will enter more to the farmers, who are really the sum and substance of any fair. a. Monroe Elevator Stops Buying Monroe farmers and farmers in neighboring counties are left with this year's grain crop on their hands, un- less they can find a new market he- sides the chain of Amendt mills which have refused to purchase any more until the present price agita- tions have quieted down, according to reports from Monroe. Geo. A. Amendt of the Amendt Milling 00., with mills in Monroe, Ida, Petersburg, Ypsilan- ti, Norvel, Trenton and Delta (Ohio), made the startling statement that he would not accept any more grain un- til the present lower price agitation settled and until freight cars become more available. Under the existing conditions it is the only safe course we can pursue, said Mr. Amendt in connection with making the anoucement that the Amendt mills would receive no more grain. He further stated that it was almost impossible for mills-rs to do business nowdays, citing such rea- sons as shortage of cars and permits being necessary before shipments of grain can be made. (haul-c Man Buys Oakley Elevator The elevator at Oakley, formerly owned by G. W. Detwiler of Detroit, formerly of Owosso, has been sold to a Mr. Dean, of Cadillac, who has tak- en possession. Mr. Detwiler owned elevators at Oakley and Henderson for about 40 years. This deal dis- poses of all of his holdings in that vicinity. Dona Farmers Hold Round-Up . Delta County farmer, in the North- ern Peninsula, to the number of about ' two dozen, made arrangements to at- , ‘ tend a novel farmer get-together known as the Farmers: ‘ _ the Upper Peninsula Eminent Ste- _ flea, Cbatham, August 14. The pro- “ gram included a land clearing demon- stration to show the most economical method of clearing cut-over lands. section of the state poured down what was as good as geld dollars to‘ many farmers in Michigan during the last twn weeks. A few sections may have had a little too much, and the forest fire regions need millions of tons of rain. But many crops thought lost have been saved. Calhoun county is one of the chief centers of farming. which is congratulating itself. P. C. Jamieson, county agent of Calhoun, as that it rained a mil- lion dollars worth just for the Cal- houn farmers alone. He also stated: “It would be difficult to estimate the real value the rains have been to the garden stall? and the late corn. We raise a great deal of the late corn in Calhoun county and this season with- b Rain Pours Down Golden Dollars en F arms! in Michigan Rain, rain, rain—over nearly every out the rains made it look as though the crop was going to be a failure. “But I believe now thatthe down- .pour will mean thesalvation of the late corn crop. The early corn was hard‘hit by the dry weather. The clover and alfalfaseeding and‘rye and wheat also suffered from the drought. A great deal of it was burned up but these rains may prove a saving on some of the seeding. “It will also be of help to the late potatoes. While we do not raise many potatoes in this county there is enough that we do not like to lose them through dry. hot weather. The early potatoes did not amount to much. There is a probability the late potatoes will turn out fairly good af-. ’~ter this rain which has reached every part of the county. " NO PLACE FOR 4 POOR MM: L 1 Here is the opinion of the Detroit News on one int/resting phased the coming Governorship race. The News manifestly honors the integrity of Herbert Baker. often suggested as the Farmer Candidate. above that of cer- tain men who have climbed into power, leaving a strong suspicion of pre- datory wealth in their wake. University Aids Better Roads ,Better highway work was given a boost at the last meeting of the reg- ents of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, when they created the chair of highway engineering, to be headed by Prof. A. H. Blanchard, for- merly of Brown and Columbia uni- versities. He is considered a great expert and the appointment is said to be the most important effected by the regents for some time. John H. Bate- man, an engineer with the Michigan State Highway Commission. has been appointed as an assistant in the work. The highway laboratory will be ex- panded, new equipment will be add- ed, and all testing of asphalt, oils, tars, stone. gravel, brick, cement and other road materials for the state highway department and cities and villages not provided with their own laboratories will be done free of charge. Highland Park Bounds W As an anti higheost-of—livtng meas- ure, Highland Park city council vot- ed to establish a temporary public market to enable grocers to get fresh vegetables without being tamed to travel five miles to downtoWn Detroit markets. Denier 8; Dealer, 0. High-v land Park real estate company, in a letter to the council, donated to the city the use of a half-block site on Woodward avenue, between Beresford and Grand avenues, for the establish- ment of the market.‘l‘he offer was ac- cepted, and the superintendent of pub- lic works will be instructed to begin work of grading the site immediately. At the council meeting it was said that many Oakland county farmers go through Highland“ Park on their way to Detroit markets with produce, because Highland Park has no facili- ties for handling their wares. Armada Boys to Judge Stock The. Armada Duroc Breeding Asso- ’ relation held a special meeting recent- ly at the home of John Corbin. Mr. H. V. Kittie, the county agent. was pres- ent. The when of the local club amen- hter. atdp wilibemadotossvculstockberdsfn lineman-11,, thwbcrethebcyuwm demonstrate lutheartofiudging The .. state leader will arrive in about two weekstopauupontheirwork. Any boybetwmtbew ofunandetght- teen years may enter the club and be-_ gin the work at once. ms mime Fonns'rs ‘ ' IN NORTHERN Stream Both the northern part of the low-r er Peninsula and especially the north- ern Peninsula hare been suffering ter— rible forest fires. Chippewa county is one of the chief sufferers this year ‘ from Demon Fire, Sault Ste. Marie be practically shut oil from the wo d, and the splendid lock system being closed to traffic. The worst tie-up of business ever experienced in the straits as a result of forest fires has occurred. The city has had practically no wire cominuni- cation and not a boat passed through the locks. Many vessels anchored in the river because of dense smoke hanging over the section. Three large freighter-s are reported ground- . ed in the river. Lighter Reliance released the steamer. A. T. Kinney which went a- ground near Detour in the smoke and fog. The Kinney is reported leaking but mainland no serious damage. . Telegraph and telephone wires were cut as fine swept along the trachnear Soc Junction, but the Trout lake ser- vice was partially restored. No vil- lages are‘ reported in danger, although ‘ 800 Junction was menaced for a time when one house was reported burned. Forest fires have been at a [all \for two weeks but again assumed threat- ening proportions in several locall- ties. Bad fires are reported nadian shores of Lake Superior. City G. O. R's Want {lineup Milk Milo D. Campbell, of, Goldwater, Branch county. in his recent defense of iii-cent milk in the Detroit area. so that farmers could get at least cost ' of production, brought down the wrath of the Detroit Republican Club, which sent him a httnr promising war to the knife on milk pmfiieerlng. The club assures Mr. Campbell that the fact he is a Republican will not shield him from their wraith, says a Detroit paper. They say they will in- sist on a grand jury investigation by ,. state authorities. That's the very thing that’s needed, say farm leaders, , a thorough airing of the milk situa- tion so that city folks can see how most farmers have been producing milk at a dead loss recently. Then maybe the farmers can get a fairer price. , Farm Bureau Finances Discussed Financing schemes for providing for the Michigan State Farm Bureau were discussed at a recent meeting of the executive bureau in Grand Raps ids. A membership fee of $5 was con- sidered. Recommendations included having the state board of agriculture provide an office or building with stenographic service for county ag- en-ts, leaders and assistants, the ad- visability of the state bureau helping the statewide membership campaign for county bureaus a new system of financing state and national organi- zations and individual memberships in the state bureau. Kent Men Buy Plainwell m1] J. F. Eesley, who has been engaged in the milling business in Plalnwell for the past thirty. years, has sold his entire business, including flour and buckwheat mills, to Messrs. Hansen and Warner of Grand Rapids, who are now in charge. When Mr. Eesley came to Plainwell he had but 50 cents in his pocket but by had work and close application to business and hon- est dealing he has built up a splendid business, says the Otscgo Union. along Ca- . 5.73 gar lI‘O I ar 1 ar- '11- gh ed at-- .ll- low. 31'. 80 rat, I he lb, as at ot Ln- by ‘7 rs, 1a- m 38 D u or 1g in of pa Il~ ad re th ,g- .d- lg :n ii- 98' all ' is 1d re ts 1d 11. id. .' as [as . ~ “. ‘ 7&9 ‘ Eederal Trade ‘Conimlssion into .» the activities at the "Bic Five” we has led to the introduction . chill in Congress Known as the com bill, Which proposes: to li- ' the Do- ce‘nnfle'tle packers and give . ., ‘01 , Agriculture 9' brood-powers: over them. The facts disclosed by the investigation have wary toga mar them again. The conclusions that are well-justified by the, testimony of the packers their calves. 'are that the pnactfces of the packers tend to restrain trade. in- ‘ . . " 5 crease. the cost of living. and consti- " ~ tub in effect a virtual control of the '1"- nocaess-aries of life. That such a man-- * opoly as exercised by the packers is - a menace to. the people, if not to the . , ,_ very government, seems to be the opinion of many. They ’ disagree ‘ ' "however, as to thesteps that should be taken to curb this monopoly. Such of the farm organizations as have studied the Kenyon bill. thru , ' . their representatives at Washington, ‘ #- seemto be generally in favor of the ' ' bill. The Farmers’ National Council, , ‘ which claims to representthe larg- est groups. of organized farmers in ‘ the United States, is particularly strong for the bill. Its spokesman, ‘ Mr. Benjamin Marsh, has contributed a "numberof articles upon the dis— ‘ closures of the Federal Trade Com- ' mission, and has urged the immedi- " ate adoption of legislation that will make it impossible for all time for large corporate interests to secure virtual monoply of the things that are necessary to the welfare of the ' ' . nation. Swift & 00., one of the “Big . V Five," takes exceptions to Mr. " ' Marsh’s statements and has asked " us to publish the following letter in rebuttal thereof: ' July 11, 1919. The Editor, “Business Farming,” Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Dear Sir: "Mr. Marsh appears to be securing wide publicity for his syndicated articles and we notice that Business Farming" in ‘ its June 7th issue has lent its columns to this. destructive propaganda. ..‘ .- I “Mr. .Marsh apparently has become a publicity agent of the Federal Trade Com- mission for all of his articles merely re- peat the charges in the original report of the Commission. ‘That Mr. Marsh has given close study to this report is evidenc- ’. ed by the fact that he has adopted Mr. " - Honey's methods and style. All of his alticlen are filled 'with unwarranted in— ‘ sinuxtiong. and misrepresentations of facts designed to place the packers in the vast possible light. “The following two quotations fm’ his article show an inclination to draw" unwarranted conclusions and to warp innocent statements Any fair. minded reader will draw his own con- ,- . clusions . The quotations follow— the . '. ' italics being inserted by ourselves: C" . ’ (I) “The packers have made every ef- ' " ‘ (on to swing in live stock producers so ,. _, , that they would Join hands with the ‘\ makers in mulcting the public On Sep- ' tember 8th 1916, Mr Arth-r Tl \Vhite publicity agent for Swift & Company, wrote to some of .the packers: ‘It seems that most of our trouble in the past year or so has come through misunderstanding by stock raisers and feeders of the pack- ers’ economic position, and it is deemed expedient that a. campaign of education with paid advertising be directed partic- ularly toward this class of public.’ ” "The above recommendation was based .- on the fact that a great amount of preju- dice has been built up against the packers during the last ten years and they felt that in order to get the facts regarding the'buslnese before the public it was necessary to use paid advertising space, to tell the story. An honest effort of this kind should not be criticised or any sin— ister motive read into the recommenda- . t on. ' (2) “Mn. Butler’s other statement,— ‘If a small part of what the Commission says about the packers be true, the De- . partment of Justice ought to be im- J, ' poached from the attorney—general down' ‘5 -; L—‘s'hows that the packers themselves feel - they no guilty ' “ *” “It is a discouraging task at best to ,. attempt to get together with producers / and/consumers and solve mutual prob— lems. But the task seems at times al- mo t hopeless when magazines/[land news. papers lend their columns to the publi- cation of such obviously unwarranted charges and destructive propaganda as this article. -' p ,3 “M1919 Marsh’s article is filled with gen- allzations and broad charges entirely 1.!" "-ed by evidence and absolutely ' ' - the fie’stimony of experts. For says—“A study of ' ', " is conducted in. a rway." Even the Fed- ’ssion rec0gnizes. the «gr-tho packers. is placed upon Mr.'Ar- 11, her. ltstandi certain. ‘ hm pretty well covered in these c014 . um before so it legume unneces- . taken I rdlng the relative j male m1 mum: . Kata—73.11; “Nat,” Before canoes, Pm. poses to Put Big Manopoly Under. Wing of Dep’t of Agriculture house without heavy overhead expenses. transportation charges, etc., can operate in a mall local territory at less cost than can the large packing house conducting a national and even international busi- ness. The point is that small local pack- ing houses could not begin to serve all sections of this country, and the big packers are needed to supply dressed meats in congested centers of population for from stock raising sections. The big packers arc’ performing a. specialized serh vice which the small packers cannot meet. Both and small units are essential said each fllls an economic need. “Mr. Marsh criticises the amount of money spent for advertising by the pack- ers. he a matter of fact the total amount spent by SWift & Company last year for both commodity and institutional adver- tising averaged about l-lSth‘of one cent on each dollar of sales, which is probably a far smaller ratio than any business do- ing national advertising. It is entirely too small to affect prices in the slightest. The public in general welcomes .the evi- dent desire of Swift lit-Company and oth- er Iarge corporations to explain their business methods and policies. “Mr. Marsh charges that although the packers claim that part of their efficiency is due to their ownership of stock yards. they have not established any stock yards independently, but they have forced the owners to sell their yards to them. Par- enthetically it may be remarked that this use of the word ‘forced’ is a good example of his attempts to lead the reader. to un- warranted conclusions. . “It is perhaps true that, with one or two possible exceptions, the packers have not established the original yards at any of the principal points. These livestock markets developed naturally as the result of their stragetic location, and when the packers established their plants some sort of yard facilities had aheady been pro- vided. Usually these- facilities proved in- adequate for large-scale marketing and the packers helped to provide modern yards which would permit future devel~ opment of thebusiness. 'Absolutely no pressure was brought to bear upon the owners. . Several paragraphs of this article are devoted to the testimony of Mr. Wm. F. Bode regarding the special railroad ser- vices and transportation privileges en- joyed by the packers. Space does not permit a. detailed reply to all of these more or less technical points. Suffice it to say that the Interstate Commerce Com- mission was appointed to correct just such cases of alleged unfair discrimination. The wholesale grocers are at liberty to present their case to the Commission at any time with the full assurance that all interests will be given a fair hearing. It would seem that charges of unfair prac- tices of this nature should be tried before the Interstate Commerce Commission rather than in the columns of agricultur— “May we quote once more from Mr. Marsh’s article,—‘The labor. leader. who organized the employees in the Chicago stock yards and elsewhere two years ago. stated to the writer that if all the direct- ors and managers of the packing plants above the superintendents dropped out, the business could go on just as well, pro- viding it was financed.’ Mr: Marsh is apparently impressed with the principles of socialism and communism. Perhaps the readers of ‘Business Farming would do well to study. Mr. Marsh’s article with this thought clearly in mind. "It is obviously impossible to answer in detail in this letter all of the points brought up by Mr. Marsh, They are merely extracts from the original report of the Federal Trade Commission, and have been answered fully by Swift & Company in pamphlet form. Copies of our analysis will be sent to any of your Beaders who will write to our Chicago od- ce. , “We give the editors of ‘Business Farm- ing’ credit for being sinCere in their de- sire to give their readers the truth con- cerning all important national questions. In the interest of fairness we believe that the“ readers of ‘Business Farming’ will . wish to know the facts on the other side of the case. Very truly yours, “SWIFT & COMPANY,” Per L. D. H. Weld, Manager Commer- cial Research Department. , Would Business Suffer? The claim has been made that congress would establish a precedent dangerous to other legitimate busi- ness enterprises should it put such a control about the packers as pro- posed in the Kenyon bill. The argu— ment is that capital would hesitate to engage in large business enter- prises lest in the course of time they be construed in the light of monopo- lies and placed under governmental handicaps. The answer to this is that the packers have been proven a monopoly, guilty of many unmoral if not-illegal practices. They have had a fair hearing. They have been given every opportunity to show that their business was not a menace to other competitive enterprises or to the public at “large. But they have failed to produce the evidence, and having so failed they stand convicted in the court of public opinion which says that in the interests of the many a curb must be placed upon their activities. And any combina— (‘.. .l‘ .‘.3,1» ,. ». ,...' a , (mnwu‘ u G. E. Eaton, of Lansing, is explaining to a. good Calhoun (Bounty business farmer, why the Bates “SteeLMnlc” basal! the “kick” when it comes to power, but none from its owners. for this popular tractor. Of course he is prejudiced being the successful state agent . Tractor Sales in the United'States To determine the allotment of steel to be made to manufacturers of tractors for the. year 1919, the War Industries Board of the United States Government made a thorough investigation of the output and sale of a tractor concerns from Janu- arya 916. to December, 1918. in- elusive. The figures arrived at by that investigation are given you be- low—and these figures are on tract- ors made and sold in the United States and do not include tractors Tractors Made, Sold and on Hand 1916 .(made and sold) ......... 27,819 1917 (made and sold) .......... 49,504 1918 (made and sold) .......... 85,866 1918 (on hand Aug. lst) ...... 11,388 Total ....................... 174,577 All available data. including gov- ernment reports and reports and es- timates from many leading tractor manufacturers, was used in the com- pilation of the above analysis of tractorsales and, it is generally agreed that it is as nearly accurate as it is possible to secure at this “mag 1' \ . ,of dollars have been paid to the roads in hold upon the necessities of life that . it may control the prices at‘will must .. be similarly controlled. . In a letter to "Business Farming” Rep. Ranger, who is chairman, of the Agricultural committee, before which the Kenyon bill is now pending, adv mite the need of remedial legislation, but is not sure that the Kenyon bill is the proper thing. He says: “Attention should be given to the pack- ers’ trust. The Federal Trade Commis- sion’s‘report clearly indicates its practice and open violation of existing laws. As to What can be done or just what should be done in the matter there are divers opinions. In view of our recent experi— ence I seriously doubt the advisibility of continuing government control under the license system as has been done recently. “For instance, railroads were taken over and controlled by the federal gov- ernment. As a result hundreds of millions . excess of a fair compensation, and a billion dollars of additional transports, tion charges have been added annually to the burdens of the American people, an amounheqlual to the annual expendi- tures of the federal government prior to the recent war. “The report of the Federal Trade Com- mission regarding proflteen’ng, June 29, 1918, reports the excess profit of four meat packers in the three years of 1915, 1916 and 1917 to be $121,000.000 over their pro-war profits, and points out that they are soon to come under further gov- ernmental regulations approved by exec- utive order_ , “That government report clearly indi- cates two things: first that they are open- ly and persistently violating the law of our country; second, that under govern- ment regulation they are exacting more profits than ever. “Attorneys having the matter in charge tell me that by proper and vigorous pros- ecutions our anti—trust law-s can be en— forced and that its violators, including the packers, can be made to pay the pen- alty, If our laWS are inadequate, they should be strengthened. Instead of lax proceeding, acquitting and abating fines, it seems to me that what should be done in the matter is to prosecute, to enforce penalties and the collection of fines—40» enforce the law instead of licensing them, thus making it possible for them to do the things condemned.” The National Marketing Commit- tee advises us that it is receiving a great many requests for copies of Part 1 of the Report of the Federal" Trade Commission on the Control of the Meat Packing Industry. The Na- tional Marketing Committee has no way of securing this book in large quantities except by paying for them, and it advises all who desire a copy td write to their United States Sen- ator 07' Congressman at once, as oth- erwtsc, owing to the large demand for this exhaustive investigation of the packer food monopoly they may wand fthat all copies have been dispos- (’ . 0 . N FRENCH FARMERS ASK It-EFOR‘R Four existing organizations of- farm laborers have federated under the name of the Federated Land Un— ion and joined the General Labor Confederation. They have asked for an 8-hour day. but it is recognized that this would present many dirli— culties, owing to the varied require- ments of the different seasons. The alternatives are therefore of— fered of an 8—hour day, a 48—hour. week or a 2,400~hour year, always on the condition that no day even in ’ ' I harvest time shall exceed 10 hours. For administrative purposes France will be divided by the farm unions into districts forming agri- cultural units. Questions of detail such as the distribution of the hours throughout the week to give the laborers a (lay of rest, or, if possible ,a day and a half, are to be left to the regional councils composed of representatives of the laborers and employers, pro- viding always that the arrangements do not conflict with the existing re- gional, national or international la-—~ bor agreements. *- RAJN HARMS POLISH CROPS From reliable Polish and Ameri- can sources we have received reports indicating that the excessive rain- -' fall in June and July in various parts; ' of Poland caused serious damage to the crops, thus complicating. the food] situation. This situation al- ready was serious because large;’ tracts of land were not cultivated; during the war and which wererolJ' shevik refugee areas. The return of ‘ thousands of helpless peoples " to i these regions draws heavily on the 7 food supplies of the other districts, O l i; 5% is" '9 . 1‘ " ' the,,circle and “back to the farm.” by» ,.'- .-....... v..'.. . . '~ tion. ' - Crops 'I‘hat Aren’t'Crops _ . . FOR THREE WEEKS I have been earan "aly, striving to get an insight into the food ’ situation as aflecting the""great consuming cen- ’ ters of the East—and again I have gone round Ordinari- ly. but little wheat is grown in the East; aui yet, stimulated by the government guarantee '» -_.the acreage last fall was doubled. . I drove for , several days“ through ~~West Virgima, Maryland , Pennsylvania, New. Jersey and New York, and saw thousands~ of acres of wheat in the fielus, the shocks tufled-with :the green of the growing grain-f—a’total‘lossI ‘The result of an" unusual Ihihielliand'no help to get the grain from the shpckito thebarn or stack. “One man and a team can .cutthe wheat, but to draw and “place in"the stack~or barn, we must have help, so. we . visited to thresh in the fields, and there you are,” was the reply of the farmer .as he point-_ ed toward the fields of blackened shocks, now tufled with green. Q t t 0 Eastern Farmers Out of Luck This complaint is heard everywhere. Right here, in the very center of the consuming pop- ulation of the United States, there Will be found ten idle acres, for every untilled acre in the middle west. Oats are an utter failure—— late spring and no help to rush them in. Corn, the best-looking crop, and yet but little more , than knee-high, and liable not to mature. Late for want of help, weak for want of care. Pota- toes, fair and selling at round a dollar per bu. for the farmer—not enough to pay the cost of production. Vegetables offered for sale at the roadside by farmers; prices low; but the mo— ment you ask prices at city retail stands, the “high cost of living” shows its horns. No more do you see cattle grazing upon a “thousand hillsiz‘” Dairy herds are as scarce as hen’s teeth all through the East. " Ask the reason for this condition, and again comes the reply——— “no money in the business—help scarce, feed high; we can’t get the cost of productiOn let alone a profit. ’ ’ IK‘ it 1% III Wilson Out After ’Em The other day President Wilson stated that he was going after the “high cost of living,” and Congress will be asked to enact a law en- abling him to remedy conditions, as soon as he locates the real cause of the highhpriee of all food products. After‘weeksof wrangling Con: gress has finally approved plans-for selling the surplus feed products purchased for the army and navy,.and eastern papers are filled with artiCles which recount the wonderful saving to consumers through/this plan of distribution which is to be made by the postoffice depart- ment. All food products secured by the gov-' ernment Were purchased at war-time prices through speculators and if sold at cost, would, no doubt, require a price above current quota- tiOns. But great is Uncle Sam; if he can ap- pease his clamoring cousins by the taking and giving process—let it be done as a temporary expedient, while we patiently await the decis— ion of the “Wise—men” who are to come out of the East, and tell us why farmers will not continue to produce food products at less than cost of production. ‘ fl: =I= ' it * Rome fled the Same Trouble 'In the long ago, Ro'meh'ad a Wenderful ex- perience, and sometimes I have been foolish ' enough to think that we, of this age, should profit by therise and fall of that mightyw'na- Wonderful progress wasmade in agri- culture during the earlier years of Roman his— ! . ~"jtorY- ,‘And then‘came the era of commerCe;' he time when barter and trade offered the "greatest inducements for "men"of initiative, in- net-"r3r and ability; In the course of tithe-great 1~ ’ at population ‘grew and thrived," [and .dfiewrthe‘ perm—the presume-like. the fie. ..Af*generation'rpaelse:d; and; plain," ' and the . \Vhile bearing his heavy burden of high ‘ if ‘he would,- take the \firstlste .. .“f"rt1a11; we of h? ' " investigate? 2 "'SO“;'5'the;_/wise , guys next/[to f the thronegot busy and after many weary years, came to the cOncl'usion- that'the reason. why the cost of living was sO‘high,‘Was because the cost, of living was high-Tithe, farmers had" left the farms and had 10cated inthe cities. , 03*”0‘0 , . ems Nibs" GotBasy . .“Weu, well." said .his.-“:‘:’Nibs:‘-”' “this will never do ; . the! farmers must remain upon the farms.” . “W-a-l,” said-the wisegmen, “to. ed farmers; then'they Will‘be happy and'c‘on- tented to toil on.” And Roman history records that his “Nibs” was true-to. his word, and all these things were done for the farmers. But the community gathering” places fell into dis- use; the learned men failed to show the farmer (( ‘ 1 \ P /k VES‘Y S F “53.57 (00/ ‘ k ' ,, . ‘ ernr acne ' The farmer in solving the food problem is making a steep climb on the hill of production. costs many forces fight him and hold him back. . how he could make farming pay; so long as the cost of production was ignored and countless thousands of human parasites were carried on his back. And the young men continued to leave the farms and become city dwellers. . a 1, I: ' 0 ‘ ' Kultur Used on Farmers _ And those “who toiled not, neither did they spin”—for there were such even in those days —-again held counsel. “The farmers are unap- preciative; they want the earth; look what we have done for them and still they will not re- main upon the farms. they 3 “a law shall be passed that no person born on a farm shall leave that farm, and enough able-bodied men shall be taken from the cities and placed upon the farms,'so there shall net be an idle acre”—~a head in the bas- ket—~the reasonable penalty. And so the high cost of living was solved—4but through the so- lution of this little problem, Rome, the might- ieSt of all nations, brought about its own dis— solution: Farmers, peasants; ' serfs—classes, clashes, self-,destroyed—Roman progr\e8s pois— ed for a few generations on the brink, then ~ tumbled into seething caldron she had so pains‘ takingly prepared. _ . . . v :0 0‘ a 'Houston Can, But Won’t , Washington, there, sits a meat . the ‘onetgreatapi‘ b1; _ . ,_ . Am ' 1‘31 :jdh'longeirihatthe ante pm higherélips” said:~"."‘ We Will ‘ from which to" start ,. ' the president, or» "tof- knowstha actual cost -ducins.~.._ood prefiuets; .-that'~.mo ._ j. 7 in"'a1*’1’°3~‘fl°n ‘0 ilmte'the robber, pro This will we do,” said. one rof the most dangerons pastimes we-lknoy . . I, Spot - ’ . , " " " ' Over in the Departrneiit “of Agriculture'at ' ’ ' ‘ “"th could,» gerdfiolvmg' . he ’9American .- to <16} with the " "' a0 enemas- s ~ - itf passing strange-,Ith have: the. “first .cost fins ‘13"- erf'jhas nothing man ,_ . No other manufacture e’ vkeeputhe farmers on the farms, you mnst