RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1353 
Celebration of Dairy Day 
AIRY day at the New York State School of 
Agriculture, Morrisville, on Thursday, October 
9, was full of interest. The program included an 
address on Grade A milk by Dr. J. H. Hewitt, a 
former instructor in the school, and at present with 
the Borden Company; also an address by Prof. W. 
T. Crandall of Cornell on the prevention of con¬ 
tagious abortion which, of course, included the 
proper feeding of the cow to build up power of re¬ 
sistance to the many attacks on her over-taxed 
system. 
Charles H. Tuck was unable to be present, as an¬ 
nounced on the program, to speak for the organiza¬ 
tion and achievements of the Dairymen’s League, 
and County President Crawford, and Director 
Henry Burden covered these subjects. 
John J .Dillon was assigned the subject “Democ¬ 
racy of Co-operation,” and after explaining the fun¬ 
damental differences between the centralized and de¬ 
centralized types of organization, made a plea for a 
unity of the existing groups as the practical means 
to stop price cutting, and to sell milk at a living 
price to the producer. 
The school is in the center of a fine dairy farm 
section; and considering the fine weather and the 
amount of corn in the fields ready for the silo, the 
attendance of farmers and farm wives was good, 
and their keen interest in the subjects indicated a 
high order of intelligence. 
Acting Director Sanctuary of the school conducted 
the exercises with notable skill. The aim of his 
program was clearly the means of broad and full 
information of the people of his section on subjects 
of vital importance to themselves. 
Milk Distributors Buy New Plants 
T HE Model Dairy Company, 246 Eighth Avenue, 
New York, John McCauley, president, has re¬ 
cently purchased the milk business of T. O. Smith, 
formerly at 872 Sixth Avenue. The purchase in¬ 
cluded the city end of the business, and four coun¬ 
try plans in the following places: Augusta, Sussex 
Co., N. J.; Kast Bridge, Herkimer Co., N. Y.; South 
Kortright, Delawax*e Co., N. Y.; West Kortright, 
Delaware Co., N. Y. 
The Model Dairy has an established hotel and res¬ 
taurant trade and is quite generally credited with 
being one of the most economically operated distri¬ 
butors in the city. 
The Land Bank Sells Bonds 
S TATE Comptroller James W. Fleming has pur¬ 
chased from the Land Bank of the State of New 
York $1,000,000 of its self-amortizing serial bonds 
bearing interest at 4% per cent per annum. The 
money will be distributed by the Land Bank through 
the savings and loan associations to loan on homes 
and farms to members of the local savings and loan 
associations, having membership in the Land Bank. 
The comptroller bought these bonds for the State 
sinking fund. He has made similar purchases in the 
past. Through this system the State funds are 
safely invested in interest-bearing securities. It will 
be available when needed by the State to pay ma¬ 
turing obligations, and in the meantime the money 
is being used for the best of all purposes, to help 
people of moderate means to own homes and farms. 
There is no better way to encourage wholesome 
family life and to develop good citizenship than by 
increasing the numbers of small freeholders. 
This system of local associations federated to¬ 
gether wholly and always in the immediate control 
of the local members is the ideal type of co-opera¬ 
tive organization. When the centralized type was 
permitted we had a record of failures and losses and 
scandals. Under this decentralized plan failures 
are practically unknown and the membership and 
volume of business constantly increases. 
Wonder of the Automobile Law 
HE following item recently appeared in the 
Syracuse Post-Standard : 
There was no State law from July 1 to October 1 to 
prevent a person under 18 years old operating an auto¬ 
mobile without an operator’s license or without being 
accompanied by a licensed chauffeur or the owner of 
the machine, Coroner Crane ruled yesterday, in a de¬ 
cision holding that Frank J. Miller, 16, of 222 Shotwell 
Park, was not violating the law when a machine he was 
driving ran down and fatally injured Catherine Hogan, 
15, of 209 North Geddes Street, September 15. 
The coroner’s decision, which frees Miller from facing 
a charge of violation of the State highway law, is based 
on an opinion by Assistant District Attorney Unckless. 
When the inquest was held last month, nothing was 
developed to indicate young Miller was guilty of negli¬ 
gence, and the only question was whether he had a right 
to drive. 
This seems to us a strange interpretation of the 
law and we doubt if the courts would sustain such 
a decision. The coroner holds that the old law 
passed out of existence July first by the enactment 
of the new law, which took effect then in all par¬ 
ticulars except that of obtaining a license, which 
did not become operative until October first. He 
clearly indicates if the accident had happened before 
July first or after October first the boy would be 
under the law and would have been held responsible 
for the accident. There is no question about the 
law before July first and after October first. We 
hope the rural members of the Legislature may be 
able to secure some modification of the law, in ac¬ 
cord with the constitution, which will bring relief 
from the present situation. 
What Can I Do About It? 
Could you tell us of anyone we could write to, or 
anything we could do, toward heading off the child 
labor amendment? I think that about the most ridicu¬ 
lous law mentioned yet. We have four little children, 
and would not like to see them gimw up without ever 
doing any work if someone else were caring for them 
at their own expense. I often ask my children to do 
something that does not help me at all, just to get 
them in the habit of working, and they arc very glad 
to work for their papa. In fact, they often bother try¬ 
ing to help of their own accord, and I am glad to see 
them do it. 
I don’t think that many parents overwork their 
children, and if they do that could be attended to 
locally. On the other- hand I think many are ruined 
by having too little to do. If any overwork their child¬ 
ren it is likely to be the foreigners, and they are likely 
to keep on doing so in the country regardless of the 
law, and have very little attention paid to them, as it 
is with making and selling liquor. I have seen much 
more harm done from under than from fiverwork. 
I was surprised to talk with two well-educated 
farmers yesterday, who have children, and they had 
not heard anything about such a law, and I suppose 
there are very many like the writer, too busy to keep 
posted. M. f. 
New York. 
R. N.-Y.—All you can do now is to bring such in¬ 
fluence as you can up to bear upon your State Senator 
and member of the Assembly. Congress and the Presi¬ 
dent have no more to do with the question. It has gone 
past them, and is now before the States for ratification. 
The New York Legislature will probably take it up next 
Winter, and you must make your representatives un¬ 
derstand how you feel about it. We favor the plan of 
submitting it to popular vote as is being done this year 
in Massachusetts. That will be a fairer way than 
giving the decision to the Legislature. 
Voting Public Expenditures in Rhode 
Island 
In a recent note from one of our readers it was stated 
that in Rhode Island only taxpayers were permitted to 
vote on questions which involved public expenses. The 
following explanation is given by a town clerk : 
In Rhode Island, matters involving appropriations of 
the town’s money are voted upon by real estate tax¬ 
payers and by persons who are taxed for personal 
property. Such persons are “entitled to vote upon any 
proposition to impose a tax or for the expenditure of 
money.” Such persons are, in common parlance, said 
to vote upon real estate or upon personal property; 
but the real estate or personal property must be valued 
at, at least, $134 to enable a person “to vote upon it.” 
The foregoing paragraph applies to the law as to towns 
in Rhode Island. 
In the cities, the appropriations are made by the city 
council and the taxpayers (real estate or personal 
property taxpayers) have nothing to do with the ap¬ 
propriations; but they elect the city council and because 
they elect the city council, only such persons are per¬ 
mitted to vote in such election as are taxed for, at 
least $134 worth of real estate or personal property. 
Is that clear? In towns, real estate taxpayers and 
personal property taxpayers vote upon appropriations 
in financial town meetings. In cities, they vote in the 
election of the city council, which, by law, is authorized 
to vote upon appropriations. 
In both towns and cities, the real estate taxpayer 
can vote whether or not he has paid the tax assessed 
against his real estate; but the personal property tax¬ 
payer, in order to vote in financial town meeting or for 
the election of the city council, must have within the 
year next preceding have paid a tax assessed upon his 
property therein. 
Thus, you see, there are three classes of voters in 
Rhode Island: real estate voters, personal property 
voters and registry voters, all of whom can vote for 
national, State or town officers or city officers (except 
city council a*s above explained). 
GEORGE A. LOOMIS. 
One Type of Advertising 
O NE of our people recently saw a road-side mar¬ 
ket with an attractive sign. In front of it 
stood a donkey. There was a big sign on his back 
reading about like this: 
“If you don't leant to be like / am buy your goods' 
here!" 
Other stands, perhaps offering better bargains, 
put up “polite” and dignified signs praising their 
goods truthfully, but people went by them to stop 
beside the donkey. What he represented appealed 
to them. It was a psychological demonstration. 
They would not have been any nearer a donkey in 
character if they had gone on past him, but for the 
moment he made them think they would be, and the 
human 'mind is the pond in which we must fish for 
business. Good advertising is an art. It is an ap¬ 
peal to the brain through the eye, and a smart 
donkey is better than a dull man at presenting his 
goods. 
Federal Standards for Inspecting Hay 
S OME hay dealers have objected to the inspection 
of hay as carried out by the Federal Department 
of Agriculture. Lloyd S. Tenny, speaking before the 
New York Hay and Grain Dealers’ Association, 
stated the government program: 
The Department is frequently asked whether it is 
trying to put across a compulsory standardization 
program. No, we are not. We believe in letting the 
matter develop naturally to the limit of possibility, and 
the limit largely depends upon just such men as you ; 
the men who stand between the producer and the con¬ 
sumer. If we get the support of men in the trade, our 
program can be put across on a permissive basis, but 
if we haven’t this, the question comes up whether we 
should go beyond. 
Our investigations regarding hay show that in some 
cases hay is put in the car in one place on one grade 
and sold somewhere else on another. That is un¬ 
economic. There is something radically wrong when 
hay originating in northern territory, for example, in 
New York, in Ohio, in Michigan, and moving South, 
changes grade when it crosses certain lines, or when it 
changes hands, from Grade No. 2 or No. 3 to No. 1. 
If you don’t want compulsory grades on hay, these 
practices must be eliminated, because they are the 
practices that compel the Department of Agriculture to 
bring about compulsory inspection. If the hay trade 
can carry a product standardized as it comes to you 
from the producer through to the consumer on the same 
grade—which it can if it wishes—and if the trade 
organizations get behind that program, all of the ad¬ 
vantages of permissive standards and none of the dis¬ 
advantages of compulsory standardization will follow. 
In the course of the next few years and not long dis¬ 
tant, we are going to have to determine in the Depart¬ 
ment what our attitude is to be. We have been asked 
our opinion many times, and we must decide whether 
we will have compulsory grading of hay, with com¬ 
pulsory inspection, or whether we will develop along the 
line of permissive grading. The whole question is up to 
you as to whether you wish to get back of a sound 
standardization program or whether you wish the hay 
business to continue in the same chaotic condition it 
has for years past. 
The School Law Bluff 
I note The R. N.-Y. says that our uplifters and well- 
wishers are aiming to push the last year school law 
(proposed) or one equally objectionable through the 
Legislature this Winter, in direct disregard of the 
wishes of the rural people. Of course we shall hear the 
same old argument “to give the country child the same 
advantages as the town children,” but is this true or 
likely to happen with consolidation? Can the child who 
spends two to four hours each day riding over rough hill 
roads of rural New York compete on an equal footing 
with the pupil who has a few block** to walk and can 
then put his time on his books or go to the movies? 
We have a case here where, owing to the dismember¬ 
ment of a school district, some young children had three 
miles or more of bad roads back and forth at their own 
expense. The only salvation was that the mother must 
take the children to the town and stay during the Win¬ 
ter, while the father got along as well as he could on 
the farm. Thousands of farm families would have to 
split up, for the cold months anyway, if our uplifters 
ever have their way. That is, they would uplift most 
of the rural children from their homes to the vHlages, 
to the doubtful advantage of the children, and a desert¬ 
ed countryside. 
I know of a ease in Pennsylvania where three chil¬ 
dren who lived in a district with a first-class graded 
school only four miles distant preferred the little one- 
room school in a nearby district, and tflese children were 
all old enough to stand the hardship of transportation, 
the oldest being 14 past. Yet their people were first- 
class farm people who were able to dress and give their 
children every advantage they needed. 
I have no personal knowledge of farm parents who pre¬ 
fer the village schools for small children, except a few 
close in on a good road. It is the outsiders who are 
doing the shouting. b. l. Hathaway. 
New York. 
