The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Agricultural “Bloc” in Congress 
We receive many questions aImut the so-called 
“agricultural bloc’’ in Congress. Wlmt. is it? Who 
belongs to it. ami what is it trying to do? .James It. 
Howard, President of the American Farm Bureau 
Federation, in a recent speech, gave an account of 
this “bloc” and its relation to the Farm Bureau. He 
says that on the evening of May 9, 1021, a group of 
United States Senators mot at the Farm Bureau 
office and discussed plans for advancing farm legis¬ 
lation. It. was proposed to combine the efforts of 
Senators from the South and Middle West, with a 
view to pushing through Congress a number of bills 
of importance to agriculture. These men understood 
that if the regular political program were followed 
these agricultural bills would have no show what¬ 
ever. They therefore decided to put the interests of 
their people above party polities and see that the 
bills were passed. They were aide, through this new 
combination, to pass a number of important bills, like 
Aid to Federal Band Banks, War Finance Belief, 
Packer Control Bill, etc. The “bloc” votes solidly 
with one party or the other, according to the way 
these parties support or oppose an agricultural meas¬ 
ure. There are both Republicans and Democrats in 
this “bloc,” and they divide on party lines regarding 
most public questions. When it comes to purely ag¬ 
ricultural legislation they get together. 
Mr. Howard names the members of this “bloc,” as 
follows: 
IN Tin-: SENATE 
Federal Ttcscrrc Act Ellison D. Smith, South Caro¬ 
lina; Frank D. flooding, Idaho; John B. Kendrick, 
Wyoming. 
Adei/uatc Warehousing and Storage —Geo. W. Nor¬ 
ris. Nebraska; Joseph E. Ransd’ell. Louisiana; Arthur 
Capper. Kansas. 
Tram porUiliou Robert M. LaFollette, Wisconsin; 
Duncan F. Fletcher. Florida; Morris Sheppard, Texas. 
Qencral Agricultural Measures E. F. Ladd. North 
Dakota; J. Thomas Heflin, Alabama; William S. Ken¬ 
yon, Iowa. 
Other .1 feathers of the Sen ate Bloc- Charles L. Mo- 
Nary, Oregon; Peter Norbeok. South Dakota; John W. 
Harreld. Oklahoma: Andrieus A. Jones. New Mexico; 
William .T. I lands. Georgia ; Henry F. Ashurst. Arizona ; 
Nathaniel B. Dial, South Carolina, 
IN' tub tlOi'SK 
Transportation —Homer Hock, Kansas; Fred B. 
Genard. Pennsylvania ; John W. Summers. Washing¬ 
ton; John II. Srnithwirk, Florida; Philip B. Swing, 
California; L. J. Dickinson, Iowa. 
Tar iff —■ C. B. Ilydspeth. Texas; Robert E. Evans, 
Nebraska; Richard N. Elliott. Indiana; John D. Clarke. 
New York; F. B. Swank. Oklahoma. 
Financial —A. 1‘. Nelson. Wisconsin; Frank Plague. 
Minnesota; .Tames G. Strong. Kansas; James H. Sin¬ 
clair, North Dakota; Guy L. Shaw. Illinois; Henry B. 
Steagall, Alabama. 
Taxation and Revenue — Edward T. Taylor. Col¬ 
orado; William Williamson. South Dakota; O. B. 
Burtness, North Dakota; Edwin B. Brooks, Illinois; 
William C. Lankford, Georgia. 
Miscellaneous —Burton L. French. Idaho: (’has. A. 
Christophcrson. South Dakota: John C. Ketchnm. Mich¬ 
igan; Roscoe C. Patterson, Missouri; Ladisla I-azare, 
Louisiana; Chas. 1. Faust. Missouri. 
The leaders of the Republican party are becoming 
quite alarmed at the action of this “bloc” in upset¬ 
ting the party program. The Democrats, being 
the minority party, seem to be interested only in 
upsetting the plans of their rivals. Mr. Howard 
states the “philosophy” of the movement is as fol¬ 
lows : 
Most frantic appeals have been made to the members 
of "blocs” in both brandies of Congress to “stand by 
the partv.” In other words, they say. “If your party 
don’t wish what your constituents want, abandon your 
constituents.” It is the constant fear in some political 
quarters that the majority party will he split asunder 
by the “agricultural bloc.” This fear is ungrounded, 
for a close analysis of the “blocs’ ” action will show that, 
they are interested in the economics of the present situ¬ 
ation. and are not playing politics. Neither are they 
trying to control legislation as a whole. It is true, of 
course, that the “blocs” have to their credit practically 
all of the constructive legislation which has been passed 
during tile last six mouths, and that none of it would 
have been enacted if party leaders had had their way. It 
is just as true. also, that the questions interesting the 
“blocs” to date are vital to the nation as a whole, al¬ 
though almost entirely agricultural. No one would 
argue that the farmers, representing a third of the pop¬ 
ulation of this country and with a purchasing power of 40 
to 00 per cent, are not interested with the balance of the 
nation in such subjects as taxation, transportation and 
finance. Through the “agricultural bloc” they have been 
given a hearing and. Congress, for the first time ill 
many years, lias taken constructive action. 
Milk and Woolen Goods 
Many years ago wife and I went 12 miles back in 
the hills to an assembly of good, kind, old-fashioned 
folk. Jogging home in the buggy, 1 said: “Mrs. F. 
don’t know what she is in for: John will be dead in a 
few months." And she replied; “Yes, she knows; she 
is very anxious. He is getting weaker, and that cough 
is going to take him. 1 told her about mother having 
father drink milk and cream.'” They met about six 
months inter, aud Mrs. F. threw her arms around wife 
and said: “You saved John's life.” He lived for 12 
years. 
Since that I read a technical article by a savant on 
the subject. Forget it. There, is nothing technical 
about it. Milk is a perfect, natural food, A mother 
animal knows that. If Tub R. N.-Y. will keep pound¬ 
ing that fact into subscribers, it will make money on 
them by prolonging their lives. Their dollar stops com¬ 
ing after the funeral. 
There are a lot of boys, scolded or pounded and 
licked every day now for wearing out or tearing their 
clothes. Everything is blamed on a boy, while it is 
the fault of some so-called woolen mills president who 
gels pig pay collected from many and repented sales of 
hoys’ clothing. 
Right in New York there is a Broadway manufac¬ 
turer who had three overcoats return d. < hie had been 
worn 10 days, and the others one week. The stuff was 
gathering in pellets aud dropping off. The wristbands, 
lapels and edges laid faded away. These three and the 
balance <if the batch will he ready for next Winter’s 
school boys. What is the matter with the teachers that 
they cannot see the depraved stuff worn by the poor 
fellows, and educate their constituency? Any man who 
buys shoddy for his hoy is a chump. The boy should 
run off. If he bought wool for the boy, he would be 
proud of his clothes, and he could not wear them out 
until lie outgrew them. W. w. REYNOLDS. 
Ohio. 
It. N.-Y.—There is one tiling about Friend Rey¬ 
nolds. When you are through reading what he lias 
written you know just what he means. No psycho¬ 
logical dictionary is needed. He is right about milk 
and wool. Every day brings us additional evidence 
to prove the value of milk in the human diet. As for 
wool, it is a national disgrace that our people should 
lie wearing shoddy while mountains of wool are piled 
tip—unsalable. 
“We Have Got To Do It Ourselves” 
One of our readers who believes in the above 
slogan sends the following poem. While it is direct¬ 
ed particularly at boys, the sentiment may well be 
considered by “grown-ups” as well. There will lie 
poor pickings for most of us unless we get out and 
do the job ourselves. 
JUST DO IT YOURSELF 
When Dan Boone's old buckskins gave out, hind and 
fore, 
Did he call in a tailor to make him some more? 
He made ’em himself. 
When lx* carved up a redskin who threatened his life 
Did he call iu a grinder to sharpen his knife? 
lie did it himself. 
When he knew of the haunt of a sockin’ big bear 
Did he send for a jitney to carry him there? 
He hiked it himself. 
We’re all mighty proud of our honest old Dan— 
A fearless, resourceful, strung wilderness man: 
When lie needed supplies and provisions. I guess 
Ho knew he’d go barefoot and hungry unless 
lie got ’em himself. 
When you put uu your socks, and your toe punches 
through, 
Don’t leave all the mending for others to do; 
Darn ’em yourself! 
The next time your trousers are due to be pressed 
Just say to your mother: "Please sit down and rest: 
I’ll do it myself." 
If your basement is littered with rubbish and trash 
Don’t semi for the ashman—save your dad's cash 
And do it yourself. 
Far removed are yon now from that pioneer life 
When daily existence meant unceasing strife. 
But though you don’t live on the frontier, like Dan, 
You’ll find—if you try—many things that you can 
Do for yourself. 
—Boy’s Life. 
Committee of 21 Reports on Rural 
School 
Important changes in rural school administration are 
advised in a preliminary report by the Committee of 
Twenty-one on Rural Schools, following a three-day 
session in Syracuse recently. Four major needs found 
in reorganizing the rural school system include estab¬ 
lishment of a larger unit of taxation, better distribu¬ 
tion of State aid, optional consolidation to secure effi¬ 
ciency in education and improved teaching personnel. 
Members of the committee believe legislation to carry 
these needs into operation will be offered next Fall. 
Some of the facts leading to the conclusion that a 
larger tax unit is needed are thus given by the commit¬ 
tee: Existence in Delaware County of one school dis¬ 
trict whose equalized tax rate is 1 mill per $1,000, and 
another with equalized tax rate of S3 mills per $1,000. 
There are other districts in the State in which the tax 
rate runs as high as 70 mills per $1,000. and there are 
many in which the. tax rate is less than 1 mill per 
$1,000. The primary reason for this situation is ex¬ 
istence of marked differences in the wealth of these dis¬ 
tricts. Iu Delaware County there are four districts 
with an equalized valuation of $10,000 to $20,000. and 
there are other common school districts in the same 
county in which the equalized valuation runs as high as 
$340,000 to $350,000. Iu Tompkins County three dis¬ 
tricts were found with an equalized valuation of from 
$20,000 to $30,000. In that same county other com¬ 
mon school districts were found with nu equalized val¬ 
uation of $250,000 to $200,000. 
There exist in New York State common school dis¬ 
tricts with equalized valuations running from $750,000 
to $1,000,000. This is representative of the inequali¬ 
ties throughout the State as a whole. The general ex¬ 
istence of such facts lias led the committee to decide on 
the larger tax unit. The State uow distributes about 
$10,000,000 to schools annually. In general, the result 
of the present system of distribution fails to recognize 
the difference in equalized tax values, aud places poorer 
districts at a marked disadvantage. 
The committee lias decided a better scheme of distri¬ 
bution can be worked out. It is proposed to work out 
this distribution under the following heads; (1) Gen¬ 
eral support of elementary and high schools, to be based 
on equalized valuation; (2) special aid for buildings, 
employment of specially trained teachers and transpor¬ 
tation. 
The committee believes the local unit of administra- 
81 
lion should coincide with the unit of taxation; it has 
decided each of the present school districts should be 
represented in the board of education of the larger unit. 
This board of education, among other tilings, will de¬ 
termine the budget and levy the tax for the unit under 
its administration. 
Iu formation of the new unit of administration the 
committee believes existing civil boundaries, such as 
those of the town and county, should be ignored. The 
new unit should lie based upon the existing communities 
of the State. Boundaries of these communities are de¬ 
termined by such factors as topography, highways, rail¬ 
roads, bodies of water and the economic and social cen¬ 
ters that serve farmers. This new unit the committee 
designates as the community unit. Within it free high 
school facilities will be furnished, with transportation 
where necessary. 
Considerable attention is given to teaching in rural 
schools. The committee is convinced that "rural school 
teachers as a group are more immature, far more inex¬ 
perienced, less well educated, less well prepared pro¬ 
fessionally, than are teachers in the centers of popu¬ 
lation as a group.” Two years of professional training 
beyond high school education should be the minimum of 
training for elementary teachers, it holds. 
The committee believes that by 1327 the minimum 
standard for new teachers should tie set at normal school 
graduation; it suggests as a means of training these 
teachers that strong departments should be established 
in normal schools for preparation of teachers for rural 
schools. Provisions of State aid will include additional 
compensation for the rural teacher. This will make it 
possible for rural districts of New York State to secure 
Well-trained teachers. 
While the preliminary report of the committee does 
not go into the detail that its final analysis of the situ¬ 
ation will, it does establish the factors iu the present 
rural school system that require correction; and the 
inhabitants of rural districts of the State can forecast 
legislation that will be asked to put the present system 
on a satisfactory basis. 
The committee desires lhat. every resident of a rural 
district of the State give careful consideration to its 
findings. The criticism of all is asked, in order (hut 
means can he taken to establish a rural school system 
ihat will at once be efficient, satisfactory to all and 
competent to give country children the educational fa¬ 
cilities they are now forced to seek in cities. r. l. V. 
How New York State Wools Grade 
With each new attempt of the farmers of New York 
State to grade aud market their various products co¬ 
operatively, certain facts are learned tbar lend increas¬ 
ing interest to the venture. How often have we been 
told that utir products were not as uniform or as high 
in quality as similar products grown in other parts of 
the country. This depreciating comment has been made 
so frequently that many farmers seen) ro have accepted 
it as the truth, when, as a matter of fact, the quality of our 
products, grade for grade, is second to none. The fault 
has been that, our farmers have never learned the im¬ 
portance of producing standard products in quantity, 
grading them and then offering the goods to the trade 
in more attractive condition. 
The wools of this State have from time immemorial 
been thrown on the market iu a crudely ungraded con¬ 
dition. and for that very reason our wools have been 
classed low. Millions of pounds of New York State 
wools have been sold to manufacturers, by commission 
men, ns i )hio wool. Tills could not have been done were 
it not for the fact that our wools are as good, grade for 
grade, as the wools from other sections. 
Now, after two years of co-operative wool grading, 
we arc ut last in a position to advertise and si’ll graded 
New York State wools in quantity. With large quan¬ 
tities of wools in our warehouses, consigned from 36 
different conn lies iu the State, and graded in accord¬ 
ance with the approved practices, we are in position to 
know how, on the average. New York State wools are 
grading. The following table represents the average 
of two years’ clip, and includes consignments from 
practically all of the major wool producing districts in 
the State. 
J 
Average for 1020 and 
1021 clips- 
Grade 
Bounds 
Percentage 
1 Maine . 
5$. 296 
6.1 
Fine clothing. 
16.550 
2.0 
blood, staple. 
300,600 
31.1 
IA blood, clothing. 
16.00$ 
1.5 
blood, combing. 
244.72$ 
25.4 
% blood, clothiug. 
5.613 
0.6 
Vt blood, combing. 
265.621 
27.7 
1 i blood, clothing.. 
2.574 
0.2 
* i 1 flood, low and common. 
14.22$ 
1.4 
Rejects (seedy, burry, cots, etc.) 
39.445 
4.0 
Total. 
966,663 
100.00 
From the above it will readily be seen that over SO 
per cent of our wools fall within the half, three-eighths 
and quarter blood commercial grades of combing wools. 
Undoubtedly the breeds of sheep producing Delaine and 
half blood wools during the past 50 years have given 
way before the so-called mutton breeds. This is per¬ 
haps as ir should be, for the reason that we have no 
range conditions in the State and the mutton breeds 
seem to find most favor among our farmers desiring t» 
keep small flocks within relatively narrow confinements. 
The percentage of reject wools is perhaps unneces¬ 
sarily high, and is accounted for largely because of the 
numerous small flocks that are given the range of the 
farms in the Fall months and naturally pick up consid¬ 
erable quantities of burrs, stick-tights and other clinging 
refuse. So, too, there may be some carelessness in feed¬ 
ing the sheep “over the back” during tlie Winter, or 
permitting the sheep to run at large around straw 
stacks. 
Anyhow, the farmers of this State have learned more 
about wool within the past five years than they had 
learned in the past hundred years, aud all of this knowl¬ 
edge of their own business has been made possible 
through their efforts to study their business co-opera¬ 
tively and thus create better and fairer conditions for 
selliug the products of their labor. 
F. E. ROBERTSON. 
