8O THE FOOD CRISIS AND AMERICANISM 



In the whole history of the development of our coun- 

 try, from the time the New Englanders first began to 

 migrate to the country west of the Alleghanies, there 

 has been no parallel to the high character of the farm- 

 ers emigrating from the best States of the Corn Belt 

 to the Canadian Provinces. In the settlement of the 

 great plains and valleys between the Alleghanies and 

 the Rockies, the average emigrant from States farther 

 east seldom brought more than a poor team, one cow, 

 plow, harrow and a few household goods, aggregating 

 on the average less than $300 per family. 



The Canadian records show that the assets of the 

 average emigrant, coming from the American farms 

 to their Northwest Provinces, vary from $3,000 to 

 $10,000 in money, together with an ample supply of 

 farm implements and household goods. Yet in view 

 of these appalling facts, the present Congress, panicky 

 in the fear that the American farmer may be too pros- 

 perous, is so restricting the prices on his leading com- 

 modities, that under present labor and marketing con- 

 ditions, their production is unprofitable. This, too, in 

 face of the fact that organized labor and most com- 

 mercial enterprises are reaping greater profits than 

 ever before in the history of this, or any other, coun- 

 try. Had unorganized labor on the farms during the 

 last ten years received the same consideration that 

 organized labor in our industries has received, and had 

 marketing conditions been one half as favorable as in 

 any European country, " Meatless and Wheatless 

 Days " would have been absolutely unnecessary 

 even if the war continued indefinitely and food 

 prices vastly lower. 



