9k RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1547 
Agricultural Problems are in Politics Now 
In his recent speech accepting the Republican 
nomination for Governor, Judge Nathan L. Miller 
said this: 
Second only in my judgment to the importance of giv¬ 
ing the State a sound business administration is the 
problem of food production and distribution. 
I do not and shall not favor any attempts at price 
fixing. I do not and shall not favor incursions by the 
State into the realms of private industry. But I do 
favor the most energetic effort in every legitimate way 
on the part of the State to promote a sane solution of 
this problem. It may seem to be difficult, but I have 
found, in my experience, that, difficulties lessen as we 
approach them with open minds and show a disposition 
to be fair and a determination to reach the result which 
the facts, rather than our predelictions, require. I be¬ 
lieve that those having authority .should be held respon¬ 
sible for action, but this is a business problem, an eco¬ 
nomic problem, and should be kept out of politics. 
POLITICS AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS.—Es¬ 
sentially the production and distribution of food is a 
business and economic problem. Tf left to the nat¬ 
ural laws of business and economics it would bp a 
simple problem: but Judge Miller must know that, 
from the early dawn of history down to the present 
day. politics and government have invaded the fields 
of production and distribution and defeated economic 
laws. Ancient slaves were forced to work the soil 
and produce food by the force of politics and law. 
On down through the ages the serfs, the peasants, 
and the small freeholder in turn succeeded the slave, 
but each fared little better economically from pol¬ 
itics and government than his predecessor: and at 
no time in the history of the world has there ever 
been a more complete political scheme for the plun¬ 
der of producers than the modern system of distribu¬ 
tion. 
POLITICS AND BLENDER.—When the time and 
labor of a skilled farmer is figured in the products 
he sells at 3SU, cents an hour, and the State pays the 
common laborer in the public road across the fence 
cents an hour, and other labor is paid in propor¬ 
tion. the system cannot he defended as equitable or 
fair. 
THE FOOD' SPECULATORS’ POLITIC*.—If 
politics were out of the problem we could solve it 
easy enough. But politics is in it. Politics created 
it. and protects it. What the food trust speculators 
mean when they demand that the food and distribu¬ 
tion problems be kept out of politics is that all pol¬ 
itics he kept out except their particular brand. They 
created the system as it exists. It suits them as it 
is. They built it tip through their political connec¬ 
tion with the State Government. It is now a sacred 
vested institution. Having built it up for their own 
benefit through political influence and governmental 
authority, they want just enough politics in it to 
keep it as it is. They do not propose to refrain from 
any degree of politics necessary to maintain the ad¬ 
vantage they have gained. What they mean is that 
no one be permitted to use the power of the State to 
correct the abuses that they have established through 
the corrupt power of politics. 
THEIR SYSTEM decrees that the labor that a 
farmer puts into a hundred pounds of milk must sell 
for 3Sy» cents an hour; and he must exchange the 
money for supplies that are produced in the shops at 
from SO cents to $1.25 an hour. He must sell wool 
at 30 cents a pound, and if his wife needs yarn she 
must buy the wool back at $7 a pound. When he 
buys the wool hack in a 'coat it costs him $22 a 
pound. 
WASTE AND WANT.—This year hundreds of tons 
'if cherries remained on the trees in New York State. 
Apples are wasting all over the State. Tomatoes by 
the ton rot on the ground. At the same time city 
people groan under the burden of high food prices, 
and many go hungry. The State is responsible for 
this condition of affairs, because the State made the 
system possible. The State made an incursion into 
the realm of private industry to build up this iniqui¬ 
tous system, but it is forbidden now to make a new 
excursion to correct the abuses. 
the REMEDY NEEDED.—These abuses have 
been of long standing. They have come down to the 
farmers through the ages. They originated in the 
power of government. They exist by the power of 
the government. Will any candidate for Governor 
deny that the state (Government has the power to 
correct them? Will any candidate pledge himself, if 
elected, to use the sovereign power of all the people 
delegated to him to see that labor represented in the 
products of the farm be exchanged, hour for hour, 
lor labor of equal skill and efficiency in the supplies. 
ibat the farmer buys from the factory and the shop? 
1)0 that ami the farmer will ask no more. He will 
he satisfied with nothing else. Now. gentlemen can¬ 
didates, speak up. Be definite. Is the time of a 
skilled farmer worth as much as the time of a city 
driver of a milk wagon? Will you see, if elected, 
that he gets at least as much? 
Milk Prices 
As we go to press the milk situation lias not 
changed since last week. The cost of production has 
heen figured at $4.00. The directors of the League 
have settled on a price of $3.S5 for October, but the 
dealers have not agreed to pay it. 
satisfy with anything short of what he demands. Now 
I know that a lot of people on the other side of the 
cotton fight will say that this is “bunkum,” but they 
will wake up to realize that this is a fact, and that 
before very long. 
The farmers today have better leadership than they 
have ever had. They have the leadership of real farm¬ 
ers. They used to look for their leadership to the 
politicians, but the farmers find that the politicians 
sidestep too much. The farmers realize that they have 
to take their business in their own hands. 
The farmers propose to hold their cotton off the 
market until they get the price set by the American 
Cotton Association. That is what we call doing it 
ourselves . and it is the biggest movement yet started 
in farming. 
Direct Trade With Farmer 
Can you give me the address of a farmer in the State 
of New York or New Jersey, near New York City, 
say within about 30 or 40 miles, where I can buy a few 
barrels of apples and potatoes? I am not in a position 
to pay the retailer’s price, but am fortunate enough 
to have the loan of a truck from my employer. I will 
not be the only one that wants .to buy the above-men¬ 
tioned, so I think it will be worth while for any farmer 
who can supply us. I noticed your Apple Consumers’ 
League article on page 144(5, and imagine my drop in 
the bucket will help. 
V\ ishing The It. N.-Y. all the “uccess in the world, 
and thanking you in advance, I remain. 
New York. Robert o. steixen. 
There .are many city people who would like to 
buy in this way. Most of them have hut a poor 
place for storage, and could not buy perishable goods 
in quantity. The best plan for them will he to or¬ 
ganize buying clubs—a dozen or more families. 
That would enable a farmer to deliver one bushel of 
apples or potatoes at a time if there were customers 
enough to make up a load. Or if it were possible 
to use a light truck, such a buying club could send 
into the country for a load and make its own dis¬ 
tribution. In the near future we think this latter 
plan will become popular. The business by parcel 
post is growing, but for most goods is not fully sat¬ 
isfactory. A number of farmers are advertising 
parcel-post trade. Here is a sample advertisement 
taken from a daily paper. It will pay many farm- 
24 pr Apples f or S 1 
| Here' i your chance :o pet the finest apples you ever ve. and 
fg at a price that is much below what you would pay fo/ inferior 
eating applet Our orchards arc in a notch of the mountains 
•i ;hc foothills uf the Cat skills. With the best soil and the 
latest methods of spra>»og and handling we* raise only 
higbcit quality eating apples. 
Prepaid—Direct to Your Doer 
CMI 
*Yfce 
Cf Jilin? 
coei .if©*'* 
red tone.’ g] 
Icj 
MID alt middlemen'-* profit* by bay In* direct from U*o 
f*nn. Keep the doctor a wav wtlh u apple a daj'. Re*i jood 
apple* hnnd? for |h« kiddie*. Pin a Po*t Office money order 
or your check for ore dollar to lhi* tul. and mall it—NOW— 
ers to advertise in their local paper. They will be 
surprised to see how many goods can be sold light 
in their home town, and the more sold there the less 
there will be to crowd the big markets. 
« 
Got to do it Ourselves ” 
All over the country farmers are coming to realize 
the truth of the popular slogan, "ll'e have got to do 
it ourselves.” On a recent visit to North Carolina 
we found the Farmers’ Union of that State prepar¬ 
ing to take matters into their own hands and demand 
what they need. They will do it, too, for North 
Carolina is an agricultural State, and always will 
be. The same is true of South Carolina. Each year 
at this season conies the desperate struggle between 
the farmers and the cotton buyers for possession of 
the cotton crop. On a very much larger scale it is 
much like the struggle between the apple buyers and 
growers of New York. The buyers fill the papers 
with stories of big crop and poor market, so as to 
beat down the prices, and thus obtain the cotton or 
the apples for less than their cost. They generally 
succeed, for most growers of apples do not have 
proper storage for handling, and they must sell their 
crops in order to pay their bills aud live. In the 
South, cotton can be held in ordinary storage, but 
the Southern farmer has, in the past, been obliged 
to turn his crop over at once in order to buy supplies. 
Now a change is coming in this practice. Commis¬ 
sioner Harris of the South Carolina Bureau of Mar¬ 
kets gives this sound advice: 
The farmer has fully realized that with full corn 
cribs and smokehouse, with wheat in the bins and livo 
stock fattening on the fruits of the farm, he is better 
prepared to protect his cotton and to name his own 
price—which he has the right to do. He has learned 
within the last three years bigger lessons than he ever 
had learned. At last he has waked up to realize that 
10 blades of cotton grown under conditions above de¬ 
scribed will bring more money than 20, or even 30 bales 
grown with his corn crib aud barn loft and smokehouse 
in Missouri or Kansas. 
The farmer has been a long time “getting a hump on 
his back,” but it. has been my observation that when 
he does get started toward reform he will be hard to 
Working School Children in New York 
Can you tell me the New York school law about 
working children under 16 years? We live in a potato 
growing section and it is absolutely ncessary to have 
the children home to help pick up the crop. This 
work comes during the school term. How many weeks 
must the child attend school? Are we entitled to their 
hfdp at home ? j. K R> 
New York. 
We have had many letters like the above and in 
order to state the facts we print the following 
opinion from the State Department of Education. 
A parent may apply for a working certificate for 
the child which in urgent cases will be granted: 
No child under 16 years of age may be employed by 
his parent or guardian, nor anybody else’s child be 
employed, in a factory, mill, mercantile establishment, 
telephone, telegraph office, apartment house, restaurant, 
hotel, at any time, unless such child is in possession 
of a working certificate a< provided in the labor law. 
The State Industrial Commision has prosecuted many 
oases of violation of this law, and presumably has 
prosecuted parents for having their own children un¬ 
lawfully at work in an industry owned and operated 
by the parent. 
I infer, however, that you are thinking about the 
farmer having his own child under 16 years of age at 
work on a farm during the vacation period or while the 
schools are in session. Many a parent has been prose¬ 
cuted for having his child out of school at work on a 
farm while the law required such parent to have his 
child in attendance at school, but I recall no case 
where a parent has been prosecuted for having such 
child at work on his farm while the schools were not 
in session. In fact under the law as I read it a 
parent has a legal right to have his child at work on his 
farm or other farm while schools are not in session. 
Owing to the acute condition of the labor problem, 
among farmers, the enforcement’ of school attendance 
laws in rural communities, even while the schools are 
in session, has come to be attended with grave difficulty. 
Local school officers, school trustees, attendance officers, 
and even district superintendents, are besieged for per¬ 
mission to allow’ farm boys under 16 years of age to 
be out of school for work on farm and, while these 
officers do not consent to this, they are often slow to 
take action when the pan nt persists in keeping his 
boy out of school for work. \et we are doing our 
level best to protect the farmer’s child in his inherent 
aud legal light to schooling, since he is entitled to such 
protection quite as much as the more favored child 
of the village or city. James D. Sullivan. 
Selling Apples in New York City 
A letter from Edwin J. O’Malley. New York City 
Commissioner of Markets, states progress in selling 
apples direct to consumers. 
The Commissioner stares that all the Duchess apples 
sent to him by the Federation of Agriculture of the 
State of New York were sold under his auspices, realiz¬ 
ing for the farmer more money than through any other 
agency, and giving the consumer Grade “A” apples for 
less money than they could buy elsewhere. 
Commissioner O’Malley, through the New York Fruit 
and Vegetable Distributers. Iuc.. has organized 1,500 
retail stores to sell exclusively apples purchased under 
the supervision of his Department, aud retail to the 
public at five cents per pound. He is arranging to sell 
all the apples which may be shipped to him by New 
York farmers through the 1.500 stores, giving the public 
and farmer the benefit of the elimination of several 
middlemen, who in the past made enormous profits 
without adding anything to the commodity. There are 
inquiries now for more than 50.000 barrels of apples at 
present in his office. Farmers and farm co-operative 
,bureaus having apples in large quantities might com¬ 
municate with the Commissioner the price at which 
they wish to sell their crop of New York State Standard 
Grade “A” apples. 
A survey made of the apple crop indicates that there 
will be 5.000,000 barrels of apples in the State of New 
York, aud the crop from other States will increase the 
total to over 15.000.000 barrels of apples. A great 
many of these apples will rot for want of purchasers 
and proper facilities to distribute the crop to the con¬ 
sumer. The Commissioner is very anxious to bring the 
apples to the city in that way realizing more for the 
farmer, and also giving the consumer the benefit of the 
bumper crop. 
A number of the farmers have failed to secure con¬ 
tainers. due to the corner iu the cooperage industry. 
The Commissioner, however, has secured an offer of 
50,000 barrels, which can be delivered forthwith to any 
part of the State at reasonable prices. 
