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OCTOBER,, 192il
The Commoner1
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To Southern
Farmers
(Abstract of speech by William . Jennings
Bryan, before the Interstate Farm Gongress,
New Orleans, September 16th, 1921.)
I have felt enough, interest in the delibera
tions of this congress to come a long distance
to address the agriculturists here assembled in
the hope that I may be able to assist in restor
ing the farmer to the prosperity that he is en
titled to enjoy. He is the basis of industry
and the foundation of progress. Food and cloth
ing are the first necessities and the farmer fur
nishes both, In the struggle for existence he
would be the last to die as he was the first upon
the scene when civilization began. The farmer
can, if necessary, produce the food and clothing
necessary for himself and family. If he did no
more, all would be compelled t to farm. The
prosperity of the city rests upon the prosperity
of the farm'; the city cannot live independently
of the coitntry. If the farms were abandoned,
the cities would soon decay and, on the other
hand, the farmer can not be prosperous alone.
The city quickly shares in any revival that comes
to those that till the soil. For this reason
there ought to bo a clear understanding of the
relationship between the city and the country
but the country must be considered first for tfte
protection of both.
The farmers' condition is worse today than
It has been in thirty years worse even than
it was in '93 for two Teasons. First, the fall
in farm' prices has been sudden and, second,
other prices have not fallen with his. In '93
prices were low but they had. fallen gradually
and the farmer could buy on the same low price
level on which' he sold. This year, the farmer
finds himself ate the foot of the hills with a drop
of one-half or more in his prices in a single
year. He has been deflated and is back to a
pre-war level. In many cases he has to sell his
produce at a low price after having raised them
on a high price level. His land is settling down
to the levePof his prices and many who bought
on time yMll lose their farms and all that they
have paid upon them. I need not dwell upon
the situation, the farmers distress is too well
known to need .elaboration.
What can be done? I venture to sug
gest several remedies. First, the farmers
must stand united against the present effort
to shift the burden of taxation from the
privileged few to the masses. The obvious
purpose to the revenue bill now under dis
cussion in congress is to Relatively decrease
the taxes of the rich and relatively increase
the taxes of the poor. The revenue bill as it
passed the House removed the tax" from excess
profits and bestowed upon the profiteers a 'gift
estimated at $450,000,000. Remember that the
tax thus removed is on EXCESS profits that is,
profits that are excessive and that means unrea
sonable and unjust profits. If there is anyone
who can afford to pay taxes, it is the man who
collects money that he ought not to collect at
all. If he were to turn over to the government
nil that he collects in excess of a reasonable prof
it, he could not complain. But he is not only
relieved1 from taxation 'for the future but the
bill as prepared by the House Committee went so
far as Lo make repeal retroactive, which would
have allowed him to retain all of the excess
profits collected . this year. The Mil also re
duced the tax on big incomes, repealed all the
income ' tax about thitty-two per cent, which
means 'a reduction of, "one-half on the largest,
incomes. There are less than five thousand of
these but they paid a "tax of ninety million dol
lars. Here is another large gift to the very
rich ,and this 00 was made retroactive in the
bill as prepared. 'This gift to the profiteers and
to the men with big incomes was such gross
favoritism that a Republican caucus struck put
the retroactive clause but permitted the repeal
to stand for the future. Equity in taxation is
the first thing to be 'insisted upon. Until the
farmer- can secure wh,at he is entitled to he
must resist unfair, unjust levies upon what he
does receive for his crops.
Second, the farmer must give attention to the
middle man. Statistics- will show that the
middle men have increased in number and in
the percentage which they take as their profit.
The fttrmer receives too small a percentage of
the price paid by the ultimate consumer. The
middle man's toll Is divided between excess
freight rates, excessive commissions arid exces
sive profits: Attention, therefore, must be given
Where Your Tax Dollar Goes
Biggest Slices Are for Past and Future Wars
In an article in the cur
rent issue of the Credit
Monthly, New York City,
John Whyto, Ph. D., direct
or Research Department Na
tional Association of Credit
Men, calls attention to a
chart which makes a start
ling presentation of govern
mental expenditures for the
year 1920. This ohart ap
peared in the current issue
of the annals of the Ameri
can Academy of Political
and Social Science, over the
name of Edward B. Rosa,
Ph. D., Bureau of Standards,
Washington. Mr. W h y t e .
says:
"Business men every
where are talking about the"
necessity of economy and
are quite rightly calling
upon the, government to set
an example. But apparent
ly all ot them do not appre
ciate the 'fact that if the
strictest economy were prac
ticed in the legislative, exe
cutive 'and Judicial depart
ments and in the research
and public work develop
ment dt the federal govern
ment, there would be no ap
preciable difference in the
burden1 of taxation. The
o lull
" 111 4 -"i ?
. V -S ,.o3&o6n X -'
I'X' r l
: "
, t TOTAL NET EXPENDITURES 102
' " $5,087,712,848
(Not Including Loans and Trust Funds) ,
This figure represents the total net expense for 1920 and inr
addition, the sura of $1,079, 18f,723 which is the surplus of total
net taxlrevenue pr total net expenses applied to the roductionof ?
the Public Debt. This item is included with the current expense,!
items sh'pwn in the figure 1n order to show the disposition of the'
entire amount collected by taxation., , , f " ", a
The precentage distribution of the expenditures is" as follows:
Primary Governmental Functions ... '.!'? ''3;9
Research, Education, Development ,, . .' ."...... . 1.0
Public Works New Construction ; ....I..,., ';. 1,5
Armv and Navv ' ! ' ".. ' 'J. f!'"! 23:7 "
only place expenditures can Pensions (5.8), Interest (1G)3), Debt Reduction (19.1) J.and ' :
be cut where they will be Recent War Obligations (28.7) ; '. .';..". ' , I 09. r, "
felt is in expenditures for , , . ' ' .; "' ic ? f t
the army and navy. The im- , Total . . ..-. ..... .V. '.'...'. .'.V. . ;f. '."! . V..1' .100.0
nortanno of this fnn.f-. 1r rp- . . M t ,'- ' - ?'-'! '.
ceiving world-Wide recogni
tion "and the governments of all the countries are
scrutinizing, as they have not done before tliis
large item of government costs. It will be .one
of the ' chief themes for discussion, in the con-.
item for research, education,
development, etc., was
$57,368,774 in 1920,' about
one per cent of the total, ex
penditure. If suddenly con
gress were to abolish all' re
search and educational work
done 'by the Departments of
Agriculture,' Interior, Com
merce, 'etc., the average tax
payer would not notice any
difference in his tax burden.
"A study of the chart,
herewith ' shows that the
ference-on the limitation of armariients which'
President Harding', with fiuch statesmanlike vi-:;
sion, has called for November 11 aV WahTngi"
ton." ' - h - .. viv ' : pr
.'';
1ft?
to railroad rates, to commissions and, to the
scale of 'profits.' . ( ,1
Every' state should have a j?tate Trade com-.-mission
similar to the Federal Trade commis
sion, and every city should havo af Municipal
Trade commission'. In a community publicity
may be sufficient to stop profiteering. At pres
ent there is no machinery for investigation.
Unnecessary middle men should be eliminated
and necessary middle men should be limited to
a reasonable profit. If anyone is shocked at the
suggestion that profits of the middle men should
be limited, I remind you that we now limit, the
rate of interest, If a banker can bo restricted
to six, eight or ten per cent for the use of money
for a year, why should a merchapt re,st,nt the
idea of 'a limitation of his profits when he turn3
his stock over two or three timgs a year. The
books at the tax office show profits of middle
men running up to 100' per cent,. to l,p00 per
cent and in some cases to two or three thousand
per cent, Why should highway robbery be per
mitted indoors any more than outdoors?
It may be necessary to establish a minimdm
price for such staple crops as cotton, corn and
Wheat the foundations of the farm and the
basis of' our food and clothing, just as it may bo
necessary to fix a minimum price for labor. Self
preservation is the first law of nature and it Is1
the first law of society as well. The1 people -acting
together under the form of government
can pass such laws as may be necessary for the
protection of society. The question to be d
ci(ledand that the people alone can decide
Is what, legislation is necessary for' thV liro tac
tion of society" ' ' - "; tiltr.-
If I 'may speak now oi a fundamental .need0..
I begr to ball attention, to-what I regard., ap, ,'tlie;
real disease tha(t affects the vjorl, .It (fLthod
overthrow of God's' law of rewards,. When -God-ga've
us tbe earth with its fertile soil, the sun-
shine with its warmth and the rains. with their
mpisture, His vdice proclaimed as clearly as it j$ "
had issued fr'om clouds: "Gp work, a,nd in, propor
tioh to ytfur industry pr intelligence aq-shaU.beV,
your reward."' This is God's Uw ,and it 'must
prevail except where force suppressed it or
cunning evades it. The government Jias no rapre
important work thaii the establishment of Qpd's,,
law on efarth'arid thisca'n pnly'bo done by leg
islation which will prevent the suppressing of
God's law by force or Its evasion by cunijng.
Here, too, the church' has, a duty to perfoi-m'. It
must endeavor to teacli ' its members to, KAPJW
and respect Ood'g law so that they Will npV'de-i
sire to cbllect from Society beyond what they "
earn by service to society. If every Aine'Hcari'1
citizen would resolve and keep1 the resplve h6t"
to collect from society one dollar witli'out con-
scientiously endeavoring to give to society a
dollar's worth of service In return,, injustice
would bo eliminated, for Injustice Is nothing' '
more than a system under which some collect
from society more than they earn and because -some
collect more than they earn, others are -unable
tcrcollect all that-they earn.
Allow fho in conclusion to suggest that reme
dies are slow in coming because the massei
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