FARMERS TO THE FRONT 109 



of twine, of threshing and of marketing. From this 

 must further be deducted interest on investment, loss 

 of fertility in the soil, wear and tear of machinery 

 and operator's profit. It is such a price as this that 

 is responsible for the farm laborer earning only 

 twenty-six cents a day and that has put farmers in 

 the very lowest class of laborers. Surely even those 

 who hold that $1 is too high must admit that 76 2-3 

 cents is too low. 



Thus it is that question of price is fundamental. 

 We are all interested, not simply in the farmer, but 

 in his land — which, in a sense, belongs to all of us. 

 Rudyard Kipling, writing of the American, says : 



"An easy unswept hearth he lends 



From Labrador to Guadeloupe; 

 Till elbowed out by sloven friends, 



He camps, at sufference, on the stoop." 



It is so. We have been prodigal with our national 

 domain, and we have invited people from all over the 

 world to come here, take up land, and compete with 

 those already in possession. And now we find that 

 many of our farms are in an impoverished condition 

 from long cropping, and the return from grain and 

 other farm products is not sufficient to justify the 

 expense of restoring the fertility. Farmers have 

 truly sold their birthright for a mess of pottage. 

 This is obviously a very serious matter, and it can 

 only be dealt with by securing equitable prices for 

 all farm products. The farmer should have $1 for 



