148 FARMERS' UNION AND FEDERATION 



that union labor and union employers hope to see again, 

 but which farmers should unionize to prevent coming. 



No scheme will work to keep men on a farm at fifty cents 

 a day when they can get six dollars a day in town, and it 

 need not be tried out again. Union wages in cities must 

 either come down or wages to farmers kept up or they will 

 inevitably desert the farm to scab on union labor if not ad- 

 mitted as members. 



As to land redistribution and farm homes being a panacea 

 for Bolshevism and I. W. W.ism it is nothing of the kind. 

 What those men want that some writers mistake for " land- 

 hunger" is in reality only loot by mob violence of the farm- 

 ers' supplies and homes to sell and squander in excesses and 

 debauchery in cities. Besides a ball and chain, the govern- 

 ment would need a soldier with a shotgun to keep each 

 one on a farm and at work. Why, it's impossible to keep 

 most of that kind of men on a farm more than a week in 

 harvest or threshing time, though they be paid four to ten 

 times the wages the farmer himself gets out of his crops. 



Here is an incident reported in the press concerning the 

 present Kansas Legislature, showing that men with experi- 

 ence do not desire to return to the farm under present con- 

 ditions : 



"During the debate on the farm tenantry resolution in the House of 

 Representatives yesterday one very loquacious orator sought to enlist 

 all of the farmer members on his side. 



" 'Every member of the House who was raised on a farm please 

 raise his hand,' he pleaded. 



"All of the'members, including lawyers, held up their hands. 



" 'How many of you still live on the farm?' he next asked. 



"About half of the' members~raised their hands. 



" 'How many of you who left the farm want to go back?" 



"Not a hand wentjip. 



" 'The farms are in great luck,' he drawled." 



