445 
Agricultural  Values  as  Basis  for  Wages 
The  value  of  a  commodity  in  exchange  depends  on 
the  amount  of  labor,  skill  and  energy  necessary  to  pro¬ 
duce  it.  The  basic  exchange  of  trade  of  the  world  is 
between  two  great  industrial  classes ;  the  producers  of 
raw  material,  and  those  who  manufacture  it  into  new 
forms  of  wealth  or  consume  it  in  the  raw  state — be¬ 
tween  farmers  and  city  populations.  The  farmer  pro¬ 
duces  now  about  95  per  cent  of  the  annual  wealth  in 
raw  materials,  and  the  volume  of  this  basic  trade  in 
money  is  substantially  limited  by  farm  income. 
When  our  farmers  produce  and  sell  fifteen  billion 
dollars’  worth  of  farm  products,  in  a  year,  they  can  buy 
back  from  the  city  people  fifteen  billion  dollars’  worth 
of  supplies,  and  no  more.  They  should  be  able  to  buy 
back  an  equivalent  of  the  amount  of  labor  and  skill  that 
they  sell.  The  cost  of  living  in  the  city  is  not  their 
concern,  any  more  than  the  cost  of  living  in  the  country 
is  the  concern  of  the  city  man.  If  the  city  pays  its 
butcher  too  much  for  cutting  meat,  or  its  grocer  too 
much  for  weighing  flour  and  sugar,  or  its  landlord  too 
much  for  rent,  the  farm  population  has  no  'right  to 
interfere.  If  country  people  exercise  greater  vigilance 
and  more  prudence  in  their  oavu  economics,  they  should 
have  the  benefit.  When  they  indulge  in  waste  and 
extravagance,  as  they  sometimes  do,  the  city  population 
does  not  assume  responsibility  for  their  improvidence. 
The  exchanges  between  the  two  groups  really  consists 
in  an  exchange  of  labor  on  the  farm  for  labor  in  the 
factory  and  transportation.  The  exchange  should  be 
maintained  on  the  basis  of  man  for  man,  hour  for  hour, 
skill  for  skill,  as  it  was  in  the  beginning.  This  is  fair. 
No  other  voluntary  basis  of  exchange  can  exist.  Neces¬ 
sity  alone  can  force  exchange  on  any  other  terms.  Gov¬ 
ernments  have  ever  been  prone  to  take  from  some  to 
give  to  others.  The  farmer  has  always  suffered  from 
this  favoritism  of  the  ruling  classes.  Government  may 
and  does  interfere  with  the  equitable  distribution  of 
wealth  after  it  has  been  produced.  It  is  free  to  do 
what  it  likes,  but  it  cannot  escape  responsibility  for 
what  it  does.  The  interruption  of  economic  law  which 
penalizes  farmers  to  the  advantage  of  manufacturers 
and  trade,  ultimately  impoverishes  agriculture  and 
works  a  hardship  to  all  industrial  classes.  The  very 
rich  alone  escape. 
Rome,  Carthage  and  Athens  discriminated  against 
agriculture,  impoverished  their  farms  and  enslaved  the 
cultivators  who  remained  on  their  lands.  They  thought 
to  prosper  on  commerce  with  the  outside  world  and 
trade  between  themselves.  They  declined  and  failed. 
History  often  repeats  the  lesson.  No  nation  ever  per¬ 
manently  flourished  or  long  survived  on  impoverished 
agriculture.  We  would  be  mad  to  ignore  the  lesson. 
Manufacturing  and  commercial  classes  would  lose 
nothing  by  increasing  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
farm.  They  would  gain  by  it.  Over  6,500,000  farms 
could  well  absorb  an  average  of  $5,000  apiece  in  farm 
and  home  equipments  'and  improvements.  This  would 
create  a  new  demand  for  practically  every  kind  of  a 
product  of  the  factory  and  city  shop.  It  would  increase 
the  demand  for  industrial  and  transportation  labor.  It 
would  increase  farm  production,  to  the  benefit  of  all. 
It  would  do  more — it  would  create  home  accommoda¬ 
tions  and  comfort  in  the  country,  and  would  afford  an 
asylum  for  many  people  of  the  city  in  time  of  ill  health, 
age  and  industrial  distress. 
The  'natural  law  of  exchange  has  been  modified  by 
law  and  custom  with  the  result  that  no  just  ratio 
exists  between  the  exchange  value  of  the  products  of 
the  farm  and  the  products  of  the  factory  and  service  of 
the  railroads.  In  some  instances  we  have  fixed  the 
hours  of  labor  outside  the  farm.  In  some  cases  we  have 
fixed  the  wages  of  labor  by  law,  and  in  other  cases  by 
official  arbitration,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing. 
We  have  increased  the  wages  of  railroad  labor,  and  in 
doing  so  increased  the  cost  of  living.  This  increased 
cost  of  living  brought  a  new  demand  for  another  in¬ 
crease  of  wages,  and  so  the  vicious  cycle  was  created 
during  the  war,  and  yet  continues.  The  more  we  in¬ 
crease  industrial  wages  the  more  we  increase  the  cost 
of  living,  and  the  high  cost  of  living  is  the  basis  we  use 
to  fix  wages  and  salaries.  Economically,  wages  are  that 
share  of  the  production  that  will  enable  the  worker  to 
maintain  himself  and  his  family  in  accordance  with  an 
established  standard  of  living.  The  cost  of  living,  then, 
and  wages,  are  substantially  one  and  the  same  thing. 
It  is  vain  to  attempt  to  compare  a  thing  with  itself, 
and  that  is  what  Ave  try  to  do  when  we  attempt  to  fix 
wages  on  the  cost  of  living. 
Since  agricultural  products  constitute  the  principal 
element  in  the  cost  of  living,  agricultural  values  are 
the  proper  basis  for  estimating  a  fair  wage  for  labor. 
The  estimates  should  be  made,  on  the  return  to  the 
farmer  for  his  product  and  on  the  volume  of  farm 
products  required  for  the  average  workman’s  family  in 
the  city  to  maintain  a  given  standard  of  living. 
To  provide  for  this,  we  would  suggest  a  section  in 
the  labor  laws  directing  the  Commissioner  of  Agricul¬ 
ture  and  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  to  ascertain  quar¬ 
terly  the  price  paid  farmers  for  staple  fltrm  products 
and  the  cost  of  producing  them,  expressed  in  time  and 
in  money,  and  also  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  farm 
products  necessary  to  maintain  an  average  family  in  the 
city,  expressed  in  volume  of  products  and  money  cost, 
based  on  the  price  to  the  farmer.  The  law  should  then 
direct  that  wherever  wages  or  salaries  are  fixed  by  legal 
enactment  or  official  arbitration,  the  basis  of  the  wages 
must  be  the  agricultural  values  as  reported  by  the  Com¬ 
missioners  of  Agriculture  and  Labor.  J,  J.  D. 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Restriction  of  Foreign  Immigration 
HE  question  of  foreign  immigration  is  up  be¬ 
fore  Congress  once  more.  Under  the  present 
law  we  are  supposed  to  admit  each  year  3  per  cent 
of  the  “nationals”  who  were  listed  in  the  1910  cen¬ 
sus.  That  is,  supposing  the  census  showed  that  we 
had  in  this  country  50,000  Belgians,  there  would  be 
1.500  from  that  country  admitted  in  one  year.  This 
all  means  a  total  of  186,437  each  year.  Congress  is 
now  considering  changes  in  the  law.  One  side  wants 
to  open  the  gates  wide  and  let  in  millions  free,  while 
the  other  calls  for  even  closer  restriction.  The  House 
Committee  on  Immigration  favors  further  restric¬ 
tion.  It  would  admit  only  2  per  cent  of  the  nationals 
as  listed  in  the  census  of  1920,  and  it  would  seek  to 
exclude  Asiatics.  According  to  the  figures  presented, 
the  following  quotas  of  immigrants  would  be  ad¬ 
mitted  : 
Present  Proposed 
Country 
Albania  . 
Annual  Quota  Quot 
OSS  s 
Armenia  . 
230 
13 
7 
Belgium  . 
1,563 
510 
Bulgaria  . 
302 
61 
( 'zechoslovakia  . 
1 4,557 
2.031 
I  >anzig  . 
301 
228 
Denmark  . 
5,619 
2,7*5 
Finland  . 
3.921 
472 
Fiume  . . 
71 
11 
France  . 
5,729 
3,914 
67,607 
51 .227 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland . 
77.342 
62.458 
Greece  . 
3,294 
47 
Hungary  . 
5,638 
474 
Iceland  . 
75 
37 
Italy  . 
42.057 
3.912 
Luxemberg  . 
92 
58 
Memel  . 
150 
114 
Netherlands  . 
3,607 
1,637 
Norway  . 
12,202 
6,454 
Poland  . 
21,076 
5.156 
Eastern  Galicia  . 
5,786 
870 
Pinsk  . 
4,284 
393 
Portugal  . 
2,465 
474 
Rumania  .  . 
7.419 
638 
Bessarabian  Region  . 
2.792 
258 
Russia  . 
21.613 
1.992 
Esthonian  Region  . 
1.348 
124 
Latvian  Region  . 
1,540 
142 
Lithuanian  Region  . 
2.310 
'  213 
Spain  . 
1)12 
91 
Turkey  . 
2,388 
129 
Sweden  . 
20,042 
9,561 
Switzerland  . 
3,752 
2.082 
Jugoslavia  . 
6.426 
851 
Other  Europe  . 
86 
5 
Palestine  . 
57 
1 
<  )tlier  Asia  . 
81 
lo 
45 
Africa  . 
122 
44 
Atlantic  Islands  . 
121 
41 
Austria  . 
279 
120 
New  Zealand  and  Pacific  Islands 
SO 
42 
Totals . 
358,023 
168,837 
We  think  some  such  restriction  is  quite  sure  to  be 
accepted  in  changing  the  law.  The  big  industrial 
corporations  favor  free  immigration.  That  will  give 
them  cheap  labor,  and  enable  them  to  fight  the  labor 
unions.  The  unions  naturally  desire  restriction. 
Farmers  would  favor  an  increase  of  immigration  if 
that  would  mean  more  farm  labor.  It  would  not, 
however,  since  the  great  bulk  of  immigrants  now 
coming  are  not  farm  workers,  but  people  who  will 
go  to  swell  our  crowded  city  population.  The  pro¬ 
posed  new  law  contains  a  clause  which  would  help 
some  of  our  readers  who  apply  to  us  for  advice  about 
bringing  in  their  relatives.  Under  this  clause: 
The  wife,  father,  mother,  unmarried  minor  children, 
unmarried  minor  brother  or  sister  of  a  naturalized  citi¬ 
zen,  the  unmarried  minor  orphan,  niece  or  nephew  of 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  would  be  admitted,  also 
an  immigrant  who  is  the  husband,  wife  or  unmarried 
child  of  an  alien,  who  has  been  permanently  admitted 
to  the  United  States,  or  has  resided  at  least  two  years 
prior  to  the  filing  of  the  application  or  has  made  de- 
ola ration  of  intention  to  become  a  citizen. 
A  Well-deserved  Tribute  to  Prof. 
Massey 
I  am,  indeed,  deeply  sorry  to  learn,  in  The  R.  N.-Y., 
of  the  malady  of  Prof.  Massey.  We  certainly  shall 
miss  him  !  His  articles  were  always  well  worth  read¬ 
ing,  not  only  for  the  information  imparted,  but  also 
the  loving  spirit  which  they  manifested  in  relation  to 
the  floral  realm.  How  often  have  they  made  me  feel 
that  I,  too,  must  “keep  a  garden.” 
This  love  of  plant  life,  so  characteristic  of  Prof. 
Massey,  recalls  a  talk  of  perhaps  10  minutes,  given 
many  years  ago  by  Dr.  Brooke  Ilerford  to  the  children 
of  my  little  Sunday  school.  Dr.  Ilerford  was  my  Rum¬ 
mer  parishioner,  he  at  that  time  being  the  minister  of 
Arlington  Street  Church,  Boston.  Children’s  Sunday 
came  the  second  Sunday  in  June,  and  a  florist  and 
gardener,  also  a  member  of  my  church,  sent  in  for  the 
occasion  a  profusion  of  very  beautiful  flowers  from  his 
greenhouses.  Just  before  time  for  church  I  asked  Dr. 
Ilerford  if  he  would  say  a  few  words  to  the  children. 
He  gave  me  a  genial  smile,  but  said :  “My  dear  young 
brother,  you  are  minister  of  this  church,  and  you  should 
speak  to  the  children.  Please,  this  once,  do  not  call 
upon  me.”  So  when  it  came  time  to  address  the  school 
I  took  the  floral  wealth  about  me  for  my  subject.  But 
as  I  proceeded  I  noticed  that  Dr.  Herford  was  becom¬ 
ing  anxious  to  a<ld  something  to  my  words  I  finished 
by  repeating  my  promise  not  to  call  upon  the  doctor, 
formally,  but  added:  “I  see  that  Dr.  Ilerford  has 
something  to  say  to  the  children.  If  he  cares  to  do  so. 
we  shall  be  delighted  to  hear  him.  Then  the  good  man 
came  forward  and  said:  "My  dear  children,  I  do  want 
to  add  this  text,  ‘Working  together  with  God.’”  He 
then  made  a  beautiful  address,  showing  how  our  florist 
had  brought  all  this  beauty  to  perfection  by  working 
with  God  and  nature.  And  isn't  this  precisely  what 
Prof.  Massey  has  been  doing  for  most  of  his  life— work¬ 
ing  with  God  and  nature,  and  most  faithfully  and  lov- 
mgly,  to  make  the  floral  world  more  beautiful,  and  the 
vegetables  that  minister  to  human  need  more  valuable? 
I  believe  it  is.  And  if  the  rest  of  us  work  as  faithfully 
with  God  and  the  divine  resources  in  the  world  of 
nature,  we  also  shall  have  made  our  lives  Vorth  while. 
‘  Working  together  with  God.”  the  dear  man  has  made, 
indeed,  his  life  a  benediction  to  his  fellow  men. 
Massachusetts.  a,  w.  iattleeield. 
Attention,  Jersey  Landowners 
The  letter  of  Mrs.  Edna  C.  Jones,  on  page  343,  should 
receive  the  earnest  consideration  of  every  farmer  and 
property  owner  in  New  Jersey.  The  remarks  of  Mr.  A 
M.  Gage  at  the  Rockland  County  Farm  Bureau  meet¬ 
ing,  quoted  by  her,  seem  to  be  indicative  of  the  general 
feeling  of  hunters;  as  witness  the  present  attempt  to 
change  the  game  laws  of  New  Jersey  so  as  to  compel 
landowners  or  occupants  to  post  their  property  with 
signs  not  over  500  ft.  apart,  otherwise  their  lands  are 
not  legally  posted  against  hunting  or  trespassing.  This 
is  an  outrageous  amendment,  putting,  as  it  does,  the 
expense  and  burden  on  the  landowners. 
Property  owners  should  take  up  this  matter  with 
rheir  representatives  at  once  and  impress  on  them  the 
tact  that  the  rights  of  property  owners  must  be  kept 
inviolate  in  New  Jersey  at  least. 
a  new  jersey  landowner. 
New  York  State  Notes 
iaT™  “s,ate  Conservation  Commission  has  set  aside 
10,000  trees  <o  meet  the  demands  of  those  people  in 
Seneca  County  who  wish  to  do  reforestation  work 
this  Spring.  During  the  years  from  1909  to  192‘» 
34, i 00  trees  furnished  by  the  State  have  been  planted 
m  this  county.  More  than  half  of  these  have  gone  to 
the  State  Hospital  in  that  county,  but  the  allotment 
tins  year  is  for  farmers  who  have  waste  land  that 
should  be  growing  trees.  ' 
March  1  saw  the  first  sap  buckets  hanging  on  the 
trees  in  the  southern  tier  of  counties  in  the  State 
These  were  observed  first  in  Tioga  County.  How  fast 
this  flow  was  coining  was  not  observed,  but  the  warm 
days  and  cool  nights  are  making  conditions  ideal  for 
results.  Just  before  going  through  Tioga  County  I 
came  through  the  sap  section  of  Delaware  Countv 
where  there  was  4  ft.  of  snow  yet  on  the  ground. 
It  is  expected  that  work  in  Wyoming  County  will 
soon  be  under  way  for  the  eradication  of  tuberculosis. 
A  committee  of  four  men  have  been  chosen  to  act  on 
tins  in  the  organization  of  the  .work.  They  have  been 
chosen  from  the  four  farm  organizations  of  the  county 
viz.,  the  Pomona  Grange,  the  Farm  Bureau,  the  Dairy¬ 
men  s  League  and  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  A  slight 
delay  has  been  experienced  in  waiting  for  the  action 
from  the  Department  of  Farms  and  Markets.  As  soon 
as  this  matter  is  settled  the  committee  will  proceed  to 
elect  officers  and  make  the  necessary  plans. 
Apples,  cabbage  and  potato  prices  reached  the  high 
point  ot  the  season  on  March  2  in  the  Rochester  dis¬ 
trict,  according  to  a  report  issued  by  the  representative 
ot  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Markets.  The  severe 
weather  that  caused  a  slackening  in  the  number  of 
shipments  was  no  doubt  a  contributing  factor.  Cab¬ 
bage  on  that  date  reached  $60  a  ton,  as  compared  with 
$6  a  ton  at  the  beginning  of  the  season.  Potatoes  ad¬ 
vanced  as  high  as  $1  -a  bushel.  This  report  also  shows 
that  there  has  been  a  movement  of  2,47!)  cars  of  cab¬ 
bage  out  of  New  York  State  as  compared  with  5,032 
tor  the  whole  country.  There  has  also  been  a  move- 
of  4,213  carloads  of  apples  as  compared  with  14,- 
391  over  the  whole  country. 
The  talk  of  abandoning  the  Short  Line  that  runs  from 
Ithaca  to  Auburn,  connecting  with  the  New  York  Cen¬ 
tral  Railroad,  has  been,  a  cause  of  worry  to  some  of  the 
farmers  in  Tompkins  and  Cayuga  counties,  who  have 
had  to  depend  on  this  branch  for  the  marketing  of  tlieir 
produce.  Although  the  operators  wish  to  close  this  road 
on  the  grounds  that  it  is  not  a  paying  proposition,  yet 
the  request  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has 
not  been  granted.  The  abandonment  of  this  road  would 
make  considerable  difference  with  the  land  values  of  the 
farms  that  are  near  it. 
Interest  in  cow-testing  associations  is  returning  in 
Delaware  County,  where  at  one  time  there  were  as  high 
as  nine  associations.  Possibly  some  of  this  interest  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  price  of  milk  is  not  as  high  as 
during  the  war,  and  the  necessity  to  weed  out  the 
boarder  cow  is- more  generally  felt  than  for  some  time 
past.  Another  interesting  side  light  on  the  situation  in 
some  parts  of  the  county  is  the  fact  that  farmers  have 
been  dissatisfied  with  the  test  that  they  have  been  get¬ 
ting  at  some  of  the  receiving  stations.  While  a  cow¬ 
testing  association  is  not  primarily  for  this  purpose, 
yet  many  of  the  farmers  feel  that  more  care  will  be 
exercised  if  the  one  testing  the  milk  at  the  local  station 
had  a  _  knowledge  that  his  work  is  being  checked  up 
from  time  to  time  throughout  the  month.  In  one  com¬ 
munity  where  I  was  visiting  there  had  been  withdrawals 
from  the  local  pool,  and  all  but  two  were  on  account 
of  the  dissatisfaction  with  the  test.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  dairy  business,  especially  where  the  product  is 
being  sold  in  fluid  form,  that  is  so  deceiving  as  the 
butterfat  test.  One  farmer  who  was-  talking  to  me  said 
that  when  he  was  in  the  cow-testing  association  he 
found  that  some  of  the  cows  that  he  thought  were 
good  turned  out  to  be  some  of  the  poorest  in  the  herd. 
On  the  other  hand,  some  of  those  that  were  thought  to 
be  the  poorest  did  not  always  live  up  to  their  reputa¬ 
tion  so  far  as  the  butterfat  test  was  concerned.  I  found 
more  boosting  dairymen  in  Delaware  County,  for  their 
business  and  the  community  in  which  they  lived,  than 
any  section  of  the  State  that  I  have  been  in  for  some 
time.  This  is  not  only  reflected  in  the  open  country, 
but  in  the  village  as  well.  At  Sydney  I  stopped  at  a 
local  store  to  make  a  purchase  of  a  standard  product. 
I  asked  the  merchant  if  he  had  what  I  wanted.  He 
said,  “I’m  sorry  I  don’t  keep  that  line  of  goods,  but  my 
competitor  down  on  the  other  corner  does.”  While  such 
spirit  of  wholesome  competition  is  a  state  of  mind  that 
is  not  easily  acquired,  yet  I  feel  that  it  is  such  an  atmos¬ 
phere  that  makes  for  successful  communities,  either  in 
the  open  country  or  in  the  villages.  e.  a.  f. 
