The Howe Messenger (Howe, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 1938 Page: 4 of 8
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THE HOWE MESSENGER
Friday, April 15, 1938
The Howe Messenger
BUSSELL W. BRYANT
Editor and Publisher _
Entered a3 second-class matter at the
Post Office at Howe, Texas, under the act
of Mareir 3, 1879.
- Published Each-Friday, Morning
Subscription “$1.50-' a Year
Qur republic and it’s press will rise and fall together » » * » Joseph Pulitzer
The Russell W. Bryant
Publications
HOWE MESSENGER
ALLEN TIMES . .
PRINCETON NEWS
ANNA LIGHT . .
. Howe, Texas
. Allen, Texas
Princeton Texas
. Anna, Texas
Advertising Rates on Application
Business
That operation of REA cooperatives is more
complicated than organizers would lead fartmer-
coopenators to believe is pointed out by Floyd B.
Nichols in the March issue of Successful Farm-
ing. Mr. Nichols is a farmer himself and writes
from an experience with electric cooperatives over
a period odl 20 years.
“After All, It’s a Business,” is the title oi
Mr. Nichols’ article and he proceeds to point out
that it is indeed a business. REA cooperators are
“fledgling owners of small utility organizations,
Mr. Nichols says, “and as such, the basic fac-
tors underlying such business, as the costs of
capital investment, taxes, maintenance and depre-
ciation, are beginning to have highly practical
meanings.”
The cost of electrical energy is a small factor
in determination of utility rates. It i s a well-
known fact that only a fraction of a cent is re-
quired to pay for generating a kilowatt of energy,
but it is not so well-known that the cost of dis-
tributing this energy and the maintenance of dis-
tributing systems is an expensive item. This
point is brought home clearly in Mr Nichols’ arti-
cle by figures obtained from rural electric projects
•in Iowa. Depreciation costs alone amount to $1.54
la m'onth for each customer. That is only for de-
preciation—that bugaboo of all industry; the re-
serve that must be set aside if one is to operate
a business over an extended period of time. An-
other cost is maintenance, making of repairs as
needed. This item was found to amount to $10.65
a customer each year.
Other costs which must be considered as list-
ed by Mr. Nichols are (1) repayment of project
construction costs to the government; (2) Taxes
(REA projects must pay state and county taxes);
(3) provision for unusual damage to property and
life from storms and electricity running wild; (4)
wholesale bills and costs, of management.
Mr. Nichols' article, as these comments on it,
are not written for the purpose of discouraging
the use of electricity on the farms, but rather that
the cooperators do not go into it blindly. That
electricity should be on the farm: is a foregone con-
clusion but tthe person who contracts for it under
the impression that it will cost him but very little
is going to be sadly fooled. Regardless of] state-
ments to the cotntrjary, the best things in, life are
not free—not even cheap. But we are going to
shave them just the same.
We would suggest that every farmer get a
copy of the March Successful Farming—and it
•would likewise be a wise move on the part of
those who are inclined to clamor about the bills
of private utilities.
i IS THERE A SHAKE IN THE HAY?
» »
»
By MEB
♦
\
people of Texas are economy-minded and are go-
ing to string along with a candidate who is equal-
ly mindful of the need for reduced expenses.
It should be borne in mind, however, that a
Texas governor can do little more th>n recom-
mend. To carry out his ideas of efficient state
administration he must have the cooperation of
the legislature, so voters who are determined to
vote fojr a governor who favors economy must
also vote for legislators who have the same views.
Unemployment
Holiday
Attorney-General Bill McCraw favors a holi-
day on new taxes, he declared in announcing the
platform for his candidacy for governor. Mr.
McQraw believes it possible to effect sufficient
(economies in government costs to take care of- all
costs of administration and social security de-
mands without additional tax levies.
This is among the first public announcements
iof the kind we have seen this year, although we
predicted last week that many would be forth-
coming. As we pointed out then, tnere will be
three types-of candidates offering economy plat-
forms. One will make a promise of economy
without elaboration; a second will confine his
economy promises to tfie future; and the third
will take into consideration present and future
expenditures, being specific ih the future demands
they will oppose and in the economies they will
endeavor to effect in present expenditures.
Mr. McQraw is inclined to slip into the latter
category, if we read his announcement correctly.
He is not, as yet, on record as to the curtailment
in present expenses, he will advocate but his first
announcement indicates that he will be specific
in his opening address at Arlington on April 23.
Hie refers to a recent report ‘of the state auditor
as the basis for his belief that state expenses can
be cut.
If Mr. McCraw will be specific in his promises
there is no doubt but tihat he will attfa-ct many
votes that would otherwise go elsewhere. The
The primary objective of anv effort t0 con-
trol the size of farm acreage operated by one in-
dividual is, of course, protection of thousands of
agricultural workers' from unemployment. Due
to the fact that prices of farm products are not
set by the producer there is less need for consid-
eration of the effect of cheaper production costs
as in the case of the independent merchant and
the chain store, although remedies used for con-
trolling the latter are now being discussed as a
possible solution to the problem of the large farm
operator.
There can be no denying that the trend to-
wards mechanical operation of large farms has
thrown many farm families out of employment. A
precursary survey of any country town will quick-
ly reveal this fact. It is a common knowledge, (or
can be if one takes the trouble to inquire) that
most, of the men of WPA rolls in the smaller com-
munities are former farm workers. The futui-e
of these individuals is a matter of concern, for
most—if not all of them—are unfit for anything
other than farm labor. They have followed this
work since childhood and are untrained for any
other type of work.
Naturally then, in this age of “let the gov-
ernment provide a way,” thoughts turn to govern-
ment intervention in an economic situation that
’is bringing about this dislocation of labor.
A tax, similar t0 the chain-store tax, applied
with pyramided rates as acreage increases over
a certain amount (100 acres’* has been suggested)
will no doubt put ,a stop to the present trend to-
wards mechanized agriculture. But will it be a
solution to the problem as a whole? We think
There is more to this question than labor dis-
placement alone. There is an artificial condition
elsewhere that is causing the unemployment—not
mechanical farming. A study of the adoption of
machinery in industrial fields reveals that more
employment has always resulted. Why has not
the same condition prevailed in agriculture?
A
a
Listenin’ In
Editorial opinions on
y topics of the day as
expressed by our
exchanges
OPPORTUNITY ALL GONE?
The streets are lined with men
who will tell you that there is
no chance any more for the
comman man. If by that they
mean the man with a jug head
and a gelatin spine, they are
right. But if they are talking
about the man at the bottom with
his eyes steadfastly on the top
then they are as wrong as catnip
in a kennel. Take a citation:
The following promotion is an-
nounced: Effective April 1, 1933,
to be Brigadier General, Col.
Karl Truesdell. By direction of
the President.
The point to that is this. The
date of General Truesdell’s pro-
motion was the thirty-sixth an-
niversary of his pi’omotion from
private to corporal, In the inter-
val he has served pretty much
everywhere that the American
Army has served. Yet he start-
ed from the bottom. It is a hard
road—but it is still open.—Dallas
Journal.
PAYING WAR. DEBTS
The president sent a message
over to congress this week about
the offer of Hungary to pay her
war debt to us, amounting to
something less than 2 million,
provided we will knock off the in-
terest. He asked congress to
give it serious consideration.
Some of the members are kick-
ing about it for fear it will set
the example for the other big
owers, who will want to dodge
interest.
But the point comes1 back to
me: If they wanted to pay the
dozen billion they owe us, how
could they ? They haven’t the
money, and we won't take then-
goods. War debt payments with
interest are a myth.—W. D.
Jamison in (King City, Mo.) Tri-
County News.
-o-
WHAT ABOUT THE 15 %?
have to dig for it. Kibitizing diture of $1.02’ in 1037 for every
politicians never produced. H'hey
take what others have worked for.
—Newsdom.
ADS AID UTILITIES
Analysis of last year’s opera-
tions of public utility companies
shows that a 2 per cent increase
in sales promotion and advertis-
ing expenses brought substantial
gains in operating revenues and
sales of merchandise according to
ta. compilation of statistics from
118 companies serving 13,111,505
domestic customers. The expen-
$1 spent for sales promotion and
advertising in 1938 produced in-
creases of 8 per cent in merchan-
dise sales volume, 9 per cent in
residential electricity consumption
and 3 per cent in revenue from
consumers.—Newsdom.
ABOUT THE ONLY WAY OUT.
It has about gotten so that a
taxpayer is a fellow who looks
forward to paying his back taxes
with his old-age pension.—Dallas
News.
LIFE'S BYWAYS
OhlY TEoFLE WHOAKETEETOTaUEKXj
MoM-^MokXK^ AMP VECETARIIAHS
Wilt, be allowed To Settle in A
new Town To BE Built HEAR.
FfcA<vUE . (*ZECHO- SLOVAKIA-
ONE WAY TO DO IT!
If the expense of investigating
crookedness in government could
be saved we should be able to
balapce the budget. Then if the
money the government loses
through the work of crooked of-
ficials could be saved we could
begin paying every citizen 60
years old that $200 a month.—
Record, in Tioga Herald.
iSurveys by the Brookings In-
stitution and the Department of
Commerce show that 85 per cent
iof the national income goes to
those gainfully employed and on-
ly 15 per cent to capital. More
than half of the 15 per cent goes
t0 persons receiving $5,000 a year
or less.
And further redistribution of
our present income would mean a
^redistribution of poverty. - Real
wealth is in the soil. But you
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THE PIED PIPER OF NEW
LONDON
Long ago through the streets of
Hamlin,
The Pied Piper blew on his singing
reed,
“Man has failed to keep his
pledge,” he muttered,
“So I’ll take the children as my
just meet.”
And all the little ones followed
after
The Piper whose song made a
shining track
T0 a land that teemed with joy
and laughter.
And they never came back! They
never came back!
Again the Piper has come among
us.
He rode on a stallion black as
death,
Whose mane was a furious cloud
of darkness,
With hooves of steel and a-fiery
breath.
Had we failed, had we failed to
keep a promise?
Oh, he never said. He never said.
We offered him all of the gold in
our coffers,
But he took the children away,
instead.
He blew a call like a blast from
heaven
And the nut-brown boy and the
young athlete,
The little black-haired girl of
seven
And others, followed on flying
feet.
Followed the Piper to that fatal
door
Just as they did when he piped
before.
. - —Ruth Averitte, Fort Worth,
* * *
RETROSPECT
I’ve learned to smile upon you as
wo meet at tea
And hide the sudden pain that
grips me when we’re placed
side by side
I’ve learned to smile nor let you
see
That I meant a little less to you
—than you to me.
Reba Rushing, Cayuga, Texas.
* * *
POSSESSIONS
I own a lake
I own a tree, •
I own a star
And a honey bee.
■ r.-j
I own a street car,
Some ocean sand
A couple of letters
And a Bar B-Q stand,
I have these things
And hold them dear, J
All gifts from you
Throughout the year.
What shall I do
When we’re apart?
The sight of them
Will break my heart.
—Elsie Smith Parker, Dallas
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Bryant, Russell W. The Howe Messenger (Howe, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 1938, newspaper, April 15, 1938; Howe, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1014636/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .