132 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



that the menace of control of the people's resources shall not con- 

 tinue in a few hands, and that its solution, growing more and more 

 difficult, shall not be passed on to our children. We are cowards 

 if we shirk the responsibility. 



I have made a careful investigation of the business conditions 

 on, the farms in the community in which I live, and that is a com- 

 munity where thrift and prosperity are at least at the average, 

 and I find that the average incomes on the farms there is less than 

 two per cent, after deducting the cost of operation. In Iowa, con- 

 cededly one of the richest states in the Union in agriculture, the 

 net income of the farms is less than three per cent. In recent 

 years the more progressive states have found it necessary to cre- 

 ate commissions to supervise the business of the railroads and 

 other public service corporations in order that rates might be fixed 

 that would be just and reasonable. It was determined at the out- 

 set that rates must not be reduced below a point where all ex- 

 penses could be met and then have left a sufficient margin to pay 

 a reasonable interest on the investment. Against this doctrine I 

 have no argument. However, in cases where a commission is nec- 

 essary to supervise the business in the interest of and to protect 

 the people from oppression by a monopoly, I have not been able to 

 satisfy myself that it would not be better policy for the people to 

 own and operate such business. I believe the government should 

 own and operate the railroads and all other public service institu- 

 tions. In any event, I do contend that conditions should be en- 

 forced so that the man who invests his surplus capital in a farm 

 should enjoy equal dividends with other investors. Surely one of 

 these interests is not important above the other. You may de- 

 pend upon it that the interests having their capital invested in 

 railroads, or similar property, will be alert all the time to protect 

 their investments. I insist that farmers should be equally alert. 

 Until they are there will continue to be this unequal distribution 

 of the fruits of their soil and labor. 



I do not plead for greater returns from the soil to the farmer 

 in order that he may have a larger bank account. I want him to 

 have a larger life. I want him to have what justly belongs to him, 

 so that he may see and know more of the world in the short time 

 he is in it. I want the burdens lifted from the shoulders of the 

 good wife who for years has toiled and sacrificed opportunities 

 she should have made use of to make a home and save the means 

 to send the children to school and fit them for a creditable career 



