1396 
Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Novem 25, 1922 
The Rural New-Yorker 
ME BVSISES8 PARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home* 
Established )$&0 
Pnhllshrd weekly by tbe Rnral Pablluhtoit Oumpiuy, 3S« W«i *OtU Street.Jien kork 
Herbert W. CotbluewoOD, Pmnlcnt andI Editor 
Jon> J. DnxoK. Treasurer an<l General Manager. _ 
Wm F. Dillon* Secretary. Nrs. E. T. Royle. Associate Editor. 
L H. MrKrn v, Circulation Manager. _ 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreieu countries in the Universal Postal t nion, Remit in money 
order, express order, persons I check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office a c Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, tt.oo per agate line—i words. References required for 
advertisers unkno" n to us ; and carli must accompany transient orders. 
•■A SQUARE DEAL" 
We behove that every advertisement in this paper is hacked by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. Rut to make doubly Bure. we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting nuv deliberate swindle!' m espon- 
sibii idvertise.i-or misleading advertisements m our cohmina. and any 
smdi ‘•wituller will be publicly exposed. We nro also often ''alb d upon 
to adjust dlrtercnccf. or mistake* between our subscribers «"d liomBt, 
restamhible houses w hether advertisers or not. tt e wUBllgly tiso our good 
Ofhce.' to this end. but MUCl. cases should not be confused With .UshoncM, 
tratlwlclions. W * prdtect subscriber* against regues, but we will not be 
rest.slide lor the debt- of hone-t bankrupt!, sanctioned by the conn*. 
Noil,-. „f the oomrlaint must b< sent to us within one month of the tinieot 
the transaction, and to Identify it. you should mention Tin: KrnvL NEW- 
Yohkkk when writing the advertiser, 
1 notice what you say about school punishment on 
page 17."2. You'seem to think that children do not 
always give truthful reports about school matters, _ 1 
wish to say that my own children are quite above giving 
a wrong report. Thev have been taught at home to be 
accurate, and I alwa'ys insist that their side of any 
school difficulty is correct. MRS. J. B. 0. 
W ELL, you must luivo very superior children, 
but you are training them for future trouble. 
We consider that a public school is a small republic, 
with euougli of discipline to bold it firmly together. 
We believe in hiring a good teacher, and if she 
proves capable, give her full authority and hac-k 
her to the limit. We do not attempt to listen to 
petty complaints or gossip. Our children must take 
their part with the rest. If any serious complaint 
is made we do not of necessity take the child’s word 
for it. but we get the whole story before acting. 
We have sent nearly SO children to school from our 
house, and every one of these youngsters has shown 
more or less prejudice in describing events. You 
may take half a dozen adults of mature mind, and 
let them observe some simple occurrence in which 
they are personally interested. It is doubtful if 
any two of them can fully agree in a statement of 
fact and opinion. And children a re far more likely 
to let their feelings color their report. Our exper¬ 
ience is that where one school is injured by injus¬ 
tice to any particular pupil a dozen are hurt by un- 
called-for * nagging and fault-finding. As for bring¬ 
ing cliildreu up to believe they are always right, 
and cannot be wrong, we can hardly imagine any 
worse start to give a youngster. 
♦ 
tv looks to me like we are facing a great over-pro¬ 
duction of milk, and I eau see little profit iu the future. 
Most farmers keep too many cows. .*»• s - . 
A good percentage of the tanners arc placing tli i 
herds under State and Federal supervision and will 
average to lose about 50 per cent of their herds. .They 
are raising no calves to take the place of these animals 
and it, look* like a scarcity of cows and milk in two 
nr three years. J - c - 
B OTH of these men live in New York State, and 
both are dairymen, sending whole milk to the 
,<ity. One. as we see, is pessimistic, and can sec 
little, if any chance for a belter market.. It would 
be quite easy to find evidence to support bis views. 
Milk is low. compared with cost of production. The 
distributors take far more than tlieir share for the 
service they give, ami there seems to be no way at 
present worked out to prevent this. There is too 
much milk for present methods of distribution, 
though there never can be too much milk if all could 
have what is needed at a fair price. All these things 
are true, yet we think “J. G. It.’* comes nearer the 
fact. Many or most dairymen are keeping too many 
cows; that is, there are too many poor or diseased 
,-attle in our herds. We would all he better off 
if we had fewer and better cows. This idea is grow¬ 
ing. and farmers are coming to understand it. We 
think it is true that the poor and the diseased cows 
are being culled out. and our reports certainly show 
that fewer heifer calves are being raised. In the 
meantime the demand for milk, butter, ice erearn and 
other dairy products is sure to increase. There are 
millions now who do not have half of what they 
need. Ail this will, we believe, make a new demand 
for good cattle in the near future. Every few years 
there comes a very favorable time for buying good 
stock for breeding purposes. These are tinies when 
the majority lose a little of their courage, and see 
no hope in the future. They quit partly or entirely, 
and the result always is that within a few years 
there is a scarcity of good stock and prices rise. 
History is sure to repeat itself in this, and we be¬ 
lieve that right now is a good time to invest in 
good stock and be prepared to sell high-class cows in 
the near future. 
O NE of our readers tells us that lie bought, a 
farm and made a bargain for land, stock and 
tools. When they came to settle, the former farm 
owner said: 
“You need a full outfit in order to run this farm 
right, and one of the most useful things is a year's 
subscription to The Rural New-Yorker. You must 
have that!” 
Our friend took this advice seriously, and now 
he writes: 
“This man was just right. Count on me for a life 
subscription.” 
There never was a paper in the world with warmer 
personal friends—or more of them. 
* 
W HERE are the farm implements right now7 
Are they under the .shed with a coat of paint 
on tile wooden parts and a smear of fat over the 
metal? There is no middleman or monopolist in all 
this long line of handlers or promoters that can do 
more to boost the machinery trust than plain old 
frost, snow and rain. The little picture shows a 
cultivator housed under a wire fence, where it has 
reposed since the last job at cultivating. 
With proper care such a cultivator might be good 
for several years more. As it is. next Spring it will 
be so rusty and broken that no man can do a good 
job with it. The owner will lie obliged to buy a new 
one. or try to get through the year with less than 
half a. tool. There are hundreds of cultivators, 
plows, harrows, and even mowing machines and 
reapers, out in the field, left, where they were last 
used. By January they will look worse than the 
tool shown in this picture. Come, let’s not wait, 
until they are covered with snow and rust. Get out 
before the ground freezes and “gather them in.” 
* 
T HE North Dakota election may give us an idea 
of what will happen when the political group 
is substituted for the party. In that State the Re¬ 
publican party, or its machinery, was captured by 
the Non-Partisan League, which used it to elect 
State candidates. Lynn Frazier was thus elected 
and re-elected Governor. In that State it is pos¬ 
sible to demand what is known ns a “recall.” That 
means a new election to decide whether the persons 
in office shall remain or be removed. The "recall” 
was demanded against Governor Frazier, and while 
his friends still controlled the party machinery, the 
“conservatives” of all parties lined up against him. 
We are told that On election day a blizzard prevented 
many farmers from voting, but be that as it may. 
Frazier was "recalled,” and thus forced to quit the 
office. In States where a party is controlled by 
politicians, that would end the career of any man. 
but North Dakota has passed to "group” voting; 
that is. the "conservatives” line up against the 
radicals without regard to the-old party lines. The 
battle is fought under the old party names, but that 
is about, all they have to do with it. Frazier, the 
"recalled” Governor, was nominated by tlie Repub¬ 
licans. Imt it was about like the hide of the old 
Republican elephant with a half a dozen gasoline 
engines working inside. And, strange as it may 
seem, Frazier, once recalled by the people as Gov¬ 
ernor, was elected by ilie same people as Senator! 
Now, let us suppose for a moment that this form of 
group voting could be developed in New York 
State. Suppose the farmers obtained control of the 
machinery of the Republican party (as they might 
readily do) and put up a ticket to suit them. Would 
members of the party in town and city join such a 
group? Are there any men in New York State who 
have the qualities which fit them for leadership in 
such a movement? 
* 
O NE of the most striking books of recent years is 
“The Life and Letters of Franklin K. Lane.” 
Mr. Lane, as a member of President Wilson’s Cabi¬ 
net, knew much of the secret history of events be¬ 
fore and during the Great War. One of the most 
brilliant men ever in American public life. Mr. X.ane 
was "a horn letter-writer,” and now, after his death, 
some of his private letters give u> a remarkable 
glimpse behind the scenes where wires are pulled 
and puppets are worked iu preparing a stage play 
for the people. There is one brief extract from the 
Dane philosophy so true that it ought to be pasted 
in the hat of every American voter: 
I have found that generalizations do not get any¬ 
where. The strength of any proposition lies in its 
application. The railroads and the trust* and the pack¬ 
ers and all the others who are violating the statutes are 
indifferent as to how big the law is and upon what 
sound principles it is based, provided they have a lot 
of speeehmakers to enforce the law. They don’t care 
what thi' Jaw is ; their only concern is a* to its enforce¬ 
ment.. 
There yon have the truest statement of the reasons 
for any failure of a republican form of government. 
There are millions of us who every now and then 
"get mad” with discontent at general conditions and 
vote some man or party out of power. We force 
the Congress or the Legislature to pass some new 
law and make sure there "are teeth in it.” Then 
we forget it, walk away anil take up our business or 
pleasure as before. Enforcement fall* into the hands 
of "speeehmakers,” and that is the end of it. Teeth 
in a law are of little value unless the power of public 
opinion can be exerted to force the jaws together. 
That is the only way a law can’hire. A politician 
can safely hang his hat on the teeth unless public 
opinion, work the jaws! A law unenforced is worse 
than no law at all if it breed contempt for every 
other law. It all comes back to the old slogan. If 
we are to get anywhere in public reform, we must 
do it ourselves. 
* 
W E saw a man the other day who gave a good 
illustration of how not to do it Clearly in 
the wrong, lie refused to admit the rights of others, 
but roared and stamped like a petulant boy because 
be could not have his own way. lli* idea seemed to 
be that he could gain an unjust advantage by acting 
in tliis way with people who would not meet him at 
that sort of behavior. It did not work. He ran 
upon quiet firmness which matched his bluff and 
arrogance and boat him down. IVlion it was all 
over one gray-haired man asked: 
“What, is the matter with him? Doesn’t he know 
that in modern business all such foolish bluff and 
abuse will hurt him more than it can help?” 
“Of course he knows it, but he was brought up 
wrong. He wasn't spanked enough when he was 
young!" 
It was a lioluely expression, but there is much 
truth in the idea. A little child has no powers of 
reasoning. When he is dissatisfied he is apt to snarl 
or “throw a tantrum,” and if this is permitted it will 
become a habit with the little fellow—a habit that 
will chase him like an evil spirit all through life. 
Or it may be that father or mother have this un¬ 
checked habit of demanding their own way, without 
regard to the rights of others, and snarling when 
such right is denied them. Sooner or later they must 
run against some power mightier than their own, 
and the shock will remain with them for life. This 
country is spending vast sums of money on educa¬ 
tion. AVe glory in our fine schoolhouse* and equip¬ 
ment. The future is safe, we say, so long as our 
children can be educated. The truth is, however, 
that much of this education will be wasted unless 
men and women, in tlieir own homes, can fix the 
habit of self-control in tbeit* children. No matter 
how rich a man may be, the bt'sr thing (or the 
worst ) thing he can leave the world will he the char¬ 
acter of the children who follow him. This charac¬ 
ter is determined largely by habit, and habit is 
decided for the child during bis first years. 
Brevities 
The candid candidate is usually canned. 
Reports are that the consumption of candy iu Ger¬ 
many has greatly increased. It is used as a food sub¬ 
stitute. 
Pennsylvania chicken thieves have developed a new 
scheme The.\ are said to use sulphui candies t" 
stupefy the chickens. 
Rki i ntly Prof. Massey asked if there are any crows 
left in the North. We have very few of them, lmt they 
are still reported in great numbers further North. 
An alien who lias lived in this country for several 
years may he naturalized even though he cannot read 
and write the English language. 
A New A'okk court 1ms ruled that a woman may 
will her children or decide l>y will who is to bring them 
up. In the ease decided, the mother stated in her will 
that she desired a neighbor to bring up her little girls. 
The grandmother fried to obtain possession of these 
children, but the court upheld the will. 
The uld-fashinned cradle is out of date now. The 
modern nurse says that the baby never should be rocked 
or carried about at night. It destroy* character, they 
say. What fearful characters some of us who slept 
in cradles must have. No rocking for baby! It: might 
be called a barred rock for the chick. 
