•Pm RURAL NBW.YORKER 
161 ?! 
Gov. Smith and. 
N. Y. Agricultural Dept. 
THE GOVERNOR’S POWER.—Governor Smith 
has been reported by the city papers as saying in a 
speech at a recent political meeting in New Y-r'; 
City: 
“Now, this talk about ‘Wkv don’t the Governor do 
this or that, with regard to the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture?’ The reason is that the Governor is without the 
power to do it by the law of this State. The only thing 
I can do to the Council of Farms and Markets or any 
of its related bureaus is to sign the appropriation bill 
providing for their salary and expenses, and that in¬ 
strument was so drawn that I was obliged to stand for 
some of the things that were in it that I did not think 
ought to be in it, and I could not take them out without 
crippling important bureaus of th-- department.” 
This was said in reply to continuous criticisms in 
some of the city daily papers, 
THE PRESENT SITUATION.— The R. N.-Y. 
cares nothing about the controversy between the city 
papers and the Governor, politically or otherwise. 
It is deeply concerned about the situation in the 
Agricultural Department of the State. It believes 
that the one efficient measure of reform is plain, 
frank publicity. The things that destroy the effi¬ 
ciency of the department and develop the scandals 
that come to light from time to time never could 
happen, if we had a policy of full publicity of events 
from week to week. When telling the truth hurts 
individuals we do it with reluctance because it is 
the system, not the individuals, that is at fault, but 
publicity is the only hope we sec for the agricultural 
situation at Albany. 
CAMPAIGN STATEMF_>TS.—In his campaign 
literature and speeches just a year ago Governor 
Smith showed that he was familiar with the agri¬ 
cultural law and the conditions in the department. 
In effect he said: Farmers were without adequate 
representation in the Farms and Markets Council, 
only two of which gave their occupations as farmers; 
that politics had taken the place of the Agricultural 
Department: that the funds of the department were 
used to pay political debts; that barbers and cigar- 
makers and labor agitators had been appointed as 
farm specialists; that men were on the pay-rolls 
drawing big salaries who never went near the 
offices: that other officers were on duty only two 
or three days a week; that some employees had 
other jobs and worked for the department only when 
the other work ran out: and that the heads of the 
two main divisions were incompetent. 
PROMISED REFORMS.—If elected he promised 
that the Department of Agriculture would be made 
an active and efficient part of his administration; 
that agricultural and markets departments would be 
each placed under the head of a single commissioner; 
and that he would see to it that the departments 
would both be restored to the farmers of the State. 
He said plainly that he would do these thiugs. 
Further on in his recent speech the Governor is 
quoted as paying his respects to a city editor as 
follows: 
“I think it is a mean man. I think it is a particularly 
low type of man. that will lead anybody to believe that 
there is something that can be doue for them that is 
impossible.” 
EXPLANATION NEEDED.—In view of the record 
the Governor’s position would seem to need explana¬ 
tion. He certainly led farmers to believe that some¬ 
thing could be done that he now says is impossible. 
And his condemnation of the type of man who does 
that is unqualified. 
POLITICAL PATRONAGE.—Some men believe 
•that the Governor was sincere when he made the 
promises before election; and that notwithstanding 
the law a Governor in possession of the facts could 
find a way to make good on the promises, if he had 
the purpose to do so. The Governor got from a 
hostile Legislature complete control of the Public 
Service Commission in New York City, with its big 
political patronage, for his organization. The city 
papers said he got it at a “give and take” conference 
with leaders in the Legislature. Later the same day 
he proposed to leave the Agricultural Department 
in the state of chaos in which he found it. and in 
which he so graphically described it. It looked 
then like a “deal” in which Tammany got the pat¬ 
ronage of the city department and the up-State 
machine got the patronage of the Agricultural De¬ 
partment. If not. what were the pawns in the “give 
and take” conference that preceded the announce¬ 
ment of the agricultural Hop? 
Troub! 3 TYom Impure Milk 
Sixty-six sample - of bottled milk ana six samples 
of loose mint recently tested in New York show that 
much of the A grade milk is inferior in sauitary 
conditions to grade B milk of both Borden’s and 
Sheffield Farms. The chemists found samples of 
grade A that belonged in grade C. The chemists 
said the blame for the poor condition of the milk was 
due to carelessness in pasteurization, and asserted 
that the apparatus for handling pasteurized milk is 
not as clean as it. should be. They found the colon 
bacillus, which should not appear in pasteurized 
milk, was present in many cases in profusion. This 
put the blame squarely up to the dealers. 
Dairymen who remember the 1916 milk fight will 
recall the advertisements and interviews published 
by the dealers, in which they tried to make it appear 
that the big dealer was necessary to the city con¬ 
sumer in order to insure clean milk. They claimed 
that if the farmers sold milk direct in the city it 
would not be sanitary. The Department of Foods 
and Markets proved at the time that dealers were 
selling milk low in fat tests, and in some cases with¬ 
out pasteurizing at all, and in other cases pasteur¬ 
ized under unsanitary conditions. The department 
also showed that milk coming direct from farm 
creameries was superior both as to fat tests and 
sanitary conditions. 
What folly it is to produce clean, wholesome milk, 
and then permit milk dealers to let it spoil and 
charge consumers from 10 to 12 cents a quart for 
manipulation and delivery. It was worthy of note 
that the smaller concerns showed better conditions 
in this test than the big ones, and the loose milk 
that came direct from the creameries to the stores 
and sold out of the cans was more satisfactory than 
the bottled grade A milk. There is little room for 
doubt that if nearby milk came straight from the 
farms, as it used to do. and was delivered promptly 
it would be more satisfactory yet. However this 
may be, it is more the concern of producers to 
furnish pure, clean milk to their consumers than it 
can be to dealers. The sale of milk through stores 
in either bottles or cans is the logical way to sell 
milk. The smaller dealers are beginning to admit 
it, and the only thing that prevents it is selfishness. 
But it is coming. 
Agriculture in the League of Nations 
A memorandum on agriculture was presented to 
the Peace Conference by Dr. K. L. Butterfield of the 
Massachusetts Agricultural College. This document 
was considered by all the world powers brought 
together to draw up terms of permanent peace. This 
treatise on agriculture contained 10 articles. Three 
of the more important are given below: 
4. In all justice, the working fanner must have the 
equivalent of a “living wage” Merely to grow a meagre 
sustenance for himself and his family, with a scant 
surplus to sell in the market, as a result of employing 
all the daylight hours in hard physical labor, does not 
meet the terms of permanent social justice. The farmers 
must therefore have a reasonable reward: at the very 
least they must have fair play in the world’s economic 
arrangements. 
5. The possession and use of the land by those who 
actually till it give guarantees of public peace, of intel¬ 
ligent citizenship, of human welfare, hardly acquired by 
any other means. Therefore the land should be con¬ 
trolled by those icho use it. Access to ownership should 
be made easy; laud leases should favor the worker; 
land proprietorship should be encouraged to the utmost. 
6. The farmer and his family are of mare conse¬ 
quence even than the farm. Education, both industrial 
and cultural, is necessary to intelligent farming and to 
development of mind. Good local government, health, 
recreation, conveniences, artistic appreciation, morality 
are essential elements in a democratic community. The 
farmer must have these fundamental requirements of 
manhood or become practically a slave to unending toil. 
Loss Due To Strikes 
Iu a recent issue of the New York Sun Charles 
E. Perry of Rensselaer Co., N. Y., has the following: 
In headlines and editorial articles newspapers feature 
what the different strikes do to the consumer, but have 
little to say about the producer's side of it. 
The writer made an express shipment of dressed 
lambs to New York City last May. the day before the 
expressmen went out on strike in that mouth. 
The shipment arrived in New York the first day of 
the strike and was worth, according to market quota¬ 
tions and sales of previous similar shipments. $117. 
Consignee never received these lambs, and I as yet 
have not received any pay for them, as the American 
Railway Express Company offers me only $46 iu settle¬ 
ment of my claim, the .amount offered being what they 
claim to have sold the lambs for to avoid total loss 
to me. 
We have heard mauy sudi'stories. The losses have 
run up iuto the hundreds of thousands of dollars, 
and there is practically no redress. In a few cases 
the goods were sold at a low price, speculators tak¬ 
ing them and often selling out at a great profit. 
Our attorneys went into these cases, and reported 
that in most instances the shipper had no legal 
redress. The trouble was due to strikers, who tied 
up transportation or handling, and their organiza¬ 
tions could not be held responsible. Some of our 
people think the New York City government could 
be held responsible for not furnishing protection, but 
it would be next to impossible to make out a case. 
The public officials who have sworn to protect the 
people and enforce the law have shown more of the 
spirit of rabbits than of watch dogs. It looks as if 
this was another case of got to do it ourselves: 
which means that farmers must organize and operate 
their own system of distribution. 
Eight-Hour Day for Hens 
Since “everybody’s doing it” the poultrymen might 
as well get into the “eight-hour game.” A writer in 
the New York Times puts it in a new way: 
A short time ago I had the pleasure of attending a 
meeting at which poultry experts discussed various as¬ 
pects of their business and gave some startling figures 
to show what it means to the country. 
One speaker told how a boy had made a financial suc¬ 
cess with poultry, while others around him had been un¬ 
able to make things come out square. An inquirer 
learned that when he started in his parents built a hen¬ 
house for him, and then feeling that so worthy an enter¬ 
prise should have further parental support, they fur¬ 
nished the grain to feed his chickens. This boy was 
making a success with poultry. 
The thing that appealed to me strangely was that the 
audience looked on this story as a joke. Who is the 
great parent to whom everyone is looking for the un¬ 
earned dollar? 
We are nothing if we are not in fashion. I recommend 
that all poultrymen “organize" and present their “de¬ 
mands” : 
”V» hereas. It has been determined that a ‘living wage’ 
is not less than $6 a day, and that no person should 
work more than eight hours daily; and 
“Whereas, The Government by bonds or otherwise is 
paying to railroad, telegraph, and other employes such 
sums as when added to their earnings will make their 
receipts from $6 to $10 a day, we demand: 
. “1- That the Government of the United States fur¬ 
nish grain needed by poultrymen to such an amount that 
their receipts shall be not less than $6 daily on week 
days and double pay on Sundays. 
“2. That beginning May 1.‘ 1919, the price of eggs 
and all poultry products be increased and maintained for 
the next 12 months at a uniform advance of 40 per cent 
over the prices of the last 12 months. 
“3. That eight hours shall constitute a day in all de¬ 
partments of the poultry business, and that hens shall 
be required under penalty to complete their work in that 
CLAREXCE E. MICHELS. 
Shall We Pay the Debt Twice ? 
The article “Farmers and Cut Price Agitation,” page 
1505, and the treatment in general of the high cost of 
living in the daily press, lead me to sumbit a point of 
view that I have yet to see mentioned in considering the 
problem of reconstruction. 
To carry on the great war and make the world safe 
for democracy the various nations were compelled to 
borrow, let us say, two hundred billion dollars. At and 
during the period this great loan was being negotiated 
the average day’s wage was probably about $5; there¬ 
fore they have borrowed forty billion days’ work. Now, 
whatever school of political economy we may prefer, we 
must admit that little old day’s work or the product of 
day’s work exchanged for money must repay every dol¬ 
lar of this indebtedness which is ever paid. Does the 
justice of that democracy for which we have made the 
world safe require that we must join hands and force 
prices, wages and living conditions down and down, un¬ 
til it requires eighty or more billion days labor or its 
product to repay this loan? If Mr. A. took $4,500 of 
bonds, he might, instead have bought 2.000 bu. of wheat, 
or erected a fair sort of a dwelling. What is the nature 
of the justice that would require us to repay him 4,000 
bu. of wheat or build two dwellings of the same grade 
iu return? 
Our nation incurred a vast debt. The simplest kind 
of business intelligence would seem to require every 
legitimate effort of our Government to stabilize and con¬ 
tinue prices at the highest possible level until this debt 
was paid, thereby making its payment less of a burden to 
our people. Of course, under Stock Exchange methods, 
we might possibly force prices up so that twenty billiou 
days’ work or their produce would pay the war debts. 
But l believe the oldest sense of justice of democracy, 
the American sense of justice, would require the return 
of the loan in the exact value as received if possible, and 
I very much doubt this sense of justice, when thoroughly 
aroused, is to supinely pay it back two for one. 
New York. j. u. m’clueh. 
R. N.-Y.—Forty years ago in the Far West we saw 
the struggle of farmers to pay these two for one debts. 
They borrowed money when wheat was $1.25 per bushel, 
and were trying to pay out witii the grain down to 65c. 
It was a hopeless struggle. 
