630 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
April  21,  1923 
HOPE  FARM  NOTES 
Please  read  inclosed  clipping.  Perhaps 
you  would  like  to  justify  the  farmer  for 
plowing  under  his  cabbage  instead  of 
feeding  his  city  brother  at  a  loss.  T.  B. 
New  York. 
The  clipping  which  our  friend  sends 
me  is  a  page  taken  from  the  Christian 
Advocate.  It  contains  an  excellent  edi¬ 
torial  on  Tut-ank-amen,  the  old  Egyptian 
King,  whose  grave  was  recently  opened. 
The  writer  gives  what  I  call  a  good  dis¬ 
mission  of  wealth  and  the  uses  to  which 
it  is  commonly  put — wise  or  otherwise. 
He  says  there  is  what  he  calls  a  “satura¬ 
tion  point”  beyond  which  the  gathering 
and  hoarding  of  wealth  and  power  be¬ 
comes  a  burden  rather  than  a  producer  of 
happiness.  That  is  about  like  dropping 
sugar  or  salt  into  water — there  finally 
comes  a  point  where  the  water  can  ab¬ 
sorb  no  more — it  is  saturated.  I  think  it 
is  true  that  most  human  beings  are  like 
that.  They  are  fitted  by  n  a  turn  and 
training  and  character  to  absorb  or  handle 
just  about  so  much  wealth  and  power, 
and  no  more.  When  they  get  beyond 
their  ability  to  handle  money  and  power 
wisely  they  become  hogs  or  tyrants.  Most 
of  us  will  have  to  take  the  Advocate’s 
word  for  this  or  rely  upon  our  own  ob- 
'crvations,  since  we  are  not  likely  to 
have  much  chance  at  personal  proof.  It 
seems  to  me,  however,  that  I  have  seen 
children  so  selfish  that  a  stick  of  candy 
or  the  spending  of  five  cents  shows  that 
they  are  “saturated.”  And  when  they 
grow  up!  Well,  I  should  be  sorry  to  be 
compelled  to  live  on  their  bounty. 
***** 
The  editorial  in  the  Christian  Advocate 
goes  on  to  Compare  the  old  king  and  his 
foolishly  spent  wealth  with  some  big  steel 
magnate  and  a  farmer  in  New  Jersey.  I 
say  “foolishly  spent,”  yet  no  doubt  if 
this  old  king  could  come  back  to  view 
life  as  we  now  find  it,  he  would  consider 
some  of  our  modern  habits  and  customs 
insane  or  worse.  The  Advocate  has  no 
trouble  in  showing  up  the  “saturated” 
magnate  and  the  effect  of  his  precipitated 
wealth  upon  society,  but  I  think  its 
farmer  is  more  like  a  straw  man  or  scare¬ 
crow.  This  pictured  farmer  is  supposed 
to  have  a  small  farm,  where  he  raises  a 
fair  crop,  chiefly  through  the  aid  of  his 
children.  We  all  know  many  such.  To 
quote  from  the  Christian  Advocate  about 
this  farmer: 
“Never  does  he  stop  to  think  that  it 
was  God  who  gave  him  seeds,  that  it  was 
God’s  rain  that  caused  them  to  sprout, 
that  it  was  God’s  sunshine  that  raised 
them  fit  for  harvest.  Never  does  he  stop 
to  acknowledge  God’s  partnership  in  his 
farming  enterprise,  his  own  stewardship 
"f  these  gifts,  their  ultimate  mission  to 
feed  the  poor  of  the  earth.  If  market 
prices  are  not  enouah.  he  trill  ‘ plow  in’ 
his  cabbage,  while  thousands  next  door 
in  i\eio  York  City  mag  be  going  to  bed 
hungry  every  night. 
There  is  no  use  trying  to  quarrel  about 
that,  except  to  say  that  it  is  not  true  of 
many  farmers  that  I  personally  know'. 
Take  500  countrymen  as  you  lind  them 
at  random,  aud  select  500  townsmen  as 
they  pass  along  the  street,  aud  you  will 
find  that  twice  as  many  of  the  country¬ 
men  have  a  true  religious  feeling  about 
their  work  as  would  be  the  case  with 
city  workers.  And  then  we  have  the 
following  statement: 
“We  have  been  told  of  our  stewardship ; 
we  know'  that  God  has  given  us  some  pos¬ 
sessions  for  a  brief  period  of  years — a 
few  seconds  compared  to  His  eternity — 
and  that  He  expects  us  to  use  His  wealth 
for  the  happiness  and  betteimicnt  of  all 
mankind.  Some  day  not  so  many  years 
hence  the  world  will  smile  at  our  conceit 
and  our  super-egotism  and  our  folly,  be¬ 
cause  we  vainly  imagine  that  the  individ¬ 
ual  who  possesses  great  stores — or  even 
small  surplus  stores — as  a  result  of  a 
faulty  industrial  system,  owes  nothing 
to  his  sweating,  less-favored  brother." 
***** 
“And  now,”  says  the  friend  who  sends 
us  the  clipping,  “what  do  you  think  of 
that?” 
Well  it  W'ould  require  a  full  book  to 
tell  all  my  thoughts.  “  ’Twere  vain  to 
tell  thee  all  I  feel.”  My  first  thought  is 
that  I  would  give  considei-able  to  see  the 
editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate  located 
<>n  a  Jersey  farm  under  just  the  conditions 
which  surround  his  farmer.  That  would 
mean  a  land  of  average  fertility,  nothing 
but  family  help,  without  sufficient  capital 
and  no  possible  income  except  what,  he 
can  dig  out  of  the  soil.  He  should  be 
surrounded  by  commuters  and  “gentleman 
farmers.”  His  family  should  associate 
at  school  and  church  aud  in  society  with 
families  of  men  who  have  a  cash  income 
at  some  so-called  superior  position — as. 
for  example,  making  figures  in  a  book  or 
talking  like  a  parrot  at  some  salesman’s 
or  agent’s  “profession.”  I  would  have 
the  minds  of  his  children  inflamed  by 
the  expensive  and  unpractical  habits 
which  are  “caught”  at  some  of  our  pub¬ 
lic  schools.  With  no  thought  of  being 
sarcastic  or  impudent,  I  would  earnestly 
like  to  see  the  editor  of  the  Christian 
Advocate  planted  on  such  a  farm  and 
watch  him  raise  a  crop  under  the  hard 
conditions  which  prevailed  last  year.  1 
should  really  enjoy  seeing  him  go  to 
market  as  we  did  last  year  with  loads  of 
beautiful  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  stand 
helplessly  while  the  .market  slumped  so 
that  he  could  not  get  even  the  cost  of 
production.  Then  writh  the  smart  of  the  hot 
sun  on  his  neck,  the  sticky  cling  of  sweat 
on  his  body,  the  bite  of  the  frost  at  his 
fingei's  and  the  ache  in  the  small  of  his 
back,  I  should  like  to  have  him  take  the 
day  when  his  big  tax  bill  is  presented  and 
have  him  rewrite  his  editorial  and  give 
his  advice  to  farmers  based  upon  painful 
experience.  It  would.  I  believe,  be  a 
great  production,  for  this  editor  is  a  very 
able  man.  with  sti-ong  power  of  expres¬ 
sion.  I  have  found  that  people  may 
rail  at  the  rich  and  safely  advise  them 
and  tell  what  they  ought  to  do.  Yrou  see, 
we  cannot  well  seat  ourselves  in  the  seats 
of  the  mighty,  for  not  one  in  100,000  of 
us  can  ever  hope  to  be  really  rich  and 
strong.  Any  one  of  us,  however,  could,  if 
he  chose,  give  away  the  wealth  and  power 
that  we  happen  to  posse  5  and  live  the 
life  of  the  hard  worker  and  struggling 
fanner.  The  world  would  be  far  better 
off  if  those  who  profess  to  educate  and 
advise  the  farmer  and  his  family  could 
be  compelled  to  live  the  actual  life  of  a 
farmei',  and  endure  his  stnxggles  before 
they  undertook  to  tell  him  w'hat  to  do. 
Perhaps  one  trouble  W'ith  country  people 
today  is  that  they  are  expected  to  con¬ 
sume  agriculture  when  their  natural  taste 
is  for  plain  farming. , 
**«.** 
And  yet  there  is  great  truth  in  w'hat 
the  editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate  says 
in  that  second  quotation.  I  have  for 
years  thought  that  our  great  schemes  for 
co-operative  work  will  never  come  to  a 
full  head  until  we  recognize  the  founda¬ 
tion  principle  that  the  strong  must  hell) 
the  w'eak.  I  have  befoi'e  now  stood  on 
my  hill  and  seen  all  around  me  faxm 
produce  of  vai'ious  kinds  spoiling  on 
the  ground  because  it  would  not  bring 
the  cost  of  picking  and  hauling.  Yet  at 
the  same  moment  by  merely  lifting  my 
eyes  I  can  see  buildings  in  New  York 
City  where  under  the  very  shadows  hu¬ 
man  beings  are  undei'fed  and  undernour¬ 
ished.  I  personally  think  it  would  be  a 
desirable  thing  to  give  our  surplus  away 
to  these  poor  people  if  it  could  be  wisely 
given.  Aside  from  any  other  considera¬ 
tion,  it  would  be  a  fonn  of  advertising 
our  goods.  But  how  ai-e  wre  to  bring  the 
produce  to  these  poor  people,  and  how 
is  it  to  be  distributed  fairly?  We  cannot 
do  it,  for  we  are  driven  beyond  the  limit 
of  endurance  in  an  effort  to  market  our 
crops.  Those  who  advise  us  and  tell  us 
w'hat  to  do  have  no  idea  of  the  struggle 
to  keep  ahead  of  xdpening  and  sale.  Ask 
the  poor  to  come  and  get  the  goods?  How 
are  they  going  to  come?  I  have  seen 
that  tried  in  a  small  way.  On  invitation 
plenty  of  people  came  in  wagons,  cars 
aud  trucks.  They  helped  themselves 
fi'eely  with  the  idea  that  they  were  doing 
us  a  great  favor.  We  found  that  many 
of  them  w'ere  quite  w'ell  able  to  pay  for 
the  goods.  In  a  few  cases  these  “poor  peo¬ 
ple”  actually  took  the  fx*uit  and  vegetables 
and  sold  some  of  it.  Others  actually 
came  back  and  heloed  themselves  at  a 
time  when  there  was  no  real  surplus  to 
give  awray.  There  is  far  more  of  this 
generous  spirit  of  helpfulness  among 
farmers  than  most  people  think.  Thou¬ 
sands  of  farmers  are  doing  more  of  what 
the  Christian  Advocate  suggests  than  you 
can  imagine.  In  fact,  I  believe  that 
farmers,  take  them  as  a  whole,  give  away 
more  of  the  products  of  their  labor  than 
any  other  class  of  workers.  Old  King 
“Tut”  had  his  treasures  buried  with  him. 
I  know  plenty  of  country  people  who  will 
have  very  little  wealth  to  take  into  the 
ground  when  they  go.  Their  treasures 
will  be  in  heaven  as  a  result  of  the  work 
they  have  done  on  earth. 
***** 
There  is  another  side  to  this  matter  of 
giving.  Some  of  these  people  who  claim 
to  be  underfed  have  become  mendicants 
through  too  much  giving.  They  have  been 
carried  and  helped  and  “advised”  by  in¬ 
dividuals,  oi'ganizations  and  governments 
until  they  have  lost  their  self-reliance  and 
initiative.  Thei'e  are  plenty  of  cases 
where  industrious  farmers  have  divided 
food  with  certain  shiftless  families  until 
it  w'as  accepted  as  a  fixed  habit.  Before 
such  a  habit  became  fixed  such  families 
would  work  a  garden  ;  at  least,  until  the 
sun  became  too  hot.  When  they  found 
that  others  would  give  them  vegetables, 
they  quit  working.  “W'hat  is  the  use 
when  Smith  works  and  provides  a  sur¬ 
plus?  I  shall  help  prevent  its  wasting.” 
Some  of  the  city  “pool*”  are  woi-se  than 
that.  Here  I  know  what  I  am  talking 
about,  having  had  some  experience.  We 
have  sent  quite  a  little  food  to  such  peo¬ 
ple.  When  they  are  working  I  find  that 
they  spend  extravagantly  on  beef,  chicken, 
fruit,  etc.  I  have  known  some  of  them 
to  buy  eggs  at  1)0  cents  and  then  default 
on  the  rent.  They  tell  the  stoi-y  of  the 
author  who  was  always  in  debt.  A  butcher 
got  after  him  about  a  bill  for  expensive 
lamb  chops.  Some  friend  paid  the  bill, 
but  asked: 
“Why  in  the  name  of  common  sense  do 
you  buy  these  expensive  chops  when  you 
know  you  can’t  pay  for  them?” 
“Why,  I  like  lamb  chops.” 
That  seems  to  be  about  the  way  some 
of  these  “underfed  pool-”  figure. 
I  have  seen  good-sized  pieces  of  bread 
and  good  soup  bones  thrown  into  the 
garbage  pail.  Some  of  our  gifts  of  food 
seem  to  be  accepted  with  the  sign  lan¬ 
guage  of  shoulder  and  face  which  I  read 
“Is  that  all?”  My  own  opinion  is  that 
there  has  come  to  be  too  much  of  this  so- 
called  “welfare  work”  among  certain 
classes.  It  is  simply  destroying  the  old 
spirit  of  self-reliance  and  economy,  and 
creating  an  army  of  mendicants,  who  will 
naturally  grow  up  with  the  idea  that  the 
world  owes  them  a  living.  Two  genera- 
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