1913. 
SPHB RURAIi NEW-YORKER 
889 
STROUT’S FIRST GUN BACK-FIRED 
The U. 8. Court analyzes their com¬ 
plaint and refuses to muzzle The R. N.-Y. 
for their benefit. 
Following is the decree of Justice 
Hand in the Strout injunction suit 
against The R. N.-Y. 
The facts in this case are not open to 
much dispute. The plaintiff has a busi¬ 
ness of selling farms for farmers under 
several forms of contracts one of which 
gives it all the purchase price beyond a 
sum fixed by the seller. Another pro¬ 
vides that if the farmer sells the farm to 
any one, he shall pay one per cent of the 
net price fixed by the contract, whether 
the purchaser be recommended by the 
plaintiff or not. There is nothing illegal 
in any of the contracts, provided that the 
farmer understands them and that the 
plaintiff does not misrepresent to the 
buyer its own rights as agent. 
The defendants edit a farmers’ news¬ 
paper which advertises that they will 
protect all subscribers against rogues and 
swindlers and which has for a long time 
published complaints of such subscribers 
against persons with whom they trade. 
For some years before January 18, 1913, 
the defendants had occasionally received 
complaints from subscribers against the 
plaintiff, asserting that they had been 
overreached in the contracts either by 
being obliged to pay money for with¬ 
drawals or by having their farms sold at 
high figures upon the representation to 
the buyer that the plaintiff was getting 
only a commission. The defendants suc¬ 
ceeded. upon the threat of exposing the 
plaintiff, in getting it to return nearly 
Three thousand five hundred dollars to 
certain subscribers, but eventually the 
plaintiff refused any longer to comply 
with the demands of the defendants. 
Thereupon, the defendants began a se¬ 
ries of publications in their newspaper 
which is part of the wrong complained of. 
They lnrve also written letters to agents 
of the plaintiff and to some customers 
which form the other part of the wrong. 
By these communications the plaintiff 
supposes its business to be greatly in¬ 
jured and so asks for an injunction. 
To succeed upon such a theory the 
plaintiff must show at least one of two 
things, first, that the injury results from 
the use of means which are themselves 
independently illegal, or that if no such 
are used, then that the defendants’ pur¬ 
pose is not to gain a profit for himself, 
or to do what he deems right to another, 
but merely to cause injury to the defend¬ 
ant. That is to say, the defendant may 
pursue any plan which he honestly fanc¬ 
ies to be for his own or another’s benefit, 
if he avoids the use of means which as 
such are illegal. Among such means is 
persuasion of another to break an exist¬ 
ing contract. 
Now it is not necessary to say that is 
the law, for the subject is still in a 
formative condition, and it would be hard 
to say in a given jurisdiction just at 
what stage of progress it is. For in¬ 
stance in labor disputes the courts have 
certainly gone far in refusing to recog¬ 
nize the motive of self-interest and in 
insisting that the motive was only that 
of injury, when the actual motive arose 
from a wider solidarity of sympathy than 
they were aware of, but this is not a 
labor dispute, and there will, I think, be 
no question that the plaintiff’s rights in 
the case are at least limited in the way I 
have said. 
As to the defendants’ motive, there is 
no reasonable room for doubt on these 
papers that it is not merely to injure 
the plaintiff. It is perhaps true enough 
that the actual motive is mixed, and 
consists in part of a desire to increase its 
circulation as well as to protect its sub¬ 
scribers. 11 hile editors are not exempt 
from the common motives of other men, 
they may, and in this case they do, enter¬ 
tain a genuine desire to help their read¬ 
ers and to expose such as may practice 
upon their credulity. That is a very ad¬ 
mirable purpose in a newspaper. The 
refusal of the plaintiff’s advertising 
long before this controversy became acute 
is a corroboration of that motive. 
the plaintiff’s relief must therefore de¬ 
pend upon the illegality of some of the 
nieaus used. The only illegality suggest¬ 
ed is that the letters are libellous, or con¬ 
stitute blackmail or extortion. They cer¬ 
tainly do not come within the statutes of 
blackmail and extortion in New York, 
Sections 850-860 of the Penal haw. 
There is nothing relevant in these stat¬ 
utes except those provisions forbidding 
threats of “injury” to the property of 
another, for the defendants have not 
threatened to libel the plaintiff or to 
charge it with a crime. Now the only 
threats contained in the letters were to 
discuss and make public the methods of 
the plaintiff. Just discussion is legiti¬ 
mate if confined to the actual facts. It 
is quite true that the defendants have re¬ 
peatedly expressed themselves as of opin¬ 
ion that the plaintiff's contracts cannot 
be enforced. That conclusion can cer¬ 
tainly only rest upon the belief that the 
farmers have been imposed upon and did 
not understand the contracts, but it is a 
possible view of the facts and might turn 
out to be true. Farmers are often men of 
easy credulity, not used to affairs; they 
form a facile ground for glib agents who 
can obtain an ignorant consent to agree¬ 
ments whose exact nature they do not 
understand. It may of course be that 
the plaintiff’s contracts are not open to 
these criticisms, but it is certain that 
the defendants’ statements go no further 
than an assertion of such a belief. But 
the “injury” threatened must be an “un¬ 
lawful” injury as the extortion statute 
expressly provides and to call it unlaw¬ 
ful in this case is to beg the question. 
It is unlawful only in case the publica¬ 
tion and discussion of the facts is not 
permissible; such it certainly is not, 
Francis v. Flynn, 118 U. S. 385, Kidd v. 
Horry, 28 Fed. R. 773. 
There remains only the question of 
whether the publications are libellous. I 
do not think that it is necessary to go as 
far as Marlin Fire Arms Co. v. Shields, 
171 N. Y. 3S4, and to say that a per¬ 
sistent course of conduct designed to ruin 
a man by repeated libels, uttered with 
knowledge of their falsity, may not be 
enjoined. I hope that a court of equity 
might find means to enjoin a man who 
puts into effect a deliberate purpose of 
destroying another by a series of utter¬ 
ances which the utterer knows to be 
false. Where there is an honest dispute 
no court has ever stopped the mouth of 
one man because it is found that he had 
the wrong side of the argument. The 
utterer takes his chances of the damage 
he may do, but in English speaking coun¬ 
tries he is entitled to have his word at 
least while he believes he is speaking 
truly. In the case at bar I do not say 
that the defendants have uttered any 
libels or that they mean to continue to 
do so. Their conduct is at least open 
to the belief that they are in good faith 
exposing those who are overreaching the 
simple and abusing the confidence of the 
credulous. One may even so publish 
libels, but the libels will not be en¬ 
joined, for truth is too uncertain and 
speech must be allowed utterance. 
The motion is denied. 
WORK OF AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 
[In the National Stockman and 
Farmer Prof. Alva Agee, of the New 
Jersey Agricultural College, takes up a 
statement about agricultural education 
recently made in The R. N.-Y., and 
makes the following comment. We gladly 
print it since we wish to have the policy 
or business efficiency of the agricultural 
colleges fully discussed.] 
I have a somewhat wide acquaintance 
with men controlling agricultural col¬ 
leges and experiment stations and feel 
sure that the statement quoted does in¬ 
justice, and no man can afford to be un¬ 
just. I hold no brief for colleges and 
stations and do not doubt that there are 
moral cowards in their work just as 
there are in all lines of work, but our 
colleges and stations have naturally em¬ 
phasized research because the men were 
led to devote themselves to research. The 
National and State governments rightly 
or wrongly believed that there should be 
study of plants and animals and soils, 
and men having some bent for such work 
were assembled to make the study and to 
teach others what had been learned. 
Certainly it is not fear that causes them 
to advocate the line of work which 
seemed to them important enough to ab¬ 
sorb their best energy. Personally, I am 
interested in a college and station in a 
State that has tremendous corporate in¬ 
fluence. and yet the institution began in 
an early day to urge all the farmers of 
the State to home mix their fertilizers 
and save money. It seeks to serve the 
interest of the most successful farmers’ 
exchange in our Eastern States, which is 
located in the State. It urges the county 
demonstrators to find the cheapest 
sources of lime and fertilizer and the 
smallest freight rates to the farm of the 
consumer. It is trying to get the serv¬ 
ices of practical experts in distribution 
for au entire day, during the farmers’ 
week, devoted to problems of distribution.' 
It has been seeking the services of a man 
whom it believes to be competent to assist 
market gardeners in such organization 
that their goods might be marketed with 
more profit. Primarily its purpose is 
research and the teaching of results, but 
it owes assistance to evei’y man who is 
not getting full returns for his work on 
the land and is rendering that service so 
far as it is able without thought of fear. 
An honest man would not have any other 
course or any other desire. These state¬ 
ments are made in no sense as a defense, 
but as an illustration of the spirit that 
prevails in one institution within my 
knowledge, and a rather wide acquaint¬ 
ance gives assurance that the same spirit 
may be found in most other institutions. 
A STORY OF STRING BEANS. 
The price of string beans caused Dr. 
Samuel T. Earle, Jr., 1431 Linden Ave¬ 
nue, to conduct a little investigation into 
the high cost of living yesterday and the 
results of his labors are interesting. Dr. 
Earle said he was beginning to under¬ 
stand why there had been so much agita¬ 
tion of this question lately and remarked 
that it really was “fierce.” 
A trucker brought 10 bushels of string 
beans to town yesterday to sell. He fig¬ 
ured out before the sale that it had cost 
him 15 cents a bushel to plant, cultivate 
and harvest the crop. With this in mind 
he began to get estimates of what he was 
going to get for the load and was some¬ 
what sad when the middleman agreed to 
pay 30 cents a bushel and no moi*e. 
Mrs. Eai’le was then requested to find 
the market quotations for the day and 
she learned that beans were selling at 
retail for 15 cents a quarter peck. “Now, 
why the difference?” was Dr. Earle ques¬ 
tion. Incidentally the farmer let it be 
known that he would allow the remainder 
of the crop on his farm to rot before be 
will bring it to town to receive such 
small px-ices. 
The above from the Baltimore Sun 
shows that the grower’s dollar is often a 
good deal less than the 35 cents. And if 
that grower had stopped his wagon 
alongside the mai-ket house and gone to 
selling his beans to consumers for half 
the money they were asking in the stalls, 
the police would have been after him 
quickly for selling without peddler’s 
license. The city ordinances protect the 
middleman and keep the consumer and 
pi-oducer apart. w. f. massey. 
R. N.-Y.—This man woxild have been 
legally justified in selling his own pro- 
duce withoxxt a license. If he bought and 
sold again he could not do so, but a man 
has the right to sell his own produce any¬ 
where provided he does not “obstruct 
traffic.” Probably the police would have 
had him on some other charge. 
RURAL ORGANIZATION SERVICE. 
The National Department of Agricul¬ 
ture is developing a rural oi’ganization 
service. The object of this service will 
bring together and encourage all local 
organizations that are interested in mar¬ 
keting, either buying or selling supplies, 
or in grading or standardizing prodxicts. 
In a larger way this service will be what 
the new department in New Yoi'k is also 
endeavoring to accomplish. Naturally 
the first thing to do is to get on the track 
of all organizations of this character so 
as to bring them together for service. 
Thei’e are throughout the country tens 
of thousands of such organizations con¬ 
taining people who want to buy to ad¬ 
vantage. There are other organizations 
which ax’e able to sell the very goods 
which the others desire. Any one can see 
the advantage of bringing these parties 
together for country wide trade. Thus 
far the great ti-ouble in such direct deal¬ 
ing has been high freight rates, or the 
opposition of the railroads, and also a 
feeling of nxutxxal distrust on the part of 
buyer and seller. These things will be 
overcome in time through a great coun¬ 
try-wide organization, which will give 
stability to the business, and also enable 
the people to bring pressure to bear for 
transportation reform. The most neces- 
sary thing at first is to get together. In 
New York State this can be done by ad¬ 
dressing Marc W. Cole at Albany, N. Y. 
A larger national organization is in cou- 
tx-ol of Prof. T. N. Carver at the Na¬ 
tional Department of Agriculture, Wash- 
ixigton. Prof. Carver has made a long 
study of these matters. He is the author 
of “Principles of Rural Economics,” the 
best book dealing with the business side 
of farm life, and the histox-y of the busi¬ 
ness, that has yet been written. 
Prime beef cattle, 87 cwt.; veal, $9; 
hogs. $S; butter, 22; eggs. 22; straw¬ 
berries, 10 cents a quart. We pay the 
following prices for grain and feed. Corn 
68 cents a bushel; oats, 50; wheat, 
81.10; wheat bran. $1.20 cwt.; white 
middlings, $1.30; cornmeal, $1.35. 
Atlantic, Pa. r. t. e. 
Horses, $125 to $175; cows, $40 to 
$60; pigs. $6 per pair, sliotes. six cents 
pound. This section does not raise 
small or large fruit, nor truck; what 
little fruit was here was ruined by the 
frost. Corn, 65; oats, 40; hay, $14 this 
Spring, none to be had now, and no crop 
to cut. Butter, 25; eggs, IS; fowls, ll; 
roosters. 13, broilers, 20. T. w. H. 
Abingdon. Md. 
CROPS 
GOVERNMENT CROP REPORT. 
The condition July 1, with estimated 
production was: 
Winter Wheat—Condition, 81.6 per 
cent of a normal. Indicated yield, 15.6 
bushels per acre. Estimated total pro¬ 
duction, 483.000,000 bushels. 
Spring Wheat—Condition, 73.8; yield, 
11.7. Production, 218,000,000. 
All Wheat—-Condition, 78.6; yield 
14.1. Production. 701,000,000 bushels, 
compared^ with 730.267.000 bushels last 
year. Wheat remaining on farms, 35,- 
515,000 bushels. 
Corn—Acreage, 106.884,000 ; condition, 
86.9; yield, 27.8; production, 2,971,- 
000,000. 
Oats-—Condition, 76.3; yield, 26.9; 
production, 1,031,000,000. 
Bai-ley—Condition, 76.6; yield, 22.8; 
production, 165.000,000. 
Rye—Condition, 88.6; yield, 16.1. 
Potatoes—Acreage, 3,685,000; condi¬ 
tion, 86.2; yield, 93.1; production, 
343,000,000. 
Tobacco—Acreage, 1,144.350; condi¬ 
tion, 82.8 ; yield, 809.0 ; production, 926,- 
000,000 pounds. 
Flax—Acreage, 2,425,000; condition, 
S2.0; yield, 8.7; production, 21,000,000. 
Rice—Acreage. 824,100; condition, 
S8.4; yield, 33; production. 27,000,000. 
Hay—Condition, 80.5; yield, 1.33 tons. 
Apples—Condition, 59.4. 
GOVERNMENT COTTON REPORT. 
The Bureau of Statistics estimates 
that the area of cotton in cultivation this 
year in the United States is about 35,- 
622,000 acres, as compared with 34,766,- 
000 acres, the aci-eage in cultivation a 
year ago, being an incx-ease of 856,000 
acres, or 2.5 per cent. The condition of 
the growing crop on June 25, was 81.8 
per cent of normal, as compared with 
79.1 on May 25. 1913, 80.4 on June 25. 
1912, and 80.2. the aveimge condition for 
the past ten yeai’s on June 25. 
Details by States follow: 
States. 
Virginia 
North Of 
South Cj 
Texas ... 
Arkansas 
Tennessee 
United 
Area, 1913. 
ellminary estimate. 
Condition, 
Per cent. 
June 
June 
compared 
25. 
25, 
with 1912. 
Acres. 
1913. 
1912. 
50,000 
81 
87 
...100 
1,500.000 
70 
S3 
... 100 
2,716,000 
73 
79 
. . . 99 
5,330,000 
74 
' > 
... 94 
230,000 
85 
7l» 
3.804.000 
79 
i » 
... 102 
3,045,000 
82 
74 
. .. 120 
1,100,000 
81 
74 
... 103 
11,732,000 
80 
8.0 
... 103 
2,117.000 
80 
77 
... 103 
S23.000 
87 
7l> 
. .. 100 
113,000 
88 
75 
... 107 
2,910,000 
89 
82 
... 155 
14,000 
95 
98 
... 102.5 
35.622,000 
81.8 
80.4 
I am sxirpi’ised at the price some peo¬ 
ple pay for crushed limestone. It can be 
gotten f. o. b. stations in Southern Illi¬ 
nois for from $1.10 to $1.25 per ton. It 
is crushed at the penitentiary. I think 
private dealers not much higher. Rail¬ 
roads made a low rate. 
Dry here; corn, 65 cents wholesale; 
hay, short; it will be high; wheat good, 
82.cents; eggs, 16 cents in trade; butter, 
dairy, 25, creamery. 35 cents. Pastures 
dried up. Land $50 to $125 per acre. 
Eldoi’ado, Ill. c. o. D. 
We are getting for our grains delivered 
at elevator as follows: Wheat, about 
95; oats. 40; corn sells out of the ele¬ 
vator for 65 to 70. Beans about $1.75, 
five to seven cents off for each pound 
pick. Cattle for meat from seven to eight 
cents pound, according to quality. Milch 
cows. $40 to $100 at axxetion sales; $80 
is about all a drover will pay for the 
best. Hogs, eight cents delivered at 
stock yard. Sheep, sold some dry ones 
for four cents. Butter. 25 to 2S; eggs, 
17 to 18. Milk at powdered milk factory 
at pi’esent $1.25 per 100 pounds, testing 
three per cent or over. Most of the 
cheese is hired made and sold by the 
pound and the proceeds divided each 
month. Amount per 100 pounds milk 
varies according to price received for 
cheese. . Not much gardening done right 
here. Strawberries are selling for about 
10 cents out of store at present, will be 
lower if it rains; not xxxuch fruit sold 
around here, a few apples in the Fall. 
Burton, Mich. a. j. l. 
A rural life conference will be held at 
the Massachusetts Agricultural College, 
Amherst, July 29-August 1. The confex-- 
euce is to be divided into sections as fol¬ 
lows : Rui;al church section, rural edu¬ 
cation section, rural library work sec¬ 
tion. rural sanitation section, county 
work of the Y. M. C. A. section, women’s 
work in rural communities section, town 
administration section, and rural play 
and recreation section. It is planned to 
have each section hold a separate meet¬ 
ing in the forenoon when technical ques¬ 
tions of interest to that section will be 
discussed. In the afternoon a round ta¬ 
ble discussion for sill sections will be held, 
and each evening some speaker px*ominent 
in social, educational or religious work 
will give an address. As far as permis¬ 
sible all meetings will be held in the open 
air. Methods of teaching ox-ganized play 
will be demonstrated each afternoon on 
the drill grounds. Information and de¬ 
tails concerning each section, or bulle¬ 
tins giving detailed information regarding 
the whole conference may be obtained 
by writing Professor W. D. Hurd, di¬ 
rector of the Extension Service, Amherst, 
Mass. 
