- . "':;-:-
COMMONWEALTH COLLEGE
FORTNIGHTLY
VOL. VIII., No. 14
K,
MENA, ARKANSAS, SEPTEMBER 15. 1932
$1.00 A YEAR
SEPTEMBER IS QUIET
Okla. Farmers Plan ORIENTATION COURSE
. . . . IF YOU'RE NOT HERE No Pink Tea For AND PROJECTS ADDED
22 Commoners Who Remain
During Intermission
Make Ready
'fheir Holiday
Curricular Changes Emphasize
Unity of Knowledge,
.."·olliin!! is more c,l'citill!1 in the CllrLa bor Pu rpose
rent tWICS tlla n the spectacllhli' ayra rian
flure-up.
'1'0
a scIiool like
C(OiII1!Oll-
September is a month of quiet at lcealth it's doubly interestiny. William
Cuuningham, our labor jOllrnalism l~n­
Commonwealth.
Helatiye quiet, that is, quiet and strllctol', hitch-hiked oeer to Oklahoma
not J'est; for those who remain at Com- City last lceek to attend the staie ormonwl'alth during the month inter- yanizatioll meeting of the National
mission hetween the end of the sum~ FaI'iJlel'.;' Holiday Association. 11 jormer Oklahoma farm boy II imsell: he
ll1l'l' ~('~sion and the opening of the
fall qU:lItl'!' lind duty dogging their tells holC thinys look to him. On lllloili('/' payl' is an article by a former
heels likt' nothing human.
student Oil the aiUls and /L'orkinys oj'
With till' close of the summer ses- the holiday movement. - Editors.
sion the campus population fell from
its ;jO-to-70 norm to a bare 22. The 22
olll'e teachers, students hanging around
Recently in Oklahoma several hunfor the reopening, resident workers, dred of us farmers, neat' farmers or exa couple of visitors.
farmers publicly gave up our ambition
Three tables in the commons instead to break into the middle class. We had
of eight. More informal cross-table assembled at the call of Milo Reno of
chattel'. Fewer mouths to feed and Iowa, head of the "Holiday" * organimO!'e milk, cream and fresh vege- zation, anel we howled our satisfaction
tahles per mouth.
when he jeered toe "master farmer,"
Chillier nights, sometimes chilly We have not yet adopted into our vodays. ~earing leaves, dying (log fen- cabulary the term "scab." 'rVe don't
nel, the creek rurtning a little low, like the word "strike." We pl'opm:e a
eyes cast skyward, the prospects of "peaceful campaign" to induce folks
to give us a price foJ' our products that
rain discussed.
will covel' the cost of production. We
Seasons Wait on No Man
believe, or at least publicly profess to
For the 22 who endure there is work believe that au earnest advocacy of the
abounding. No school in session, yet golcen rule is all that is required of us.
faculty and administrative problems But no one should confuse this new orgalore, and plans to make for the com- ganization with the Farmers' Union
ing year, which promises to he the or the Grange.
biggest yet in point of enrollment.
Not As Radical As Lincoln
Anel not f:chool problems alone, for
We've
been bellyaching for a good
Commonwealth is an cconomic unit as
many
yea"s
out among the sand dune~
well a ~ an educational one. Crops to
be han'cskd, to~lay and now, for no- and over in the Ozarks-those of us
thing is more eternally seasonal than who are not mastei' farmers ,-, but
a crop. Kitchen imIJl'OYl'lI1ents to be now we've stood up in "the City" and
made, w that n:ore I. ungl'y mortals yelled our indignation And as soon
than ever befo' i~ may be fed. The as we lea"u something of the ditllculhome stn teh of the canning season, ties of o"ganization we will invent a
with the cmming crew pulling for the good rural synonym for "scab" and
goal of G,OD\) (parts of f'uits and veg- get our pitchfoi'k8 and puncture tires.
etabks. Building repairs to be made, You've got'o make us all master
roofs to he fixed. the ceasele~s battle * lh· ...·nlly many "lInn~sola hankers, unable 10
pay oul d~l'osll. "l'rsllIlIlell IlHlyor,; to decl~H' rroagainst wind and rain, wear and teal'. trael'-.!
"Ie~al h,',lIllays," <llIrlnl1 wlll('h hank ,Ioors
Dormitories to be cleaned out and fixed rt'nHtlnctl .'I .. ,e,1 hur hanks Ih"orelkally upen, If
holhhl),S for hank,;, why nor (or farm~rs. Ihe I"lil'r
up; water buckets and kerosene lamps rl'll~oned,
Conrinud r;1gc Three
COI~til1l:ed
page Four
Two important steps toward breaking down the idea of education as a
series of isolated bodies of knowledge
are being taken at Commonwealth
during the school year beg!nning October 3 with the introduction of a
Labor Orientation course and individual field or research projects.
These changes are more fully explained in the preliminary annOUllcement for 1932-3 issued as a supplement to the present Fortnightly.
Despite the fact that Commonwealth
gives a labor content to its courses,
the curricular set-up has followed too
closely conventional university models
in the past. While Commonwealth has
been experimenting boldly in working
out a technique of partial self-support
which is a source of strength in times
like these. other workers' education
projects h~lVe gone farther in curricular reorganization.
The experiments on which Commonwealth is now embarking Will attempt
to do two things: (1) open to every student a unified sweep of that knowledge, in bare outHne, which the faculty believes is most essential for the
formation of an intelligent social outlook and a labor philosophy, and (2)
see that every student undertakes
some piece of oi'iginal work under the
pei'sonal guidance of a faculty member.
Cominued page Four
OFF TO A HOLIDAY
H. Lee Jones. instructor in psychology, and Hugo Fischer. studen~, are
spending a part of the month mt~r­
mission before the opening of the fall
quarter visiting the scenes of the farm
holiday movement in Iowa - Des
Moines, Sioux City, etc. From there
Hugo will go to Chicago, Jones to
South Dakota, where he once farmed,
l
COMMONWEALTH COLLEGE FORTNIGHTLY
Par.c Two
The Farmers' Holiday
September 15, 1932
Commonwealth College
Fortnightly
By RICHARD BOSCH
PRINTED AT COMMONWEALTH
BY STUDENT AND TEACHER LABOR
Nidl/lnl
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sl ,{(/nd, i.~ 11I1b{ icily
Commoll-
din'dol'
tJ~I' :\'011 11 11(11. Farmer.,,' Holi~I((!1
('l(llllIil. (I//ll/UT('
tr:ll~ ~omelhill!l
Ii))'
Assoabout
th!' II(l('k[j1'uIUld 0.1. tlie holiday mOI'I]~~~~/lt (( /I~l till' i('a!! III lC/u',,/t it opcl'ates.
1/11' (I dicit ",H(/Is Oscar Aillcn·/lf/cr'l.;
/'('/1/(11'1:, '!ilotullll the last issue oj'the
Fl)rliliylttlll, t/Jat the j'anl/(TS are tlie
elw:,,;
Ili~I."t likely
(lclltl(J /II
the
to
I1UlI'
~t((rt
thinkill!! alld
j'lItui't.:.--Etlilu)'s.
ReXormers and believers in progress
are m:,.hlartened by the passiveness, if
}1(It. COWal'(lly sublllis;;;iveness. with
wllIch p::'ople in gm.1l': al a:'e accepting
t he ~utlerlllg and Ill,lusticc caw,ed In'
a ruthle~s economic sysh>lll. Up to
no.\\' tl~erc has been 110 formidablc
v.Olee 0.1 IH:(I~t'st ag~~inst the paupl.'rizatlOn 01 111IIhons of workers and faj'mer:-:: there has been no strong resista!l(,l' to the sacrifice of all human
r~ghts 1'01' the protection of property
J'Ight:,.
Is there any gl'OUp with the wi!l,
couragl' and ~tl'el1gth to challenge and
o\'Cl'thl'oW the power of financial and
economic tyranny in its mad course of
"ec0,nomic readjustmcnt"'? Liherals
and lI~tellectua!s talk a lot ahout what
must lJe done, hut they do not constitU~l'. a social moyement. They haye no
UnIfied concretc program. Thev arc
not Im!t!ng up a fight and besides hayc
no ,PolItIcal or economic weapon with
whICh to fight.
. Small business men are like liberals
m that they are a group but not a
mo\'ement. They have no program of
concerted action, no dangerous weapon that they can 01' will use. They
have no desire for any sig-niflcan t
change.
Labor, whom we haye traditionally
regal'deri as the natural-hom enemy
of the capitalist, has ~:o far faBed to
repel the attacks upon wage 1e\'cls and
the standr;rrl of living. With millions
unl:mplo~'ed, labor's chil'f weapOIl, the
strike. has been sadly cripple I
The farmers as a class ha\'e heen
a
c~lled indid:~ualists. petty bourg~oisie.
~ hey a .~' property mmded, ha '<I 'vol'k-
mg. patient nnd ~. uIJllJi~~siye. But they
will fight. And when they do - -look
out ~ The fanners arc now doilw what
practically everybody would ha~e said
was impos:"ible -- they are going to
strike. to take a "holiday,"
Seiling Brlow Cost
Why are the farmel's strikin1!'? As
an in"c}lendc-nt prootIc!'r wit};'in the
capitalistic system, the farmer has
certain costs to meet, such as taxl's,
~eplt'ci~tion, equipment, lahol'. If hi::;
Income lS less than his costs, hc gOES
into debt and sooner 01' iater goes
broke. Pal'mel's everywhere are facing
bankruptcy 01' have already gone bank~'upt, losing their homes, their savmgs, their means of livelihood.
. If you ~on't get your cost of production you II go broke as surely as two
and two a~'e four. This is the simple
!md obvious fact that is evel'ywhel'e
catching the imagination of the farmers .. And why don't the farmers get
their cost of production? Because they
CllJI~;ilue to deliver their products regardless of the prices received. The
common ~ense remedy as it appears to
farmers IS to refu~c to deli\'er their
products at a price Jess than cost. Noho~ly else delivers goods regardless of
prICe. Why should we? Let's call a
, holiday."
AH Veblen said: "Any ccrtified accO';1I1tant of economic theory could
pOInt out certain fallacies and difllculties in the above cost-of-production
a l'g'UIlll'nt. But thcoretil'al \T.Iiditv is
il'\'(_:levant. The argument is simj>le.
logical, understandahle. It g'ets people to act, which is the important
thin!!'. "
T.he fannel's are comhining to usc
tl~ell' l'conomie power, not in the namc
ot planned economy 01' the class struggle 01' historical materiali:-:m but in
the name of agriculture as a I;asic in~ust~·y, i,n the name of liherty, cqualIty. Justice. Aml'l'ic:lnism and God Almighty. But the p--ogl'am, nevertheless, looks toward a planned economy.
If cost of production prices nre estahIishcd for farlll products, and if there
should be a SUl'plus at that priec. cach
farmer, according to thl' phn of thc
Holiciay Association should keep and
hold on ~is own farm his proportionate
share of the su"plus. This means a
sha\'in~~ of iimited opportunities, comparable to the shm'ing of johs among
workers in some of the labor unions.
How It Is Done
. '1'11(> methods of ol'gnnization are
"I mIlle, speedy and ('heap. A mass
meeting is called in a state. A statc
cOllnnitte.e is eiected and they in turn
3l'l'ange tor mass meetings ill l'ach of
the counties within the state. The
county ('ollunith.e is elected, and it sele~ts.? man .in each to\~'lI~hip who,
With 1I\'e 01' SIX helnel's of hIS own selection. elllls upon c'\,(}ry fa rllil'l' in the
township. Each fanner is askcd to
sign a pl('dg\.' tG refuH' to sell his ProdUds for ",hatcH'r Ill'rio<ftlw "stl'ik(,"
may 1)(' callcrl, 01' until Iw ohtains the
co;·;t of production. In thi~ wav c\'el'Y
farmer is vh;itcd in the e(!tlllty (~I1' stat~
which is being' o··gallizl'rl. Usually
f!'om 75 P~'I" cent to nearly 100 )Jel' cent
sign. A 1ew rCI-use to sign, but YOW
VOL. VIII., No. 14
Sept. 15, 1932
..
Published twice a month at Mena, Arkansas,
Subscriptlon one
dollar a year. Entered as second class matter,
January 30. 1926. at the post office at Mena,
I.rkam,as, under the act of August 24. 1912.
SIgned articles express only lndlviduai
opinion.
Ed:tors. pr.rticularly of labor and farmer
paper". are welcome to make free use of materiRI appearing in these columns. A Une crediting the Commonwealth College Fortnightly
will be appreciated,
by Commonwealth College.
they will strike just the same. A very
few insist on sticking to the old way
of selling when you please.
At this \\Titing (September 5), the
farmers' holiday is being organized in
twelve states. Eight other states have
asked the Holiday Association to come
in and organiZe, and U;e movement
promises to be nation-wide. In organizing for the holiday movement, farmers have asked for and received the
mOi'ul, and to some extent the financial. support of other g~'oups, small
business men, professional people, labor unions. Labor unions have endorsed tte strike. A jobless railroad
man is helping organize. 'rhe unemployed helped the farmers in Iowa to
picket, and the fanners furnished free ..i;.,'
food to the unemployed.
..As far back as 1927, when thirty- .
six farm organizations, constituting
the Corn Belt Committee, met at Des
Moines, a resolution was unanimously
adopted that "if we cannot obtain justice by legislation, the time will have
3lTivcd when no other course remains
than organized refusal to deliver the
product of the fm~m at less than prorluetion costs." And the farmei's believe that time has now arrived.
The leaders of the Holiday Association are men who have long been active in farm organizations. The managers and ofllciaL3 of some of the farmer cooperatives support the strike
r.nd wille oppo~'e it. The ofllcials of a
large milk producers' association sent
a statfment oppo2ing the st'·ike to
eVl'ry one of the members. But the
fm'lners themselve3 are lining up for
a strike. Their attitudc is: •'If those
fat hoys are opposed to a strike to
hell with them. We're the produ~ers.
A ncl now is the time to strike. "
SIlt'ak in Terms of People's Needs
The les~on of the farmers' strike
mo\'emcnt, HS I Eee it, is that you can
accomplish the imp03sible if you don't
~no\\' that it h impossib!e. Where
tiu.'rc i~ a widespread diRcontent a
gencral feeling of a ne~d th&t mUJt' be
met, there is a basis for an organized
mass movement --of protest, even if
Continued p:lge Three
. ,!:
-'I.
'l)
.".,',
, i'
COSTS
Aside from tuition of $40 a quarter ($120 for the nine~month term),
the only charge made by the school is a breakage ceposit of $5. Breakage costs are pro-rated and deducted at the end of each quarter, usually
amounting to from 60 cents to $1. As the student earns room, board
and laundry service by part-time work, his only other expenses :\re for
tobacco candy, cluthing 'and incidentals. The college is located ten
miles f~m town, and tbere is little incentive for spending more than a
few cents a week. Outdoor or work clothing is usually worn.
S'1lpplerluml to Commonwealth College Fortnightly
September 15, 19~?2
COl"IMON'VEi~I~'1"H
F'RELIMI~ARY
,.,',
.,'.
FACULTY
LUCIEN KOCH, Director of C.ommo'nwealth Labor Histo'ry and P'I'oblems
M. A., University of Wisconllln, '31. Carpenter; former CommoDwf'alth IItudent,
faculty member, Experimental Collelloo at Wisconsin
BEA CARLSON
.
Labor Drama,
.
Studied at University of Chtcal1O; active In dlrectlnl!. amateur dramutlc5
OLIVER CARLSON Marxian Theory n /HI Capitalist 'liS. Collectivist Economy
Studied at Unlvp.rslty of Mfchll1an; advlllm::ed study, Unlvenlty of Berlin and London SchOOl of
Economics' wide esperlence In union and pl)Utlcal labor activity, co-operative movement and
, worken' education; research aSllOcl"te In polltlcld SCience, University of Chtca"o
HAROLD COY
.
C()LI .. J:4-;GE
,
MEN'...\..~ ARKA:s'SA8
AN':SOUN'CEME'S'r
.I'·OR 1932-3
FALL 'QUARTER Opens October 3, 1932
WINTER QUARTER ()penzil .January '2, 1933
SPRING QUARTER Opens .April 3, 1'933
SUMMER SESSION Opens July 3, 19:s3
Imper1:alism and Current History
•.
A. B., University of Arizona,
'24;:n~wllpaperman,
labor research worker
",'
Studied at Untventtl' of Oklahoma; writer
WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM
\'
','
Labor Journalism and Commercial Courses
CLARICE CUNNINGHAM .
"
0' X,lule Blue Buoks, artlelell and ..tories
Labor Journalism, a.nd Writing
••
B. A., University (,r Oklahoma, '2iS; formerly editorial a_slf.tant Haldeman-Julius
•
publlcat\onll and illinois Miner: newllpaperman :and writer
World History and Public Speaking
DAVID ENGLESTEIN.
Former.Jy teacher World History. Workers' CoJleie, Montreal
CLAY FULKS
.
.
.
Arkansas Farmer and his Problems
.
Member Arkanllas bor; contributor to American Mercury and other peciodlcale
H. LEE JONES
.
.
Psychology
.
Craduate of Antioch College; M. A. Ohio Sta~e University, '2&, and Inlltructor III PIIycholoiY
there: former director People'5 School, Cincinnati.
RAYMOND
KOCH
•
.
.
.
Economic History and Resources
Seven yearllstudent and teac:her at Commonwl'lllth: forme .. ~ounllOJor Pioneer Youtb Camp
Imperial-ism and Current History
MILDRED PRICE..
M. A., University of ChIcago, '30; furmerly hll1h 5chool teacher. Y. W. C. A.lndustrialaecrctary
WILLIAM REICH
.
.
.
.
Methods in Workers' Education
M. S., Unherliity of I1l1no's, '32; former hlQh school. prinCipal; director Pioneer Youth Camp
For Additional Information or Application Blanks Write to
EXECUTNE SECRETARY
COMMONWEALTH COLLEGE
MENA, ARKANSAS
J'l'llLfI!C£ loll tcolJllu and IIludent Udior
.....
PURPOSE
Iii
OMMONWEALTH COLLEGE is a school dedicated to the' cause of labor
\!1 and the common people. It believes· that the times call fora new
type of education which will help young men and women improv~ their
lot as a working and farming dass and build a better social order for
the great majority of the American people. A pioneer in this direction,
Comm.onwealth is entering its tenth .year as a labor'school of the social .
studies.
Commonwealth extends a hand of welcome to those young men and
women who realize that we are no longer living in the past ~Jld who are
,willing to abandon the individualistic office-boy-to"millionaire·tradition
in favor of the people's hang-together-or-harig-separatelytradition. It
is interested in two types of students; (1) the young person whose ideas
','
".
\
,,,,"
.
~.
of what he '\vants to do are fairly well formulated through stu~y and
experienee. but who desires additional tl'aining ami background. and
(2) the one ...vho is still groping for his \vay and who hopes to find it at
Commonwealth.
Commonwealth is a non-faeti(lnal. non-sectarian schooL encouraging its stuoents to co··operate with their l\·llows in those various economic. political ann cultural activities which may be inclusively described as the labor movement. Education. it beljeves. should not only
make people bl'oadminded: it should make them militant doers.
:\lETIIOD OF
ning of any of the four terms. but the largest proportion enroll the fall
quarter. During their first quarter, all students enroll for the i'oilowing:
1. The Labor OI"/:m/.taLion COII,'t'Sf!-.
,!. Olle tiworc6cal COi.l.rse hi, the socia,l shuli:e.'{ •
.J. One orhlitional CO/l.'l'se, ehhcr theol'etieat or tct:/luical.
4. A reseorch or tield projectll:ndm' 1:lId£uidnal j'aculty .<;upen:l:sio(/,.
As the Labor Orientation course lasts one quarter, an additional
course may be taken after the first quarter. The program of secondveal' students ...viII be made up of some combination of the following:
(1) courses not taken the first year; (2) special advanced courses, and
(:3) mOl'e ,intensive project work.
OPERATIO~
Commonwealth has developed a rndhod. of bringing education with.in the financial reach of young people of very modest means. Students
pay tuition of $40 a quarter (twelve weeks) or $120 for the nine-month
term. and earn their room. board and Inundry sel'vice while in attendance by 20 hours work a week. This unprecedented opportunity to
live and study for about $l~~ a month is made possible by the fact that
Commonwealth operates its own fa;'J11 and c~rries on its own communal
activities by the part-time la bor of its teachers and students.
LABOR ORIENTATION GOURSE
This course strikes the keynote for the entire cUl'riculum at Commonwealth and is ).'equired of all students during their first quarter. It
~eeks to give a scientiA.c presentation of the philosophy of a militant
labor movement today. The course is pianned to bring together co-o)'dinated mah.>rials from the various sodal sciences. Consequently each
facultv mem bel' contributes from his field in thro\ving light on the situation·s under consideration.
The course will open by posing a series of present-day problems
ann calling- attention to the conflicts out of which they rise. It will
then nroceen to a j'al)id historical survey of conflict situations from
primitive society to the present day. Major emphasis will be laid on
the period of capitalism. especially the post-war period.
Sitnations to which particular attention will be paid include: colonial revolt and th0 war danger, the prosperity myth, basic industries.
agricultural problems and the new agrarian revolt, types of unions and
employers' organizations. factions within the labor move~ent, l,"eformism and revolution, psychological approaches to labor tactics; methods
of workers' enucation, including study classes, journalism, dramatics,
etc.: Soviet Russia and concepts of planned economy versus capitalist
economy.
LOC:\TIO~
Commonwealth is locat.ed in the Ouachita Mountains near the Talihina Highway. ten miles 'vest vf Mena, Arkansas. The college site.
'~vhich is w.ithin a few miles of the Oklahoma line. is on high bluffs bordering on Mill Creek. The enci.rcling mountains rise to a height of
2,700 feet. and the region' is noted for its equable and healthful climate.
The canlpusand surrounding- country al'e he~n'iiy wooded. and the creek
which trnverses the campus provides opportunities for swimming.
Semi~pioneer conditions prevail at Commonwealth, and those attending- need to be able to "rough W' to a certain extent. Only a few
public buildings have electric lights: otherwise kerosene lamps are used.
Water is carried from a wdl .in buckets. Food is adequate and wholesome but necessarily rather plain.
Mena is the postoffice and freight and express receiving point for
Commonwealth. It is on the Kansas City Southern Railroad and on
bus lines from Hot Springs, Fort Smith and Texarkana. Students frequently hitch-hike from distant points.
COURSES
Labor HI .. tory an.! Problem",
Capitalist Ver!!u!! Col:cctivl"t Economy
Economic History and Resources
and MarXian Th<.'orv
World Hl"tory
ImJ)(,rialism and Current History
IndiVidual and Social Psychololty
ENTRANCE
TECHNICAL COURSES
First-quarter students elect either a second course in the social
studies or one of the following technical courses:
I'uhllc Sp"akinQ,
Lahar JournnU!lm
Eff"cth'e WrlllnQ,
Enllll!<h for the Forel~n·Born
Office Methods
Stenol!rnphy
Labor l)ra,nat!cs
Method .. In Work'!r,,' Education
A.,.kllnIiR" Farm .. r nnd HIM I'roblemli
A Modern Lan~ulllte (by permllislon)
FIELD OR RESEARCH PROJECTS
PLAN OF ST.UDY
Each student undertakes, under the personal guidance of a faculty
member, a field or research project. This will be in a problem connected
with the stUdent's own region of the country or in some other topic in
which he is especially interested. For beginning students, the projects
will be rather simple; for advanced students they will be more pretentious.
. Commonwealth has a basic two-year course. Students doing special
advanced or research work sometimes stay for a longer period. All students are urged to plan their attendance for at least one year, although
when this is not financially or otherwise pcssible, they are accepted for
as short a period as one quarter. Students are accepted at the begin-
.
"~I
THE SOCIAL STUDIES
The first-quarter student, after consultation, takes one of the
follo\ving courses:
There are no hard and fast entrance requirements at Commonwealth. and work can be somewhat adapted to students of va.rying educational backgrounds. Formal education is not nearly so important
as seriousness of purpose and eagerness and ability to learn. No degrees
are granted: whatever the. student takes away he must carry in his
head. Students are accepted on the basis of written application on a
form which may be obtained from the Executive Secretary.
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COMMONWEALTH COLLEGE FORTNIGHTLY
NO PINI( TEA FOH OliLAHOMA
September IS, 1932
ORIENTATION COURSE AND
PROJECTS ADDED
FAn~IEHS
Continued from psge One
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farmers rig-ht olt'
cla~s-con~cious.
,
01'
hy damll we'll g-t't
WORD AND DEED
Milo Hello i" a fellow you (lug-lit to
By C()\I~G 1'0:-; IIAI.1.
hear. He is \'ery {'ollsen'ative. II ...
said that Lincoln said we had a right
to start a l'eYolution, and he quoted Let those who will. fot' ism's sake,
Jefferson as saying that there should Twixt Word and Deed their hairlines
be a reyolution eycry twenty ycars.
make;
He's not radical like that. but hc told The Wl)rd's the fuse, the Deed the
us that this was not going to be any
sV<U'k
pink tea affair.
That dyna1llites the social dark.
Many of the farmers at Oklahoma
City were old fellows with sil\'cr hair. The Thought is to the Actiun's course
They mare the race whcn thc state As .Might and Power a:'e to }I'm'ce;
opened. They were giycp. farms. The - Thing - Within - the - Thing that
They havc worked those free farms of
Wills,
thei S fourteen hoUl's a dav for thirtv- As mind all Matter moves and thrills.
odd years. They hayt' ea(~h produced
as a iifcwol'k $30,000 01' $~()U,OllO worth The Deed is Thought made manifest,
of food. But now some of them haye The Word in final terms exprest;
$20,000 lefs than nothing. It would It stands to Thought in Nature's laws,
ha\·c been cheaper fo), them to have As eyer stand:; Effect to Cause.
retired as soon as they got to Oklahoma, to haye iiyed in a hotel all of these
yea:'s. It Stems yery, yery strange
that all of their hard work went for Bill Murray "hasn't got no fish worm
nothing.
fOl' a back hone. " Hl~ ~aid "get the
I said "ex-farmers" in the first par- cost of pwduction and all other things
agraph for seyeral rt'asons. In the first will be added unto you. "
place some of our ofikers are kind of
He said "We've gotto decide whethfat and not very sunburned. 'rhey've er we arc going to be men or mice."
been in politics. They are members He said that a fanner who sold fot'
of the legislature 01' are running for less than the cost of production was a
congrC'ss and so forth. Understand skunk and a traitor and a burglar and
me. This organization is not headed had a streak of yellow.
by a bunch of bums 01' radicals, as
"Cost of Production"
seyeral 0f the speakers pointed out.
He said that the organization was
Our oflicers are good, suhstantial citizens. If it wasn't for mortgages and going to determine the cost of producfarm debts and so forih some of them tion and then refuse to sell fol' less.
. would own thc,usands of acres. One This of course is exactly what all other
splaker said that some of the officers industries have done for years, ano,
elected at this meeting were smart as he pointed out, we have a right to
enough to be in Congress, and he was do it. He said that the surplus that
could not be sold would simply be kept
ahso~utely right.
on the farm. Every farm, he said.
Fatted Chickens
should have 2500 bushels of wheat
Then :lg-ain, some of us young fel- stored on it. He didn't explain about
lows got away from the farm as soon how to make bins, and I wondered
as we could. We worked on dad's farm 'what we would do ten years from now
until \\'(' were grown up, then we with 25,000 bushels stored on every
went out and "made good" as school farm, I meant to ask him but you know
teaehers and so forth. But we arc go- a fellow hates to get up in a meeting.
ing back to the farm as soon as we've
'rhe plan is this: Every township
Ii\'(~d up ail the money we can borrow will have a key man who will superOIl oUi'life insu anee. Mother anrl dad
vise the marketing of the fa!'mers of
arc getting old and lonewme and they the township. These key men will
have a flock of chickens. We are form an executive committee for the
bound to the farm by a thousand ties. county, and so forth. Thus the price
We helong the;'e as long as the chick- of farm products will be cetermined
em; hold out.
at the bottom, right at the grass roots,
Milo RellO in his spcech told us to rather than at the top, Wall street. 1
read the Bible. He {'xplained how tJ:e hoped he would say something about a
SC"iptures afe heing fulfilled. He said local organization to see that farmers
he miS a HeJ)ublican hut net a Hoover were not kicked off of their farms be·
f<erluh'ican. We yelled anrl applauded cause they eouid not pay t:lxes and inwhen he said that. He snid he was a terest, but he did not mention this.
l\ol'ris Hepuhliean. a Bob La II'ollette
He didn't talk about a strike. Each
Rl'lHlhlican He doesn't exactly ap- of OUl' oflicers made speeches. They
})1'0\'(, of our governor but he said that
were good speakers, all but one. They
To the orientation course, all mem. ~i
bel'S of the staff will contribute, not
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.~;~
in the manner of a hodge-podge sym·
~;.
posium, but on the basis of a carefully;{
weighed and integrated plan, stress·
11
ing the unity of knowledge and the:<i
purposefulness which Commonwenlth'~
believes it should inspire.
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In addition, regular theoretical
r:~
courses in the social sciences and tech- de.~·
nical courses in speech, writing, office
.
methods, etc., will be continued in ., _
recognition of the need of specializa- ..... :.'(~
tion. Two years of study are planned
"i'''~
for, with provision made for special~:
advanced or research work beyond
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that point.~!
THANKS
FRIENDS
CASH
Myron l\IcLar~n ___ ._ •.•.••......•...• • ....••.• $ l.00
W. O. firown .. _.. __ .. _.. __ ._ .. _. __ ._ ..••.. _•.• 1.00
Colontho ................ _•••..... ___ . 2.00
Wuyland Club _... _•• _._ ..• _._._ ..... _._ ....••.•. 2.(10
!'tIn. lIess __ ..... __ ..•...•..•....•... ___ •••..••• _ 5.01)
lIelc.IOwen _•.•........... _... _..• _. , ... ,._. __ 5.60
Ralph and Lu('lIe Rosenber\t ....•.. ___ .. _... _... 10.08
Th~odore
talked very loud. They said "it gives
me great pleasure," and "1 want to
thank" and so forth. They didn't talk
about a strike. One of them said "If
you stand by the organization, your
neighbor will." I wanted to ask him
about this. There were less than 300
farmers at this meeting and there are
160,000 in the state. I wonder if he
knew for sure about the 159,700 who
didn't come.
Golden Rules and Strikes
One of the officials referred to "this
here farm strike." He was kind of
hoarse and nervous. You could tell he
wasn't in the legislature. 1 suppose it
was a slip of the tongue. He meant to
say something about the golden rule,
but "st"ike" kind of slipped out.
'fhe only speaker who sort of hinted
at picketing and rough work was not
a farmer. He was a representative of
the unemployed workers of Oklahoma
City. And this is the surprising thing.
The farmers seemed to yell a little
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louder at what he said than at any;~
thing else.
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Blind Senator Gore was there and
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he made a speech. He recited a thou- ,-..:'''1.':
sand figures to prove that the farmer L.;~ .
was in a bad way, financially. I think
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he convinced everybody.;~:
The thing is that we are sore. We
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are just as sore as the miners in
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nois and Kentucky. They get out on
:
the picket line, and they are rough
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with scabs. I meant to ask some Of~~1
the speakers how we are going to keep,.;J
our tempers and not say mean things
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about our neighbors, the 159,700, if
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they sell below the cost of production.
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But you know how a fellow hates to
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get up In a meeting.
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