Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1916 — DEMOCRATIC LAWS THAT HELP FARMERS [ARTICLE]

DEMOCRATIC LAWS THAT HELP FARMERS

Federal Employment Burean But One of Many Achievements of the Wilson Administration. MONEY FOR CROP MOVING Rural Credits, Federal Reserve Good Roads, Grain Standards and Many Other Benefits. Py FRANK G. ODELL. Editor of the Nebraska Farm Magazine Do you know that your post office is now an employment bureau? That is one of the new things Uncle Sam hns started during the present Administration. Secretary Wilson of the Department of Labor lias tackled the task of bringing the Jobless man and the nmnless Job together, and nova every post office is an agency of the United States employment service. The postmaster is equipped with blanks for listing applications for labor or for employment and is instructed to help get the worker and the Job In contact.

While this might appear to be principally in tlie interest of the worker, it is really one of the numerous farreaching things started for the benefit of the farmer by the Administration of President Wilson. The increasing'scarcity of farm labor has become a problem to the farmer, especially In the wheat-growing and fruit-grow-ing sections. This labor, which Is of a seasonal character, necessarily must he performed largely by itinerant workers. Some agency which will meet this demand and relieve the laborer of tln» graft of employment agencies is necessary. Uncle Sam has started it.

A single Illustration will show how the system works; In the Willamette Valley of Oregon thousands of temporary workers are needed In hoppicking time. On August 20 the Oregon Journal of Portland printed a news article about the new government employment agency, stating that six hundred families could obtain immediate employment In the hop yards by applying at the Portland division of the Federal employment service. This is another Item added to the mass of accumulating evidence which shows that the Wilson Administration has tried to give both labor and the farmer a square deal. For the flret time in history, this Administration has placed the needs of rural districts squarely before Congress as of equal importance with the interests of financial centers. Ami why not? Financial center* would not amount to much without the nine-blllion-dolhir crop of the American farmer. Put the Interests of th® farmer have not always been so prominently and favorably considered by Congress as they have during the past three years. The record of Democratic claims for farmer support is a record of accomplishment. It reads like this in the passage of laws and administrative acts: What Has Been Done for the Farmer. CURRENCY REFORM: The Federal Reserve Act under which the farmer's paper is given special consideration, including permission to National Banks to loan on the security of farm lands.

RURAL CREDITS: An epoch-mak-ing legislative measure which will relieve Hie fanner of the Incubus of the short-time loan at extortionate interest. This measure alone, when in full force, will save the farmers of the United States one hundred and fifty million dollars annually in Interest charges. GOOD ROADS: Seventy-five million dollars made available for the development of roads from the farm to the market, under conditions which will prevent wasteful use of the money. AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION: The passage of the Smith-Lever Act brings to every American farm, thrdugh the joint co-operation of the Federal Government and the States, the help of these agencies In solving the business problems of the farmer. COTTON FUTURES ACT: Deals a death blow to gambling in lids great staple. UNITED STATES WAREHOUSE ACT : Enables owners of stored products to obtain loans on warehouse receipts more nearly approximating the full value of the product. GRAIN STANDARDS: A law enacted last August authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish official grain standards. This law is working. The farmer who has been robbed through juggled grain grades for years will appreciate its value. CROP MOVING : The surplus funds of the Treasury Department have been placed directly in the banks of the South and West to aid in moving crops during the customary season of money shortage. INTEREST ON GOVERNMENT DEPOSITS : Banks holding government deposits are now required to pay two per cent Interest. This cuts off a big graft which formerly came froip the free use of huge sums of the people’s money. More than one million dollars revenue annually is now derived from this source alone. IMPROVED MARKETING SYSTEM: The farmer has for years felt the power of the market combine, with its waste, Inefficiency and dishonesty. The office of Markets and the Rural Organization Service, established in the Department of Agriculture during this Administration, are working on scientific lines ito promote better marketing and co-operative business organization among farmers. These benefident measures, with many others, show why the farmer is pretty well satisfied with the Wilson Administration. /