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lATION'S LABOR : PROBLEM I I OVER A MILLION AND A HALF WOMEN WORK A3 FARM HANDS IN THE UNITED STATES. By Peter Radford Li?cturer National Warmers' Union. \ Our government never faced so tre mendous a problem as that, now lying dormant at the doors of congress and |the legislatures, and which, when aroused, will shake this nation from center to circumference, and make [civilization hide its face in shame. '.That problem is?women in the field. j iue last federal census reports show we now have 1,514,000 women working in the field, most of them jsouth of the Mason and Dixon line. .There were approximately a million Inegro slaves working in the fields ;when liberated by the emancipation proclamation. We have freed our jslaves and our women have taken their places in bondage. We have "broken the shackles off the negroes iand welded them upon our daughters. The Chain-Gang of Civilization. A million women in bondage in the (Southern fields form the chain-gang of 'civilization ? the industrial tragedy [of the age. There is no overseer quite ;so cruel as that of unrestrained greed, :no whip that stings like the lash of suborned destiny, and no auctioneer's block quite so revolting as that of or-ganized avarice. ; The president of the United States .was recently lauded by the press, and [very properly so, for suggesting medication between the engineers and railroad managers in adjusting their schedule of time and pay. The engineers threatened to strike if their wages were not increased from approximately ten to eleven dollars per day and service reduced from ten to eight hours and a similar readjust'ment of the overtime schedule. Our women are working in the field, many of them barefooted, for less than 50 cents per day. and their schedule is the rising sun and the evening star, and after the day's work is over they milk the cows, slop the hogs and rock the baby to sleep Is anyone mediating over their problems. and to whom shall they threaten a strike? Congress has listened approvingly to those who toil at the forge and be: hind the counter, and many of our (Statesmen have smiled at the threats and have fanned the flame of unrest among industrial laborers. But worn!en are as surely the final victims of '.industrial \wrfare as they are the burden-boorers in the war between nations, and those who arbitrate and mediate the differences between cap?? tal and labor should not forget that when the expenses of any industry are unnecessarily Increased, society foots the bill by drafting e new consignment ,of women from the home to the tield. Pinch no Crumb From Women's Cru3t f _ of Bread, No financial award can be made without someone footing the bill, and We oommend to those who accept the 'responsibility of the distribution of industrial justice, the still small voice of the woman in the field as she pleads for mercy, and we beg that, they pinch no crumb from, her crust of bread or t put another patch upon her ragged garments. v We beg that they listen to the flcream of horror from the eagle on every American dollar that is wrung from the brow of toiling women and hear the Goddess of Justice hiss at a verdict that increases the want of woman to satisfy the greed of man. The women behind the counter and In the factory cry aloud for sympathy and the press thunders out in their defense and the pulpit pleads for |mercy, but how about the woman in the field? Will not these powerful exponents of human rights turn their italent, energies and influence to her relief? Will the Goddess of Liberty enthroned at Washington hold the cal* V loused hand and soothe the feverish brow of her sex who sows and reaps the nation's harvest or will she permit the male of the species to shove women?weak and weary?from the bread-line of industry to the back alleys of poverty? Women and Children First. The census enumerators top us that of the 1 ,r?11,000 women who work in the fields as farm hands 10f>,000 are six teen vears or age and under. What is the final destiny ot a nation whoso future mothers spend their girlhood days behind the plow, pitching hay and hauling manure, and what is to become of womanly culture and refinement .that grace the home, charm society and enthuse man to leap to glory in noble achievements if our daughters are raised in the society of the ox and the companionship of the plow? In that strata between the ages of sixteen and forty-five are OHO,000 women working as farm hands and many of them with suckling babes tugging at their breasts, as drenched in perspiration, the> wield the scythe THE RURAL I CHURCH i THE FARMERS THE CUSTODIANS OF THE NATION'S MORALITY. Co-operation of Church, School and Press Essential to Community Building. By Peter Radford Lecturer National Partners' Union. The church, the press and the school form a triple alliance of progress that J A. - -1 ^ 1 Kuiut-s tut; u^suny 01 every community, state and nation. Without them civilization would wither and die and through them life may attain its greatest blessing, power and knowledge. The farmers of this nation are greatly indebted to this social triumvirate for their uplifting influence, and 011 behalf of the American plowmen I want to thank those engaged in these high callings for their able and efficient service, and 1 shall offer to the press a series of articles on co-operation between these important influences and the farmers in the hope of increaeing the efficiency of all by mutual understanding and organized effort. We will take up, first, the rural church The Farmers Are Great Church Builders. The American farmer Is the greatest church builder the world has ever known He is the custodian of the nation's morality; upon his shoulders rests the "ark of the covenant" and he is more responsive to religious influences than any other class of citizenship rr* u ? c ? " i nt* larmers 01 tnis nation have built. 120,000 churches at a cost of $750,000,000, and the annual contribution ot the nation toward all church institutions approximates $200,000,000 per annum. The farmers of the United States build 22 churches per day. There are 20,000,000 rural church com municants on the farm, and 54 per pent ol the total membership of all churches reside in the country. The farm is the power-house of all progress and the birthplace of all that is noble The Garden of Eden was in the country and the man who would get close to God must first get close to nature l"he Functions of a Rural Church. 11 the rural churches today are go-1 ing to render a service which this age demands, there must be co-operation between the religious, social and economic life of the community. The church to attain its fullest measure of success must enrich the lives of the people in the community it serves; it must build character; develop thought and increase the efllciency of human life. It must serve the so clal, business and intellectual, as well as the spiritual and moral side of life. If religion does not make a man more capable, more useful and more just, what good is it? We want a practical religion, one we can live by and farm by, as well as die oy. Fewer and Better Churches. Blessed is that rural community which has but one place of worship. While competition is the life of trade, ,lt is death to the rural church and moral starvation to the community. Petty sectarianism is a scourge that blights the life, and the church prejudice saps the vitality, of many communities. An over-churched community i3 a crime against religion, a serious handicap to society and a useless tax upon agriculture. While denominations are essential and church pride commendable, the high teaching of universal Christianity must prevail if the rural church is to fulfill its mission to agriculture. We frequently have three or four churches in a community which is not able to adequately support one Small congregations attend services once a month and all fail to perform the religious functions of the community. The division of leligious forces and the breaking into fragments of moral efforts is ofttimes little less than a calamity and defeats the very purpose they seek to promote. The evils ot too many churches can be minimized by cooperation The social and economic life of a rural community are respective units and cannot oe successfully divided by denominational lines, and the churches can only occupy this important field by co-operation and co-ordination. The efficient country church will oil) a!lu '.(iinrminHv Ki> VkkI VIV1I III t\i j k)^/i IIP Vv\/m IIIUII I Kf J * (IU" ing in all worthy efforts at community building, in uniting the people in all cooperative endeavors for the genera) welfare of the community and in arousing a real love for country life and loyalty to the country nome and these results car. only be successfully accomplished by the united effort ol the press, the school, die church and organized farmers i % ? * pi . mavw -* *?? <?4 * ** /v?v , ? ft..;. (, . 02^:3^" S $j _' . >* j r* ?r;' i ti? ; 1 *< SrarWKR SHUTes KING GOHON'S THRONE FLEECY STAPLE MUST PAY RAN- i &OM INTO THE COFFERS OF WAR. Nation Rings With Cries of Stricken Industry. By Peter Radford Lecturer National Farmers' Union. King Cotton has suffered more from the European war than any other ag rictiltural product on the American ; continent. The shells ot the heliiger- i ents have bursted over his throne, frightening his subjects and shattering his markets, and, panic-stricken, the nation cries out 'God save the king!" People from every walk of life have coiuriDuieci tneir mite toward rescue work Society has danced before the king; milady has decreed that the j family wardrobe shall contain only cotton goods; the press has plead with the public to "buy a bale"; bankers have been formulating holding plans; congress and legislative bodies have deliberated over relief measures; statesmen and .writers have grown eloquent expounding the inalienable rights of "His Majesty" and presenting schemes for preserving the financial integrity of the stricken staple, but the sword of Europe has proved mightier than the nen of America in fixing value upon this product of the sunny south. Prices have been bayoneted, values riddled and markets decimated by the battling hosts of the eastern hemisphere until the American farmer has suffered a war loss of $400,000,000, and a bale of cotton brave enough to enter a European port must pay a ransom of half its value or go to prison until the war is over. Hope of th* Future Lies In Co-operation. The Farmers' Hnion, through the columns of tlie press, wants to thank the American people for the friendship, sympathy and assistance given the cotton farmers in the nour of distress and to direct attention to cooperative methods necessary to permanently assist the marketing of all farm products. The present emergency presents as grave a situation as ever confronted the American farmer and from the viewpoint of the producer, would seem to justify extraordinary relief measi ures, even to the point of bending the | constitution and straining business ; rules in order to lift a portion ot the I burden off the backs of the farmer, for unless something is done to cheek the invasion of the war forces upon the cotton fields, the pathway of the ; European pestilence on this continent will be strewn with mortgaged homes and famine and poverty will stalk over S ??? Oil" * * . : vi.o ouuiuinuu, lining me nignways or J ~ J industry with refugees and the bank- I ' ruptcy court with prisoners. < | All calamities teach us lessons and | the present crisis serves to ilVumtaiate ^ the frailties of our marketing meth?ds and the weakness of our credit 1 system, and out of the financial anguish and travail of the cotton farmer j t will come a volume of discussion and j 1 a mass of suggestions and flnaMy a , , solution of this, the biggest problem } 1 in the economic life of America, if. , , indeed, we have not already lafcd the , foundation for at least temponvry re- ! ( lief. More Pharaohs Needed In Agriculture. j 'j Farm products have no Jrredlt and ( perhaps can never have on a norma- , ,< nent and satisfactory Dasis ut?ss we build warehouses, cold storage plants, ^ elevators, etc., for without storage and ] credit facilities, the south is com- , pelled to dump its crop on the market j at harvest time. The Farmers' Tjnions in the cotton produoing states have j for the past ten years persistently ad- j voeated the construction of storage j facilities. We have built during this j period 2,000 warehouses with a ca- j pacity of approximately 4,000,000 bales and looking backward the results < would seem encouraging, but looking 1 forward, we are able to house less than one-third of the crop and warebouses without a credit system lose 1 00 per cent of their usefulness The 1 problem is a gigantic one?too groat ? for the farmer to solve unaided. Me 1 must have the assistance of the hanker, the merchant and (he government. in production we have reached the high water mark of perfection in the world's history, but our marketing methods arn mr??t nrimWii.^ i . ..Ill I V v. ill I no (lawn of history wo And agriculture plowing svith a forked stick but with a system of warehouses under governmental supervision that made tho Egyptians the marvel of civilization, for who has not admired the vision of , Joseph and applauded the wisdom of Pharaoh for storing the surplus until demanded by the consumer, but in > this age we have too many Josephs i who dream and not enough Pharaohs who omlu. " 1 ?k -.. . ??1 mmmm eesbibbr I OVER | Uur Chn 1 IF N ll^If ^ ' CONW, IKM! ? m Social Needa< Imperative, The average country boy arid girl Have very little opportunity fur real enjoyment, and! have* as a mate, a vague conception) efi the* meaning of pleasure and1 recreation. It is- to fill this void in the* lives of countryr youth Lhat the rural citurch- hoe risen to the necessity of providing entertainment, as well! as instruction* to its membership among the* young The ihildren and! young people of the :hurch should! nv*?t whem roiigion is aot even mentioned; Et has been found safest fnx them, to meet frequently. linden* bite* direction and mm 5f the church. 'Jo- soutli thein. into the w orld: with no> social training exposes them to grave perils- and to try to keep them out) of the- world with no social, privileges is sheer fVrlly. There is a social- nature to, both old and young, but the social requirements of the young are imperative. The church must provide directly o# indirectly some modern equivalent for the huskihg beo> the quilting bee- and the singing schools of. the old days. In one way or another the social instincts of our young people must have opportunity for expression., which may take the form of clutcs, parties, picnics or other forms of amusement. One thing is certain, and that is that, the church cannot take away the dance, the card party and the thoat.ro unless it can offer in its place a satisfying substitute in the form of more pleasing revreation. Universal Instinct for PI'ay. In providing for enjoyment the church vises one,of the greatest methods by which human society has developed. Association is never secure until it is pleasurable; in play the instinctive aversion ot one person for another is overcome and the social mood is fostered. IMay is the chief educational agency in rural communities and in the play-day of human childhood social sympathy and social habits are evolved. As individuals come together In social gatherings, their viewpoint is broadened, their ideals are lifted and finally (hey constitute a cultured and refined society. It is plain, therefore, that the church which aims at a perfected society must use in a refined and exalted way the essential factors in sociul evolution and must avail itself of the universal instinct for play. If tho church surrounds itself with social functions which appeal to the young among its membership, it will fill a large part of the lamentable gap in rural pleasures and will reap ,the richest reward by promoting a higher and better type of manhood gad womanhood. * - ? ' y** ? - vvt ? * *. j- |um.- - m mmr vf ? ^ * * * . ' * * s ; * :==z===sx:=x==^~^~'''~~~m~~~~~rTm--TwrM^ > ' i ' ' ' *^A ^^^^1 I FIFTY PEOPLE 1 HAVE JOINED^ 5 i* 7^^ Have You? I 1 ongy Christmas jjjj ^ uu o? ?ra ""Cijy Xffl IM 14) SI v jjtfl' || 1 ^ RsiAlr S| \Y, SOUTH CAROLINA. j jv 1 PAYING THE FIDDLER: I M Ks^aaftftaagsaa^att^^ WE AlJi.realize that when there is dancing going on, whether.it be- the i new-fangled' tango* or the old-fashioned polka. or waltz?some one i must: pay the fiddler. 1 We cannot have music without paying for it, nor can we have much of anything in this world' without paying for it. If we expect any person to do something for us, we expect, naturally, to j do something.in. exchange for such favors as we receive/ If wo accent favors. 1 uul ovane me- responsibility of making any returns for them it will not be. long before-we'discover that the unpaid for favors become curtailed'. Probably vwj become provoked, after tho favors have stopped; and acknowledge* our own stupidity. It Is generally too late when wo- wake uj> and' then it is merely the old story over again?of locking the- door after j the horse has been stolen. < Many of- us in this community devote more-or-less of our time to the? ( raising of produce of various kinds. We have vegetables, butter, eggs, milk* etc., to sell. I We find it a. convenience to sell such products in the local stores. Some j of our business men buy up the small quantities, as woll as thp larger Iota* and ship all' together to tho more central markets; I This facility for disposing of such articles is a great convenience to us. I If the local storekeepers did not buy our produce it would be difficult for us M to find a market. In fact, there would be no market for small quantities except at ruinous prices. Therefor? wo are favored, to a very considerable extent, by the fact I that our local storekeeper stands ready to buy from us. This places us under I certain obligations. The local storekeepers are entitled to some consider** tion. from us in return. I HOW MANY OF US APPRECIATE ANT) APKNOWLKDC?E THIS FACT? I How many of us think of this when we have some cash to spend? Ilow I many of us consider that the local storekeeper is entitled to our trade and I that wo are morally bound to consider him as the proper repository for our I orders and the recipient of our trade? It is regrettable that many of us must plead guilty to an entire forgetful-1 noes of any-feeling of obligation. Therefore, we send our orders, with thoH j cash, to the me.il order houses, to whom we owe nothing. H Wo are enticed by cleverly written advertisements and neatly worded H descriptions of goods and merchandise so that we deceive ourcclve3 into bc-H licving them to be true. We forget the local storekeeper ar.d his favors; v/ol forget that he in a benefit to the community and to every individual In theH community; we forget that ho is affording us an opportunity to dispose ofH our produce?that he has his money invested In a stock of merchandise that? he has selected becnure he believed wc would need such articles and would jl wish to buy them at home. Every dollar we ru id nway from homo to th? mall order bourns br'rr/iM I us closer to the limitations of our local opportunities. Every dollar diverted^! from local trade adds to the restrictions of our trade facilities at home boH that we aro not only permitting, but. we are inviting, our local merchants to^J close up shop and go out of buslncrs; or to move to some community whereB* their efforts will he more appreciated. By our lack of appreciation we aro urging our local storekeepers to re?Bj| strict their efforts to carrying only the lines of merchandise that are the mosBp profitable for them and to cut out ail goods that we can buy in the city. Wf^jj are actuallv Invitina disaster. LET US AWAKEN TO A REALIZATION OF THE CONDITIONS WIITCfB CONFRONT ITS. LET ITS PLACE SOME LIMITATIONS ON OUR DISRH* GARD FOR EXISTING CONDITIONS AND LOOK INTO THE FUTURE. H We can see what the consequences must bo if wo fall to do our shar^H toward supporting the establishments of our business men in town, for. th^f handwriting is written plainly on the wall. Shall we read the writing and profit by the message or shall we contlnu^H to dance merfily and foolishly on until the time shall come when we mus^^ pay? And how shall we pay?- I There will be only one way to pay and that will be with much more tha^H the profit we shall hare derived from our dealings with the mall order houae^H WB WILL PAT DEARLY UNLESS WE AWAKEN TO A FULL SENSE OUR RESPONSIBILITIES. AND AT ONCE. H We wish Is Riaa tat M w etafi the tame et the Sidles, I