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Editorial Page of the American 
American 
Agriculturist 
Founded 1842 
Published Weekly by 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, INC. 
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partments to 
461 Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y. 
Entered as Second-Class Matter, December 15, 1922, at the Post Office 
at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
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VOL. 113 February 2, 1924 No. 5 
Appreciation From the Department 
of Justice 
INCE complet ing our work in helping to secure 
indictments against the Standard Food and 
Fur Association for swindling the farmers, we 
were much pleased to receive the following letter 
from Colonel William Hayward, United States 
Attorney for Southern New York District: 
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 
NEW YORK 
January 17th, 1924 
American Agriculturist, 
461 Fourth Avenue, 
New York, New York. 
Dear Sirs: 
I feel that I should thank your publication for 
the great assistance your representatives, and 
particularly your counsel, have rendered the de¬ 
partment in our recent Standard Food and Fur 
indictment. Mr. Marasco, my Assistant who 
had the matter in charge, tells me that the in¬ 
formation and assistance of your people was of 
the greatest help. Yours truly, 
(Signed) WILLIAM HAYWARD, 
United States Attorney. 
A Few Tax Facts 
HE total farm income in the United States 
is from seven to eight billion dollars a year. 
The total amount of taxes needed to run the na¬ 
tional, State and local governments is also over 
seven billion dollars a year. Farming is bigger by 
several times than any other business in the coun¬ 
try, YET IT TAKES ALL OF THE TOTAL 
INCOME OF THE FARM BUSINESS TO PAY 
THE COST OF GOVERNMENT. It took 
every farmer and every farm family in the United 
States, working long hours every day for a year, 
to pay the national and local tax bill. 
No further proof than these statements is 
needed to show the danger this country is in from 
the high cost of too much government. Neither 
does the farmer in particular need any proof for he 
knows the danger from his constant struggle 
against the ever-increasing tax demon. He knows 
it more intensely than any other class, for 16 per 
cent, of his income now goes for taxes as compared 
with 11 per cent, of their income which all other 
people pay in taxes. 
The politicians lay the tax burden which has 
multiplied itself several times since 1913, to the 
war. We think this excuse is worn threadbare. 
The war is over. The real trouble is that 
very little has been done by the politicians 
either nationally or locally to reduce the 
great hordes of non-producing employees 
that were taken on during the war. Also, 
in spite of the constantly increasing taxes, the 
appropriation bills, both national and State, are 
ever increasing. On the opening day of Congress, 
December 4, 767 bills were presented, over 40 
per cent, of which were for appropriations, most 
of which we could get along without easily, at 
least until there has been some tax relief. * 
Another cause of our trouble is the increase in 
tax-exempt securities. Billions of dollars of tax¬ 
able property escape taxation entirely, WHILE 
THE FARMERS’ PROPERTY IS NEVER 
FORGOTTEN BY THE ASSESSOR. 
The trouble here is like the many other troubles 
that farmers have. They grumble among them¬ 
selves, but few of them will actually take any con¬ 
structive steps to correct an evil. CITY PEOPLE 
WRITE LETTERS or go to see personally their 
representatives in the State and national legisla¬ 
tures. Farm people will not even write letters. 
The result is apparent. Do your representatives 
know, for instance, that you are opposed to ap¬ 
propriations at this time, that you are opposed to 
tax-exemption, and that you emphatically believe 
that your representative’s duty is to leave no 
stone unturned to reduce government expendi¬ 
tures of all kinds and to cut down the taxes? 
The People Should Administer the 
Schools 
T HE impartial summary of the Rural School 
Bill on the opposite page is worthy of your 
attention. Especially do we hope that you will 
notice what is said about how the bill will increase 
local control of the rural schools. For years there 
has been quite a decided feeling on the part of 
farm people that both the administrative and 
educational control of the schools were being 
taken away from the people and centralized in 
Albany. The State, WHICH IS THE PEOPLE, 
employs teachers and other experts who devote 
their lives to educational work, to teaching our 
children and to directing our educational affairs. 
So far as these educators are kept responsible to 
the people who appoint or elect them, a certain 
amount of centralization into their hands is 
probably necessary for the best interests of our 
children. But when it comes to the business 
administration of the schools, this is an¬ 
other matter, and should to a very great 
extent always be kept in the hands of the 
people or trustees and boards of education 
elected by the people. IT IS A MISTAKE 
TO REMOVE SO MUCH OF THE ADMINIS¬ 
TRATION OF SCHOOL AFFAIRS FROM 
RURAL DISTRICTS, and one of the hopeful 
things for the future success of our schools is that 
the educators themselves have come to realize 
that too much centralization in school adminis¬ 
tration is not desirable. 
The farmer-members of the Committee of 
Twenty-one had this point of local control veiy 
much in mind in all of their studies of rural schools, 
and they made several distinct local control 
recommendations that later were incorporated in 
the present School Bill. Many statements based 
on misinformation on this very point of the 
people’s control of their own schools have been 
circulated about the Rural Education Bill. All 
that you need to do to get the facts is to note 
what is said about local control on the opposite 
page, and then write your Assemblyman or Sena¬ 
tor for a copy of the amended bill which has just 
been introduced in the New York State 
Legislature. 
“Saving Your Savings” 
UNITED STATES Treasury certificate pur¬ 
chased now for $20 will be worth $25 in five 
years. An $80 certificate will be worth $100 in the 
same period; and $800 will increase to $1,000. 
The interest yield is 4^2 per cent., compounded 
semi-annually. These securities are absolutely 
safe, and can be had in small denominations. Yoiir 
own postmaster will get them for you. 
We want to mention again also the Federal 
Land Bank bonds, which pay a good interest rate, 
are issued in small denominations, and, of course, 
are absolutely safe. 
If you have not already read it, turn back to 
Mr. Hughes’ article on our feature page entitled, 
“Saving Your Savings.” THE FIRST PLACE 
FOR A FARMER’S SAVINGS IS NATURALLY 
IN HIS OWN BUSINESS; the next, it seems to 
us, is in safe investments like those mentioned 
above. 
Farmers* Week Coming 
HOUSANDS of farm people who yearly 
attend the annual Farmers’ Weeks at their 
State Colleges of Agriculture must get a good deal 
American Agriculturist, February 2, 1924 
Agriculturist 
of both pleasure and profit out of this trip, or the* 
attendances would not steadily increase as they 
have in the last few years. 
The New York State College is making great 
plans to entertain its thousands of visitors from 
February 11 to 16. Every side of the farm business 
is planned for in the program, and not the least 
of these plans is a lot of preparation for entertain¬ 
ment. The four o’clock hour each day, and every 
evening will provide for programs not relating 
strictly to agricultural and home-making subjects. 
There will be readings by Mr. George C. Williams, 
from the Ithaca Conservatory of Music; illus¬ 
trated lectures, including one on Indian trails and 
pioneer days; readings of original rural versions; 
and recitals of folk songs by Mrs. Rose Morgan, 
of New "York City. There will also be organ and 
orchestra recitals, debates and prize speaking 
contests. 
We hope that you can plan to go. 
Farm Implement Buying Decreased 
HE figures on page 102 showing the decrease in 
the purchase of farm machinery since 1914 
are certainly surprising. Many of the commonly 
used farm implements are being purchased only in 
one-third the quantity that they were before the 
war. This means that the manufacturers are 
operating their plants on a one-third basis, thereby 
greatly increasing the cost of all of their output. 
It means also, that many farmers are wasting 
high-priced and scarce labor on worn-out ma¬ 
chines which have been patched up beyond the 
limit of efficient operation. 
This is, of course, the time when careful thought, 
must be given to all farm purchases, particularly 
to the buying of anything unnecessary. But it 
is a grave question if continual patching up of 
worn-out and necessary farm implements is any 
real economy. 
Work for Standard Time 
OU will be interested in Mr. G. Warren Davis’ 
statement on page 103 showing the favorable 
attitude of some cities toward standard time. 
There are many thousands of people in the city 
to whom daylight saving is just as much of a 
nuisance as it is to farmers, but the trouble is that 
they are not organized. The matter will be up 
locally in a good many communities very shortly. 
Therefore, now is the time for action. 
Thomas J. Owens, Secretary of the Empire 
State Anti-Daylight Saving Association, is trying 
to organize all of the help he can to maintain 
standard time everywhere. Mr. Davis is doing 
the same in Connecticut. You can materially 
help this cause by dropping a card stating in a 
sentence or so your emphatic views on this subject 
to either of these leaders of the standard time 
movement. 
Eastman’s Chestnuts 
T won’t do to fix this story on any of my 
“gentle readers,” for fear that they will lose 
all of their gentleness after reading it. Judging 
from an occasional letter that I get, the days are 
not so far away when irate subscribers used to 
shoot up editorial offices, so I can not afford to 
take any chances. Therefore, after reading this 
story, you need not make any application personal 
to you or yours, unless you really think you ought 
to. But if you have recently lost your hired man, 
you may find a real moral in the following: 
It seems that a certain hired man had toiled 
long and faithfully all summer and on the strength 
of his good service he finally got up courage to ask 
his farmer employer for the loan of the horse and 
buggy with which to go to see his girl. The farmer 
promptly refused the request. Then the young man 
asked for the loan of a lantern, to which the far¬ 
mer replied: 
“Well, Bill, I guess I might let you take the 
lantern. But I don’t see what you need of it. 
I never used any lantern when I went to see my 
girl.” 
“I believe it,” said Bill. “SEE WHAT 
YOU GOT!” 
