PEOCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 95 



iniquitous road laws come from cities and towns alone? I ask you by 

 these acts do they show that " There is a clear and palpable absence of 

 public interest"? Surely, if they have no interest in the public roads, 

 why all these road laws made without our knowledge or consent while 

 we have to pay for them? 



Neither does their responsibility for, I might say, other crimes against 

 us stop at unjust road laws, for they have otherwise tied our hands, 

 causing less of production in the State and bringing nearly to a halt 

 all progress in horticulture, because labor unions, governed by the 

 foreigners who control them, and in combination with political timidity 

 and economic stupidity, with the influence of the cowardly press in the 

 large cities, have put a ban on the only means of procuring a labor 

 supply sufficient and reliable for half our needs. While the farmer 

 has always shown a kind and forbearing spirit with these un-American 

 institutions, the last straw is on and we should call a halt, for they will 

 find that the farmer is built on the lines of his ancestors, who have 

 before saved this country from its enemies. Although he is willing to 

 sacrifice much for defense, he does not like to pay unjust tribute by 

 sacrificing all he has gained. 



Again, the farmer sees a great injustice in assessing him year in and 

 year out for the same old watch, gun, wagon, harness, horse, cow, dozen 

 chickens, or fruit trees and vines for often more than they are worth, 

 finally to become a total loss by decay or death, while the merchant, 

 who turns over his goods from one to five times a year with a profit 

 each time, is often assessed, fixtures included, for a little more than the 

 fixtures alone are worth. Recently, when I called a gentleman's atten- 

 tion to the fact that his fixtures were assessed for a trifle less than 

 2i per cent of their true value, his reply to me was, "It's dead stock!" 

 The answer brought to mind my old horse, wagon, harness, farm 

 machinery, and fruit trees, that are nearly ready for the scrap-pile and 

 that have been assessed for all they are worth many, many times. This 

 short-sighted polic}^ explains the reason why the cities in California 

 increase in population over 77 per cent every ten years and the country 

 hardly holds its own, and for further testimony I call your attention to 

 Bulletin No. 44 of the United States Department of Agriculture, where 

 it says: "Inequality of taxes and lack of sufficient help is the cause of 

 a large decrease in farm homes in forty of the states and also a 

 decrease of owned farms in all of the states." To further elucidate I 

 will call attention to Plate 5, Volume I, 1900 Census Report, which is 

 very comprehensive. The blue patches which disfigure the entire map 

 of the United States further demonstrate the loss of population in rural 

 America. Again quoting from Bulletin No. 44: 



"Chittenden County, Conn., farms are selling at a discount compared with the prices 

 of fifty or sixty years ago. The lack of steady and reliable help is the cause." 



