1158 
August 2, 1019 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
The crop of political candidates prom¬ 
ises to be heavy this year. They are 
sprouting up all over, especially among 
the Republicans. As it happens, I know 
. a number of these patriots who are so 
willing to help save their country, and 
they talk with me frankly. Most of them 
seem to think their party is going back 
next year for as long a stay as it had 
after Bryan was first defeated. Thus 
many an old warhorse and political party 
hack is coming out of the political grave¬ 
yard and grooming for a race. You might 
think these men would have had dreams 
of independent or progressive ideas during 
their slumber, but I can find little evi¬ 
dence of it. Their chief argument is that 
the party must be harmonized at any cost 
so as to carry next year’s election. That 
is what I make out of it, and it looks to 
me like one of the most dangerous situa¬ 
tions agriculture has met. 
For it is clear that these politicians are 
expecting to use the farm vote to win! 
They are going to play up the daylight- 
saving law, prohibition, a few things of 
like nature, and use them to obscure much 
more vital issues which they are afraid 
to tackle except with their mouth. For 
instance, the fearful extortion of the va¬ 
rious middlemen and handlers. You will 
see many planks and “platforms” in 
which the “profiteers” are denounced. If 
words could burn the profiteers would 
surely be in ashes. But both the poli¬ 
ticians and the “profiteers” know that no 
serious remedy will be worked out until 
they both realize that the farmers and 
country people are at last angry and de¬ 
termined enough to put the principles of 
their business far above any party ticket. 
I know what the politicians think, be- 
cause'they frankly tell me. They say the 
farmers are incapable by nature and habit 
of .standing together politically or back¬ 
ing a straight agricultural issue. Ask 
them about North Dakota and other far 
Western States and they merely say 
anarchists, Bolsheviks and .similar 
things. Evidently that is what a farmer 
is to get if he votes as he thinks. Their 
scheme is as clear as a bell to anyone 
who has half an eye. Whenever the farm¬ 
ers put up as a candidate a man because 
he is a trusted farmer and will demand 
that straight agricultural issues come 
first, the politicians will beat him if they 
possibly can. They will rave and roar 
about daylight-saving and similar thiugs 
until people think they are the essential 
issues. Then they can afford to ignore 
the really vital things which we should 
be working out. The politicians of both 
parties will not (if they can possibly pre¬ 
vent it f permit any candidate to be se¬ 
lected hern use he is a Ini sled farther. 
They will not permit any clean, straight 
agricultural issue unless it is in some 
way tied up with party polities. 
That is the old spirit of politics. It is 
the reason why the farmers of this coun¬ 
try have never yet had a chance to vote 
straight on any great agricultural issue. 
Before it ever got to them that issue was 
always mixed up with other things, many 
of them positively harmful to farmers in 
their tendencies. Yet so skilfully had 
the politicians tied these riders <»u the 
things which affected the farmers that 
they could not be separated. Thus there 
is hardly a farmer in the country who has 
not at one time or another given his sup¬ 
port to things which he knew were not 
right. lie felt that he had to do it be¬ 
cause the politician had “loaded” his 
ticket so skilfully that he had to support 
it. Of course there is only one remedy 
for this, and that is for the farmers in an 
agricultural community to get together, 
nominate a farmer who can be trusted, 
and make him force true farm issues to 
the front. The politicians will fight that 
plan to the death, and they reason that 
farmers will never hang together. We 
had a case of two men running in a pri¬ 
mary for nomination. No doubt nine out 
of 10 of the voters thought it was a clear- 
cut fight between two able men—on their 
character and ability. In truth, one man 
had been retained by a big railroad cor¬ 
poration. while the other worked for a 
rival company. It was simply a contest 
between corporations, as is usually the 
case. 
The chief business of politics is trad¬ 
ing. I think farming and the rights of 
agriculture have provided more “boot” in 
political trades than anything else under 
the sun. “Legislation," as I have seen 
some of it behind the scenes, always 
makes me think of the Yankee farmer in 
our old town who bought the dress for his 
wife. This woman’s ambition was to own 
a black dress. She saved up $8 and had 
eggs enough to bring $2 more. For $10 
she could get the material at the store 
and then have the dress made. Her hus¬ 
band was going to town, and he offered to 
buy the dress for her. 
“I can trade with Jim Dimon.” he said, 
“and get a lot more out of him than you 
can.” 
Now this woman knew her husband was 
a good horse trader, and she foolishly 
made him her agent. 8o John started off 
with the money and the eggs, while Jane 
waited at home with pleasant anticipa¬ 
tions. 
sir s': $ si: 
John drove a bay mare that he knew 
was windbroken, though lie had her doc¬ 
tored up. The storekeeper had a gray 
horse with a spavin, and the two men got 
together for a trade. Both wanted “boot.” 
Finally the storekeeper said: 
“Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll throw in 
a cultivator and this rake with the horse, 
and you let me have your mare and $8.” 
“No, I can’t do that, because the $8 be¬ 
longs to the woman. It’s to buy her 
dress. Knock off the cultivator and put 
in the dress and groceries and I’ll trade.” 
“All right; put up your mare, the $8, 
and throw in the eggs, and I’ll give you 
my horse and rake and add a drees for 
the woman.” 
“A blarlc. dress?” 
“Yes, Fll add a black dress.” 
"I’ll throw in the eggs if you will put 
u]) a pound of tobacco, a pound of coffee 
and three pounds of sugar.” 
“All right, and I’ll throw in two pounds 
of Scotch taffy for the woman !” 
So John unhitched the bay mare, put 
the gray horse in the shafts, paid the $8, 
and the storekeeper went in to wrap up 
the goods. 
“Don’t forget that black dress. Jim!” 
"No. I said I’d add a black dress, and 
I’ll do it. right. It’s a beauty. You get 
that rake while I’m inside.” 
By the time John got. the rake loaded 
.Tim had his package made up, and John 
drove proudly home. 
.v a 
V V V V 
Jane was waiting for him at the gate 
with the children around. 
“Look at this gray horse,” said John. 
“I don’t care anything about him— 
where’s my dress?” 
“Right in this bundle. Take it right 
in and open it.” 
Jane could hardly wait until she got 
inside, and the children all gathered 
around to see the new dress. She opened 
the package. There was the tobacco, the 
coffee, sugar and taffy, and a small 
pamphlet printed in black ink. It was an 
address by Congressman Sawyer on “The 
Beauties of the Farm Home.” Was it: 
not true that Jim Dimon said he would 
add a dress? Is an address an added 
dress or not? Answer me that! 
***** 
Jane’s remarks to her husband would 
not look well beside the polite literature 
which we like to print in Tiie R. N.-Y. 
It did not add to the beauty of that par¬ 
ticular farm home, but it did add to its 
utility. I have a great notion to print 
just what f«ho said, as the same thing 
ought to be put in italics and repeated to 
several hundred politicians who have sim¬ 
ply traded and gambled with your rights 
and mine. For that is just what 00 per 
cent of our so-called representatives have 
been doing. They will get to Albany or 
Trenton or Washington, or where the 
place is. and find men from other parts 
who have little jobs to put through, and 
they swap and dicker just as Jim and 
John did. And the farmers who made 
John possible get just about as much out 
of the trading as the woman did. They 
add a dress and a few pounds of taffy. 
As for the real essential things which 
farming needs, thev are lost out in the 
trading. This is the history of many 
years’ of practical trading. The farmers 
furnish the power, just as Jane fur¬ 
nished the money. Roth get the address 
and the taffy. Jane at least saw the 
only remedy: 
“Hereafter I trust no horse trader. I 
s lie ad mi/ own money and do my own 
trading .” 
No more middlemen for her, and farm¬ 
ers have got to apply the same remedy. 
They hare got to do it themselres. As 
I see it. they have got to get right into 
the primary and dominate their party by 
nominating capable farmers as candi¬ 
dates. I do not mean political farmers, 
who are after a job,, but sound and true 
men, who can think clearly and who can 
force real agricultural issues to the front. 
It will be a hard job, as I know, but it 
can be done, and you can take it from me 
that agriculture will never receive tin* 
consideration that is due her until we get 
right out and dominate the situation. 
(lot to do it ourselves! That’s all there 
is to it. I know many a man and wom¬ 
an who would like nothing better than 
to have the chance now offered farmers 
in Wayne Do.. N. Y.. where Fred W. 
Cornwall will be nominated for the Leg¬ 
islature because lie is a sound, clean man 
—and a farmer. It would be a great 
privilege for most of us to vote in that 
contest, anil what a great test it will be 
for these Wayne County farmers! 
H. W. C. 
The Great Task of Construction 
With the coming of peace the Bell 
System faced an enormous con¬ 
struction program. Conditions 
arising from war resulted in the 
wiping out of the reserve equip¬ 
ment normally maintained, and 
necessary to give prompt connec¬ 
tion to new subscribers. The re¬ 
lease of industry and accumulated 
growth of population now makes 
telephone demands almost over¬ 
whelming. 
Telephone construction, includ¬ 
ing buildings, switchboards, con¬ 
duits, cables and toll lines, must, 
from its inherent nature, be under¬ 
taken in large units. A metropol¬ 
itan switchboard, with its tens of 
thousands of parts, may require 
from two to three years to con¬ 
struct and install. 
Only great extension can meet the 
present excess burden of traffic and 
provide for future requirements. 
Extension which cares for imme¬ 
diate demand, only, is uneconom¬ 
ical and calls for continuous work 
of such a character as to be fre¬ 
quently detrimental to the service. 
During the war the Bell System 
devoted all its margin to the needs 
of the Government. The great 
task of getting back to normal pre- 
w’ar excellence of operation re¬ 
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economic operating margin capa¬ 
ble of taking care of a largergrowth 
than has ever before confronted 
the Bell System. 
Construction is being pushed to the 
limit of men and materials; while 
every effort is being made to pro¬ 
vide the best, present service. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
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