American Agriculturist/ 
THE FARM PAPER THAT PRINTS THE FARM NEWS 
“Agriculture is the Most Healthful, Most Useful and Most Noble Employment of Man .”—Washington 
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Established 1842 
Volume 114 
For the Week Ending October 25, 1924 
Number 17 
The Farmer’s Interest In Government 
State to Do, the More Taxes We Have to Pay 
99 
“The More We Ask the 
T HE farmer’s interest in government is the 
same as that of any other good citizen. 
He has no reliance upon the State that 
is peculiar to his business, and he re¬ 
quires only the same type of laws and law en¬ 
forcement that apply to citizens in other lines 
of endeavor. 
The rural citizen is the strongest bulwark of the 
State. This is essentially so, for the finest ele¬ 
ments of individual responsibility and self- 
reliance are developed and fostered in the tiller of 
the soil. Since the begin¬ 
ning of the Republic, the 
farmer has been the real 
pioneer. To him, the State 
has stood as the symbol of 
protection in his rights of 
private endeavor. Out of 
this has come countless 
homes, free schools, good 
churches, and the other ele¬ 
ments that make for patri¬ 
otism and service to coun¬ 
try. 
There are those who 
would have the farmer feel that his interests in 
government and in laws are not in common with 
other classes and groups of citizens. I do not 
agree with this. The highest guaranty that the 
State can make the citizen was contained in the 
Declaration of Independence. Life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness are all that the State 
honestly can promise to anyone, and this is all 
the farmer needs or asks. But he does insist upon 
this, and any departure from it is discrimination, 
whether it be done especially in his interest or for 
any other class or group. 
The appeal is made to the farmer that so long 
as others have been specially favored by the 
State, he is entitled to like consideration. 
I believe this is putting the cart before the 
horse. Would it not be better to assume that 
no one is entitled to special favor by the 
State, not even the farmer? Injustices that 
may have been done cannot be rectified by 
enacting more unjust laws. The remedy lies 
in repealing any unjust laws that already 
exist. 
Too Much Class Legislation 
During recent years we have followed a 
process of enacting class legislation, and it 
has brought down upon us a host of ills and 
almost endless complaint. These laws have 
not accomplished anything worth while for 
the farmer, and too frequently have been 
held out to him as a bait to catch his vote. 
One thing they have done has been to in¬ 
crease taxes through the creation of numer¬ 
ous new agencies of government. This 
brings us to a feature of government in which 
the farmer is vitally interested. 
Some one has said, and wisely, that the 
power to tax is the power to destroy. Taxes 
fall with heavy hand upon the farmer. 
Farm property in Nebraska, including 
one-half of all the automobiles in the State, 
represents nearly 65 per cent, of all tax¬ 
able values in the State. The percentage 
will vary in other States, but there can be 
no doubt that the rural citizen is bearing a 
By SAMUEL R. McKELVIE 
Publisher of The Nebraska Farmer 
very heavy share of the burden of taxation. 
Therefore, every increase in taxes represents an 
added barrier against rural progress unless in 
turn a service is rendered to justify it. 
There are many theories of taxation that would 
render the load less arduous for the farmer to 
carry, but in the last analysis, taxes must be paid, 
either directly or indirectly, and while we may 
evade the issue, we cannot avoid it. Therefore, 
the thing of utmost importance is that the activi¬ 
ties and expenditures of the State should be so con¬ 
fined that taxes will not be increased out of pro¬ 
portion to the actual needs of good government. 
Heavy Tax Burden 
The war left our nation with a burden of taxes 
that economically cannot be discharged by this 
generation. This overhead item hangs like a 
heavy cloud over economic progress. The weight 
of it may be minimized only by the practice of the 
wisest economy by the citizen and the State. 
Some countries, notably Germany, discharged 
their war obligation to their people through de¬ 
preciating the currency, and now they are left to 
reflect upon the damage that was done. Our 
country has not and cannot pursue such an un¬ 
wise policy. Our only recourse must be the crea¬ 
tion and the conservation of wealth by the people 
and the State. And this does not admit of ex¬ 
travagance by either. 
Of this we may be quite sure—the more we ask 
the State to do for us, the more we shall have to 
pay in taxes. Thus should we pause when pro¬ 
posals are made for the State to enter upon new 
enterprises, or greatly increase the activities in 
which it is already engaged. Illustrative of this 
point would be the public ownership of the rail¬ 
roads. The effect of such a move would be at once 
to increase the taxes on private property in Ne¬ 
braska 10 per cent., for the railroads now pay 
10 per cent, of all State taxes in Nebraska, and 
this would have to be borne by some one else if the 
railroads were publicly owned. Nor does this take 
into account the increase in taxes that would be 
necessary in order to pay for the carriers if they 
were purchased by the State, the estimated value 
of which is approximately $20,000,000,000. 
Those who advocate greater public activity in 
matters that are now handled privately argue that 
rate reductions and economy in management 
would offset the increase in taxes. This remains 
to be proven, for thus far it has not been shown 
that the State handles its business more econom¬ 
ically or efficiently than is done under private 
initiative. Probably, the best we can do with our 
public utilities is to have them wisely controlled 
by the State so that they may not impose upon 
the rights of the public. 
And while we are considering the question of 
taxation, it is important to reflect upon the fact 
that the greatest share of all taxes goes for the 
support of local units of government. Strangely 
enough, the nearer the government to the people, 
the greater the taxes. Really, the tax question 
roosts on the front doorstep of every taxpayer, for 
the individual has more to do with determining 
what his taxes shall be than the Legislature or the 
Congress. Therefore, it behooves us to manifest 
an increasing interest in the management and the 
control of our local institutions of government. 
The State of Nebraska has no debt, bonded 
or otherwise.^ When the Constitution of this 
State was written, it was provided therein that 
State bonds should not be voted for any 
purpose, and the limit of the State debt was 
very nominal. Had it not been for this, 
Nebraska would have been in exactly the 
same condition to-day as the most of the 
other States of the Union. Bonds would 
have been voted for numerous purposes, and 
this would have represented a taxable item 
that possibly could not be avoided. 
States Heavily in Debt 
It is not sufficient to say that the next ' 
generation will pay, for each generation has 
its own obligations to meet, and usually they 
are increasing. We can not be too careful 
in lifting the limitations against the incur¬ 
rence of debt. It is better to err on the side 
of conservatism than to throw down the bars 
so that in a moment of apparent need or 
temporary prosperity we may incur un¬ 
necessary obligations. 
Because of his attitude on the tax question 
the farmer is often referred to as a reaction¬ 
ary, a moss-back and an ultra-conservative, 
but the same people who thus characterize 
him are wont to refer to him in the next 
breath as a radical. The farmer is neither 
an ultra-conservative nor a radical. Inher¬ 
ently, he is a progressive in everything that 
the term implies. Fie believes in our free 
institutions, and the majority of farmers own 
their own homes. The farmer believes in 
(Continued on page 283) 
Standard Farm Paper Editorial Service 
T HE Standard Farm Papers are a group of farm publi¬ 
cations working together for the mutual interest of 
the farmers in their territory. The editors of these 
papers meet frequently to discuss mutual problems and 
to work methods of working together in the interest of the 
Standard Farm Paper Editorial platform. These editors 
make up the Standard Farm Paper Editorial Board, which 
is as follows: — 
C. V. Gregory . Prairie Farmer, Chicago, 111 . 
D. A. Wallace . . The Farmer, St. Paul, Minn. 
H. A. Wallace. ... . Wallace’s Farmer, Des Moines, Iowa 
Clarence Poe. . . Progressive Farmer, Birmingham, Ala. 
Donald Keefer . Pacific Rural Press, San Francisco, Cal. 
E. R. Eastman . American Agriculturist, New York City 
T. L. Leadley . Nebraska Farmer, Lincoln, Neb. 
John Cunningham . Wisconsin Agriculturist, Racine, Wis, 
A. J. Glover .. Hoard’s Dairyman, Atkinson, Wis. 
DeWitt C. Wing . Breeder’s Gazette, Chicago, 111. 
Once each month during the coming year each of the 
Standard Farm Papers will print a special article on some 
subject of general interest, written by £ member of this 
editorial board or one of his associates. These articles, 
written from a broad viewpoint and dealing with topics of 
current interest, will be authoritative and interesting. 
The first article of this series, written by Samuel R. Mc- 
Kelvie, publisher of the “Nebraska Farmer” and formerly 
Governor of Nebraska, appears herewith. 
© Harris & Ewing 
SAMUEL R. McKELVIE 
