i- ■■: 



How Much Is 



aWifeWordi? 



By lOHN G. WAGGONER 



y^ HAVE just returned from the 

 C/l farmer rural electrification meet- 

 \_y ing held for those living in 

 Whitley Township at Boling school. 

 It was almost pathetic that not^a farm 

 wife was present. Surely then, this 

 must be a community where "Men are 



men apd women are drudges." I came 

 away from this meeting soberly think- 

 ing, measuring and estimating our 

 chances to get electricity in the country. 

 From statements made by the Farm 

 Adviser and the speaker from the 

 State Committee Office, it- will be nee 

 essary for nearly every farmer to use 

 about $5.00 worth of electricity a 



LOOK UP THE RECORDS OF YOUR SENATOR AND 

 REPRESENTATIVES IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 



Number of Legislative Record 



Regular On Important 



Members Sessions Measures Affecting 



(By Senatorial Districts) Served Agriculture 



43rd District (Fulton, Knox counties) 



Sen. Ewing _ 6 Excellent 



Rep. Cutler 6 Very good 



Rep. J. E. Davis 1 Good 



Rep. Simkins 2 Excellent 



44th District (Jackson, Monroe, Perry, Randolph, 

 Washington counties) 



Sen. Crisenberry 2 Excellent 



Rep. Brands _ } Very good 



Rep. J. H. Davis 4 Excellent 



Rep. Thornton 1 Good 



45th District (Morgan, Sangamon counties) 



Sen. Searcy 8 Very good 



Rep. Green 3 Excellent 



Rep. Lawler 4 Excellent 



Rep. A. P. O'Neill 1 Very good 



46th District (Jasper, Jefferson, Richland, 

 Wayne counties) 



Sen. Burgess 6 Excellent 



Rep. Dale I Very good 



Rep. Parker 4 Excellent 



Rep." Swift 2 Good 



47th District (Bond, Madison counties) 



Sen. Monroe 4 Poor 



Rep. Harris _ - -- 2 Veo' good 



Rep. Schaefer ONeill 5 Poor 



Rep. Streeper 3 v Ver>' good 



48th District (Crawford, Edwards^ Gallatin, Hardin, ' - 

 Lawrence, Wabash, White counties) 



Sen. Woodard _ 2 ' Excellent 



Rep. Hall (deceased) 



Rep. F. W. Lewis - 5 Very good 



Rep. Reavill - 2 Excellent 



49th District (St. Clair county) 



Sen. Menges --• 2 Very good 



Rep. Emge - - 1 Very good 



Rep. Holten " Excellent 



Rep. Johnson ..._ 2 Excellent 



50th District (Alexander, Franklin, Pulaski, Union, 

 Williamson counties) 



Sen. Karraker — - 5 ' .; Very Good 



Rep. L. E. Lewis 3 Excellent 



Rep. McAlpin .— - 1 Very good 



Rep. Palmer I i Very good 



51st District (Hamilton, Johnson, Massac, Pope, _ 



Saline counties) '•■■■''',' '■ — 



Sen. Tuttle 4 Very good 



Rep. Field 2 Excellent 



Rep. Powell _ 2 Good 



Rep. Randolph 2 Excellent 



A Young Moultrie 

 County Farmer Speaks 

 His Mind On Rural 

 Electrification And The 

 Male Sex In General 



month. Also it will be necessary for 

 nearly every farm to take it if we are 

 to have electricity in the country. 



Analyzing the obstacles in the path 

 of this electrification movement we 

 come first of all to the "old-timers' 

 who have lived all their lives without 

 electricity and see no need of changing 

 their ways "at their age." 



Next in line is the farmer himself 

 with an even stronger argument. When 

 electricity is brought to the farm, prob- 

 ably 80% of it is used at the house. 

 Now as long as a man can get his wife 

 to keep the lamps trimmed and filled; 

 light them and blow them out for him; 

 turn the light down if it gets too high 

 to suit him; turn it up if its too low; 

 wash the chimneys regularly and 

 "fetch" the matches, why, no more use 

 than he makes of a light he can get 

 along mighty fine with the one he 

 has. He doesn't do any sewing at night 

 or on a cloudy day. 



You can't call him dumb if his wife is 

 willing to do the washing with a board 

 and tub, a hand washing machine or 

 even if he finally has to get her one 

 of those noisy gasoline powered wash- 

 ing machines with its trail of grease 

 and smoke, the finest example of the 

 St. Vitus Dance to be found in mod- 

 ern life; he can still make himself a 

 profit on his wife's labor. Under these 

 circumstances, why should HE want 

 electricity? No need to pay out good 

 money, if by a little clever scheming 

 he can cry, /'WE CAN'T AFFORD 

 IT!" and scaie her into using old- 

 fashioned ironing equipment. 



Why should he spend <5.00 a month 

 if he can get his wife to carry in buck- 

 ets of water thru the snow by promising 

 her a new pair of galoshes that will 

 last a year or longer that cost only 

 98 cents? 



He still has to take the heavy radio 

 battery to town to get it charged but 

 even now I understand the battery 

 manufacturers are making a battery 

 particularly designed for farm service 

 so light that the farm wife can take 

 care of that little task too. 



To me, it is no longer a question 

 of "Can we get electricity" but one of 

 "Do we want electricity." How we 

 answer that question is of more im- 

 portance to the people of this com- 

 ( Continued on page li) 



tlD 



APRIL. 1938 



