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Mr. Brigham. I think it was Secretary Lane who said that 

 what we needed to conserve most in this country was a man's 

 interest in his work, and I think that we have lost something 

 when we turn from the standpoint of working to accompHsh 

 something to the standpoint of working by the hour. We have 

 lost a lot of interest out of life. I would like to see some plan 

 evolved whereby other industries could come back and develop 

 that interest in men so that they would be willing to work for 

 the cause of production rather than simply by the hour. That 

 is the big problem ahead of us. 



A Member. I noted this past season, although everything 

 was high priced, that we fellows were selHng our goods just as 

 cheap, many of them, as we were five or ten years ago, and 

 they would only give us 1 cent an ear for corn, and we wouldn't 

 take it. That is this year, and what are we fellows going to 

 do? If everything is high priced but the farmers' goods, and 

 they won't give us enough so we can afford to pick our corn, 

 it is about time something was done. 



Mr. Brigham. That isn't always going to last. It can't 

 last. It is absolutely impossible for it to continue. It will 

 work itself out, I think, within two years. Either prices of 

 agricultural products have got to go up, because a lot of people 

 go out of producing them, or else labor has got to go down. 

 One of the two things has got to happen. Now, which it will 

 be, I don't know. 



A Member. Now would be a good time. There never will 

 be a time when the pendulum swings only one way. 



A Member. I would like to ask the speaker what wages 

 he has to pay in his section. 



Mr. Brigham. Well, men by the month, ordinarily men by 

 the year — we pay this present year S55 per month, house 

 rent, fuel, milk and other perquisites, which makes a total 

 comparing rather favorably with the competitive wages, if 

 we don't count the overtime. Now, we have had to shorten 

 our day. Can't help it. The men simply won't work when 

 they see their neighbors on an eight-hour day getting the same 

 wages or a little more. They are not going to work eighteen 

 and be satisfied or work a twelve-hour day and be satisfied, 

 so while we are expected to work the same length of day we 



