No. 123.] REPORT OF COMMISSIONER. 45 



harvested, and usually a farmer's production limit is determined 

 by the amount of labor which he is able to command at harvest 

 and planting time. To deny him this labor is to limit produc- 

 tion, and this seems to be what has happened the past year. 



Another phase of the matter which should be considered is 

 the quality of labor. Practically all farmers complain of the 

 poor labor which they get. When high factory wages drew the 

 men from the farms, it took our best men. These men have 

 made good under factory conditions and are naturally inclined 

 to stay at their factory job where they can earn more than on 

 the farm. The poorer help are released from the factory, and 

 they naturally get back on the farm and are even less efficient 

 here than they were in the factory. 



The attempt to draw the farmers into organized labor is an- 

 other indication of the conflict between labor and capital. If 

 there is to be an organization of farmers throughout the coun- 

 try, this organization should not affiliate with any other group 

 except to protect the interests of the greatest number of our 

 people. While we realize that there is bound to be a shorter 

 working day for all labor, we believe that all should be treated 

 alike, and so essential an industry as agriculture should not be 

 made to compete in the market, with its products produced on 

 a ten to twelve hour basis, with those of industries produced on 

 an eight-hour basis. 



Undoubtedly agriculture has got to come to paying wages in 

 competition with other industries. It should therefore be en- 

 titled to a profit on products produced under these new condi- 

 tions. The public must therefore expect tg pay more for food 

 in the future. While there will be an increase in the use of 

 labor-saving devices on the farm, these devices have their 

 limitations, and without effective labor agriculture will decline. 



L,\ND Settlement. 

 A great deal has been said and written this past year on land 

 settlement, and particularly as it relates to use of land by sol- 

 diers and sailors of the Great War. Practically all of the allied 

 governments but our own have made it possible for soldiers and 

 sailors to obtain land for homes and farms under easy terms. 

 It is impossible to tell as yet the success of any of these propo- 



