IS THE SMALL FARMER TO DISAPPEAR? 81 



have a democracy in this country, it should be a democ- 

 racy of equal rank and equal privileges, and not a de- 

 mocracy composed of different classes of democrats, as 

 is the case in England and even in France. In this 

 latter country, however, there is one supreme ad- 

 vantage, namely, the principle of small holdings is so 

 thoroughly established that there is little danger of its 

 being crowded out by the methods of extensive pro- 

 prietary farming. 



I have already alluded to the fact that farm labor is 

 very poorly paid in the State of Virginia. This is 

 probably true of other States. The only excuse for 

 that, also, as I have already noted, is the fact that farm 

 labor is unskilled, and much of it does not deserve even 

 the wages that are paid. But the demand for increased 

 wages is insistent and must be dominant. The trades- 

 unions, while they have not invaded the farm laborers, 

 have sent their influence ahead. I do not know that it 

 is right to work a farm hand on the twenty-first of June 

 from twenty-two minutes past four, when the sun rises, 

 to seven-thirty, when it sets; but when you consider 

 that on the twenty-first of December this same farm 

 hand, perhaps hired by the year, works only about four 

 hours, and that in feeding the farm animals, you 

 can see that the labor question evens itself up, because 

 the farm laborer hired by the year is paid the same rate 

 in the winter as in the summer. If he didn't work 

 from twelve to fourteen hours a day in the summer, the 

 average day of the farm laborer would not be more than 

 six or seven hours. 



The proprietor, therefore, must face the problem of 

 paying higher wages and securing shorter hours of 

 service. This spirit of recognizing the laboring man 



