FIFTY MILLION STRONG 



passage of a law that would be absolutely fair for all 

 residents of a state is the unfortunate element of selfish- 

 ness that enters into human nature. Possibly, sometime, 

 Americans, like Greeks in the palmy days of Greece, will 

 subordinate private welfare to the general welfare, making 

 private life simple and public life ample and rich, and then 

 tax troubles will disappear. 



/. Blue Sky Laws 



There was a time in this country when the peddler of 

 stocks and bonds of uncertain value did a thriving business. 

 Statisticians estimate the losses of the people through invest- 

 ments in such securities by the hundreds of millions. How- 

 ever, one state after another has passed what Kansas, leading 

 the way, called a blue sky law, which throws so many 

 obstacles in the way of the illegitimate handling of stocks 

 and bonds that the swindler finds his way beset with impedi- 

 ments, and the business of disposing of wild-cat securities to 

 the gullible has languished. Although the farmer is no more 

 susceptible to the fairy tales of the swindler than the average 

 citizen, yet easy money has always had a very strong attrac- 

 tion for him, for the reason that his profits represent the 

 sweat of his brow. So, through the passage of these protective 

 laws, the farmers of America are being saved millions of 

 money annually that in preceding years filled the coffers of the 

 wily stockjobber. Recent months, however, have witnessed 

 a sort of reaction against blue sky legislation, with the result 

 that some of the laws already passed may be repealed or 

 modified. It is claimed that the severity of the laws is 

 very detrimental to the interests of legitimate stock and bond 

 concerns. Still, there is no likelihood that the states will 

 revert to the leniency of the days when the business was 

 absolutely unhampered. 



/. Good Roads 



The past decade has been a decade of good road building, 

 and the farmer is the one receiving the greatest benefit. Of 



