Judge Miller and State Expenses 
Governor Miller of New York devotes his .entire 
message to the Legislature to a discussion of the 
State's financial condition. Briefly stated, the esti¬ 
mated revenues ‘for 1921 amount to $142,581,835. 
The requests or demands for appropriations by the 
present Legislature total $201,644,292.43. In 1900 
the total appropriations were $23,936,377.84. Last 
year, or 20 years later, this amount had grown to 
$145,219,906.60, or $13.79 for each man, woman and 
child in the State. New York State finds itself in 
the position of thousands of men who find their 
fumil.y expenses swelled far ahead of their incomes. 
No one knows exactly how these expenses have 
grown, but the head of the house knows they must 
be cut, or he will go bankrupt. Governor Miller 
boldly states that appropriations must be kept inside 
of income. That will mean cutting nearly $60,000,000 
out of what is already demanded. To do this the 
Governor proposes to abolish useless places, con¬ 
solidate several departments, create no new posi¬ 
tions, refuse salary increases, overhaul all construc¬ 
tion budgets and finish those already started before 
beginning new ones, and thoroughly revise all high¬ 
way work. As for direct agricultural legislation, 
the Governor says: 
I think the present organization of the Agricultural 
Department unsound upon its face. The Council of 
Farms and Markets may serve to keep the department 
out of politics, and for that reason can properly be con¬ 
tinued, but it is not suited to discharge and should not 
be clothed with any administrative function whatever. 
There is no reason that I can perceive for a divided 
department, and I believe that economy and efficiency 
of administration will be promoted by a single head to 
be appointed by the Council of Farms and Markets, and 
I recommend that those changes be made. I also recom¬ 
mend that changes-be made in the law so as to safeguard 
the payment of compensation for the killing of diseased 
animals. 
lie states that appropriations for $5,665,318.90 are 
requested this year for the agricultural schools and 
colleges, including the Geneva Station. The Governor 
advises cutting out the military law, saving over 
$600,000, and substantially amending “the physical 
training law, especially in rural schools.” In mak¬ 
ing this recommendation Governor Miller makes the 
following eminently true and wise remarks: 
Our necessities require us to be practical about these 
matters, and I doubt that much of the work so far done 
has been practical. I believe we have started with too 
large an overburden at the wrong end. Such work can 
only be done with effectiveness locally, and then only 
in harmony with local circumstances and conditions. 
It cannot be forced upon people, and I believe that there 
has been too much centralization of administration in 
the State, which has added to the burdens of both State 
and local government. The elementary schools do not 
have the facilities for physical training such as exist in 
the secondary schools, and such work in incompetent 
hands produces more harm than good. 
The first duty of the State is to provide an elementary 
education for all our boys and girls, and nothing should 
be permitted to interfere with the full discharge of that 
duty. 
Gov. Miller makes no reference to such topics as 
daylight saving, game laws or the direct primary. 
These will be taken tip in special messages and we, 
of course, reserve comment on them until we know 
the Governor’s exact position. Every honest voter 
will sustain the Governor in his evident desire to cut 
public expenses. The politicians and grafters will 
oppose him in this program, but the taxpayers must 
back him up. 
Occupations of New York Legislators 
The new Legislature just meeting in Albany shows 
many new faces. Our people are always interested to 
know the occupations of these legislators. In the Sen¬ 
ate of 51 members there are this year 24 lawyers; not 
so many as in former sessions. There are four real 
estate men, three manufacturers, two bankers, two insur¬ 
ance men, one man who claims to be an agriculturist, 
and just one brave soul who has the hardihood to admit 
that he is a farmer. It is always hard to define the dif¬ 
ference between a farmer and an agriculturist, but per¬ 
haps it is well for the country people of New York that 
they have a representative of the top crust as well as 
one who stands for the foundation. There is one drug¬ 
gist, one hotel-keeper, one broker and one professor. 
In the Assembly of 150 members there is a wider 
range of occupation. There are 58 lawyers, a falling off 
in the number of legal lights over last year. There are 
32 farmers, and in this we include fruit growers and 
gardeners. There are seven insurance men and four real 
estate men. We have never been able to understand how 
it is that so many insurance and real estate men are sent 
to the Legislature. Probably the nature of their busi¬ 
ness puts them in the way of knowing many people, and 
if they are good mixers they can use their business to 
advantage. There are four merchants, four bankers, 
four newspaper men and two shoemakers, one architect, 
one grocer, one doctor, one man who confesses to the fact 
that he has retired. There is one bricklayer, one me¬ 
chanic, one tailor, one hotel-keeper, one teacher, one 
commercial traveler, and a school superintendent. 
If the members of the Legislature were cast upon a 
desert island without outside help it is a question wheth¬ 
er they could take care of themselves unless some of 
them changed their occupation. There would be one 
woman, from New York City, who would instruct them 
in physical education. The 32 farmers and the one 
agriculturist might raise food for the crowd, and they 
would be likely to receive a 20-eent dollar for doing it. 
They would have one mechanic and one bricklayer and 
one bui'der to take care of their housing. One tailor to 
make their clothes, one lecturer to tell them their duty, 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
one doctor to give them physic, two druggists to prepare 
their medicine, one grocer to keep the country store, 
and six bankers to handle their money. Just what they 
would do with those 82 lawyers in order to make them 
earn their living under such a condition is a hard prob- 
Iem. I hoy are likely to find Albany this Winter rather 
more of a desert island than it has been in the past, if 
Gov. Miller 16 permitted to carry out his plan for cut¬ 
ting expenses. In any event, while there has not been 
tremendous gain in farmers, there is something of a loss 
in the number of lawyers; but, without regard to their 
occupation they should all get busy, cut down expenses, 
make as few new laws as possible and make an early 
adjournment. 
New York State Agricultural Society 
The annual meeting of the New York State Agricul¬ 
tural Society at Albany, January 18 and 19, 1921, prom¬ 
ises to be of unusual interest. The subjects to be dis¬ 
cussed are those which have large current importance, 
particularly co-operative buying and selling, marketing 
and transportation. The men who are to discuss the<se 
subjects are eminently qualified to do so. One-half day 
will be given to the consideration of the problem of milk 
distribution. 
On September 7 and December 17 and IS important 
conferences were held at Syracuse over the problems of 
agriculture and marketing. Committees were appointed 
to consider various phases of these subjects. At the 
last session, on December 18, the conference voted to 
accept an invitation to meet in connection with the 
annual meeting of the State society, at which time it is 
expected that these committees will report, and that fur- 
ther steps will be taken for continuing conferences of 
the allied agricultural interests of New York which shall 
deal broadly with agricultural policies. The last half 
day of the annual meeting is reserved for this adjourned 
mooting of tho conference, and its deliberations and con- 
elusions cannot fail to be worthy of all the agricultural 
organizations of the State. It is earnestly desired that 
the agricultural organizations of the State shall be rep¬ 
resented at this meeting of the society. The one thin* 
demanded for New 5:ork agriculture more than any other 
is unity in purpose and action, and it is hoped that the 
State-wide societies, at least, will authorize the attend¬ 
ance of delegates. w. h. .tordan, 
Geneva, N. Y. President. 
The Other Side of the Shoddy Law 
l'ools rush in where angels fear to tread.” So 
many older and wiser heads than mine favor the “Truth 
in b abric bill it is with a degree of hesitation that I 
venture to express my doubts and opinions in regard to 
i and I may need the above quotation for mv excuse. 
However, 1 ite R. N.-Y. seems always willing to publish 
both sides of a question, so here is a chance for it to 
give what is _ today undoubtedly the unpopular side 
among the majority of sheep men. 
o . I ; t , m 6i' .be well to state at the beginning of this 
aiticle (hat the writer is a sheep man, counting on 
raismg for sale each year about 2.000 lbs. of wool and 
125, head of sheep and lambs, so his sympathy is nat¬ 
urally tor what he believes is to the best interest of 
the sheep and wool industry. 
«rp Th M. French-Capper bilk otherwise known as the 
Ii utli in k abric bill which the sheep interests tried 
so hard to get through the last Congress, aim« to 
compel clothing manufacturers to stamp each yard 
of cloth as to the materials of which it is made such as 
virgin wool, shoddy, cotton, etc., the idea being that 
from the producers’ standpoint the use of shoddy hurts 
the sale of virgin wool and from the consumers’ stand¬ 
point the use of shoddy makes an article that, while 
! . . as ®11 wool,’ is inferior to an article made of 
virgin wool. 
Definitions of virgin wool and of shoddy mav be in 
order. 
\ irgin wool is wool that has not been previously 
used in manufacturing. Shoddy is wool that has been 
previously made into yarn or fabrics, torn apart and 
made ready for use again. Bearing in mind- that 
shoddy is wool, it is readily seen that a garment marked 
and sold as “all wool” may be made almost or entirely 
of shoddy and yet be “all wool.” 
The backers of the “Truth jn Fabric” bill assume 
that the public in buying “all wool” really wishes to 
buy “virgin wool” because they also assume that a 
rloth made of virgin wool is superior to one with 
shoddy used in its manufacture. Anyone who raises 
sheep and wool knows there is virgin'wool and virgin 
wool, just as anyone who uses his reason must know 
there are grades of shoddy, and the writer for one 
would prefer to buy an “all wool” suit of clothes made 
of shoddy from tailors’ clippings than to buy a virgin 
wool suit made of some of the virgin wool that he and 
his neighbors raise. 
As a further argument that all virgin wool is not 
superior to all shoddy. I quote prices from the Boston 
( ommercial Bulletin of Dec. 18, 1920: 
Price 
Woolen Rags per lb. 
White Softs.42tfr44c 
White Knits.45@47c 
Black Dressed. . . ,40(?7'-l‘ > c . 
Light Skirted C1oth21rt? 22c 
Wool Price 
(scoured basis) per lb. 
Texas. Fine Fall. 45tf?50c 
Gal. Fall Defective.35(f740c 
Gre. Valley No. 3.45c 
Territory, com¬ 
mon and Braid.. 18(§J20c 
A law that is unenforceable is no Letter if not worse 
than no law at all. How could the “Truth in Fabric” 
mil be enforced? We may be exposing our ignorance 
but while it is our understanding that by the use of 
chemicals it can be positively determined if a cloth is 
all wool” we do not know that any test will determine 
if that * all wool” is virgin wool or shoddy. If as 
the writer believes, the use of shoddy does not always 
signify an inferior article and if the proposed law could 
not be enforced, does it not seem as though sheep men 
were balking up the wrong tree” and mirht they not 
better use their efforts with Congress to get as high a 
tariff as possible on wool and mutton? (Trust the 
manufacturers to look after a tariff on manufactured 
goods!) 
In 1914 South America raised 455.000,090 lbs of 
wool, Australia 632.000.000 and New Zealand 194 000 - 
000 while the United States raised 290.000.000 lbs. A 
person whom I judge to be good authority tells me 
that before the war it cost as much to keep a sheep in 
our Mid lie West for one month as it did to keen one 
in Australia or South America for one year. If these 
foreign countries can produce such a great amount of 
wool and at so much less cost per lb. than it can be 
raised in the T T nited States it is hard to understand 
how we can raise wool and mutton in competition with 
them without protection of some sort. 
Anyone hi ving lambs to sell knows what has been 
81 
the condition of the lamb market all the Fall. A mar¬ 
ket report received from New York City within two 
weeks tells of the arrival of one ship with 150,000 car¬ 
casses of New Zealand lamb and mutton. One of the 
big packing houses is in trouble on the charge of 
profiteering in New Zealand lamb, having bought it, 
if I remember correctly, at about 14c per lb. What 
is the matter with the lamb market? Is it shoddy or 
is it foreign competition? 
A table giving the amount of wool entering into man¬ 
ufacture in this country for Oct. 1919 and Oct. 1920, 
is before me. It shows conclusively that in Oct. 1919 
there was nearly as much domestic wool used as there 
was foreign wool and while, in Oct. 1920, there was, 
with the exception of pulled wool, practically twice 
as much foreign wool used as there was domestic 
wool list'd. 
Let us stop and think a moment. In Oct. 1919, 
foreign wool was hard to get owing to a scarcity of 
ships and other causes, so manufacturers used our 
wool and paid good prices for it. In Oct. 1920, just 
two months ago. with foreign wool easy to get, these 
same manufacturers used nearly twice as much for¬ 
eign wool as they did of our wool. Our eyes grow dim 
and our hand shakes when we attempt to write the 
price! 
In view of the above facts and figures the writer 
feels more interested in tariffs than in shoddy. 
New York. ciiari.es c. * perry. 
R. N.-Y".—It is true that we wish to give all sides 
a fair hearing. That is the only way to settle a mat¬ 
ter. Mr. Reynolds of Ohio will give the other side 
next week. 
How People Buy at Farm Auctions 
They make their own money and at the same time 
estimate the value of property on sale, according to 
their best judgment. During the 40 years in which 
the writer acted a« auctioneer, 90 per cent of all farm 
property exchanged hands for promissory notes on three, 
four, six, nine or 12 months’ time. Often there was 
a reduction of five per cent for cash. To the best of 
my recollection, only one poor note was given, and that 
by a horse jockey. Farmers’ notes arc as good as bonds, 
and in normal times may'be exchanged at local banks 
for Government paper at par. 
Auctions made by all dealers in merchandise sell for 
cash. Why do people pay $50,000 for a bull or cow, 
$10,000 for a hen? Because their mental measurement 
of value differs according to their judgment and reason. 
Commodities are bought with dollars; dollars arc 
bought with commodities and labor. They exchange 
each for the other. Paper money is of recent invention, 
but confidence is the important point. An honest man’s 
note is valued at 400 per cent good, while a dishonest 
man's note is rejected. Our nation could increase its 
money threefold and then remain solvent. As business 
increases, so must money, otherwise business becomes 
hobbled. 
Labor requires three times the amount of money to 
represent its value than it did in 1914. Thousands of 
farmers are failing for the lack of money; 30 per cent 
of all failures are caused by lack of money. Money 
circulates lively when prices are high; slowly when 
prices are low. In September, 1920, sugar and com¬ 
modities were high; today they are low. It is false 
teaching that money controls the price of commodities, 
when the price of commodities controls the circulation 
of money. Cash dealers can undersell those doing credit 
business discount all bills, avoid poor debts, and pre¬ 
vent failures. The world is suffering nervous prostra¬ 
tion from loss of blood ; confidence and common sense 
are the cure. F. L. vars. 
New York. 
Coal Prices in Pennsylvania 
I think the enclosed clipping from the Danville, Pa., 
Evening News may interest you. Since the coming of 
the trucks and the increase of freight rates, men have 
found it profitable to go to the coal mines and haul the 
coal to the consumer in Danville as well as in oilier 
towns. In Pennsylvania a legal ton of coal is 2,240 
lbs. The local retail dealers never quote by the ton, 
for the law compels the delivery of full weight,, but 
dodge the law by selling at so much per 100 lbs. 
The price at the mine has been $6.70 for a legal ton, 
the local price 55c to 57c per 100 lbs., or $12.37 to 
$12.82 for a ton at the yard, with an extra charge for 
delivery. The truckmen charged $5 per ton for hauling, 
including delivery at the consumer’s home, and so saved 
the buyer over $1 per ton (counting delivery) while 
making good wages for the truck, as they could make 
two or three tripe per day, not in eight hours, however. 
The protest is supposed to have come from the dealers 
in several towns about here, who are well organized 
and pull together. It is said that the truckmen will 
carry it to the State Public Utilities Commission, who 
will hardly allow such a ruling to stand. In the mean¬ 
time the truckmen have found an independent colliery 
farther away which will sell to them, and some of them 
are going there for coal, making two trips in a very 
long day, while others have quit pending the action 
of the commission on appeal. 
While the farmer is the last to be closely organized, 
it is to be hoped that his organization may be as ef¬ 
ficient, at least not quite so selfish, as some of the 
others. a. w. s. 
Pennsylvania. 
The clipping referred to reads as follows: 
“Danville people and those in other parts of this and 
adjoining counties who have been getting coal direct 
from the mines in the Shamokin district at a price lower 
than local dealers were able to furnish it. will now 
have to buy their coal elsewhere, as the ban has been 
put on tlii 1 sale of coal at the collieries, and hereafter 
no coal will be allowed to be taken from the collieries 
by teamsters except for delivery in Shamokin and Coal 
township. 
“For the past few months big trucks from Danville 
and other parts of the county, along with trucks from 
Sun bury and the rural districts of Northumberland 
County, have been making trips daily to the mines at 
Shamokin generally, the Henry Clay‘and Burnside col- 
l’cries, owned by the Reading Coal & Iron Company. 
These trucks, some of them holding from three to five 
tons, were loaded right at the mines and the coal was 
then hauled to its destination and delivered. People 
were thus enabled to bfty coal somewhat cheaper than 
from local deaders, who had to pay the freight and 
other expenses. 
“A protest was made to the companies through, it is 
said, the railroads, who were deprived of the freight 
rates, with the result that the companies issued orders 
that the selling of the coal at the mines to outside 
parties who carried it away in trucks must stop. 
