And That's Culture?

HELLO FOLKS! — They call it the picture of the year; it wins four academy awards; it is hailed as the best comedy picture of the year. But it is filled with nothing but debauchery, perversion and satanical lust, picturing sick minds filled with evil intent. And those paying their money to see it are supposed to enjoy such trash?

--o--

OF COURSE, IF we are going to have self - government we must have the freedom of enterprise. Free enterprise generates the competition and also some of the co-operation that is vital for economic progress.

It seems from here that if enterprise is to compete fairly it must do so with as little interference from government as possible.

We know that there are times when government must step in and furnish capital when business will not or cannot do so, in order for certain segments of the economy to prosper. This is why we have the REA today. There are times when government must furnish wheel chairs, crutches, or other helps to get needed industries going.

The danger therein lies in continued governmental paternalism and interference in such business when it once gets on its own feet. It would seem that if business is to compete fairly and have profits then government must also withdraw from the field when it has accomplished its avowed purpose.

This has happened in such fields as finance, where I understand that Production Credit Associations now borrow their money on the open competitive market. This same thing must come to the Rural Electric Cooperatives if they are to continue to be healthy and useful tools in the economy. Government must cease to be a crutch to them whenever they are able to fend for themselves. This point many of the utilities have reached. They only hurt themselves by wanting to rely on
cheap government financing, subsidied by the taxpayer. There must be incentives to get them off loans as soon as possible.

From free business comes the competition that generates leadership. This leadership feeds back into government, both on the local level and federal. Without this feeding we would be in dire straits for the needed government direction, much as Russia and other totalitarian nations are lacking in this area.

Businesses, to be prosperous, must also be free to fail. We see how programs in agriculture have deadened prices. So would business be hurt if profits are guaranteed. With guaranteed profits there comes the inevitable slowing up of ingenuity, care and watchfulness. As government moves in to interfere more with business, whether it be in agriculture or any other field, so goes self government. The railroads would today be in much better position financially and better able to compete with other modes of transportation were they less restricted.

If we are to grow in self government and with it the increasing standards of living we must be vigilant in seeing that there are no unnecessary restrictions anywhere.

We Should Teach 'Basic Economics

Hello, Folks! Christmas time came and went so fast for me I got very few greeting cards written. So to all my friends who read this, here is wishing you the best of all good things for 1955.

We had a lovely Christmas as usual. Spent Christmas Eve with the Petersen Clan. Then Christmas morning we opened the gifts from Vera's family. I came in from chores Christmas morning and the children were getting dressed, anxiously waiting to open the gifts. I noticed a Christmas tag tied to the baby. Inside it read, "To Mother and Daddy from Heavenly Father."

—o—

The scoutmaster asked the four young scouts if they had done their good deed for the day. They all nodded in unison, grinning broadly. "What did you do?" he asked. "We helped an old lady across the street." "It took all four of you to help one old lady across the street?" "Yes, she did not want to go!"

—o—

I think Albert Lea has the prettiest decorations of any town I know. Those large illuminated bells hanging over the middle of the street add the real touch to the rest of the decorations.

—o—

Farmer — "Young man, what are you doing up in my apple grass!' "
Boy —. "I'm just obeying your sign that says, 'Keep off the grass-"

—o—

It seems to me that the biggest failure of our educational system has been in not teaching our students the basic principles of economics. They are not, or need not, be complicated. There are a few basic facts that we all can and ought to learn. In fact, they must be learned if we are to have a stable economy and continuing prosperity.

Communism has capitalized on our failure to teach them. I think if we had learned these principles as part of our regular education we would be far less apt to be taken in by foreign philosophies. Too many people believe that it is possible to get something for nothing. This is a good basis for gambling, but it does not work out for the individual on the job, in the school, or anywhere else. You can't . spend more than you have and remain solvent. We just fool ourselves when we try otherwise.

You can't equalize ability by a control system, Competition is the dynamo for progress in our economic system. We should welcome it rather than stifle or try to get around it.

—o—

Mother — "Jimmy, where did you get that bump on your nose?"
Jimmy — "1 bent down to smell a brose."
Mother — "Why, there isn't a 'B' in rose."
Jimmy — "There was in this one!"

—o—

Farm Bureau insurance companies have shown a tremendous growth the past 30 years. The first one was organized in Illinois. Today Farm Bureau insurance companies have a total of $287,023,269 in assets.

On Monday, January 10, the officers of all Farm Bureau Units in the county met to work out their programs for the year. They will work out the educational, recreational, and social aspects of the Farm Bureau program.

A state training session will be held in St. Paul, January 17, 18, and 19 for County Farm Bureau presidents, secretaries or office secretaries and some of the county committee chairmen. An attendance of close to 500 is anticipated.

Headlining the "imported" instructional staff will be T. C. Petersen, midwest organization director, Kenneth lngwalson, director of leadership services, AFBF, and Herbert Alp commodities director for the AFBF.

Handel's Story An Inspiring One

HELLO FOLKS — This Christmas holiday season there were many songs sung concerning Santa Claus, Christ, the Christmas tree and winter.

Among all those sung and played there is none greater than the greatest of all great compositions, Handel's "The Messiah".

I have just finished reading the story of Handel's life, and for the benefit of many who probab1y haven't read the story of tragedy and victory of this great man, I will review it briefly here.

Handel was born in the year 1685. His father, Georg, insisted that his son would never be a musician, for in those days musicians were mostly travelers. He even went so far as to say that he would cut off his son's fingers, if he had to, to deter him from being a musician.

Upon the insistance of the Duke of Weissenfels, Georg finally changed his mind and enrolled his son under the tutorship of the great organist Zachau.

Handel learned to play the violin, oboe, bassoon, clavichord, and organ. From the inexaustible well of his creativity came 40 operas and many and varied pieces for the organ, orchestra, violin and nineteen oratorios.

People thronged to the operas to hear his renditions. He was acclaimed the world over; then the 'roof' seemed to fall in. Jealous rivals and critics turned against him and along with other happenings he found himself penniless, friendless and miserable.

In his despair he wandered the streets of London, returning to his shabby room to rest and mope.

One night when he returned he found a package waiting for him. It was from the poet Charles Jennings; with a letter urging him to write suitable music for the enclosed poem. The poetry was entitled "A Sacred Oratorio".

Handel scoffed at the idea of writing music for religious purposes.

As he went over the words they seemed to burn into his soul. He once again felt the life of music come into his being. For 22 days he wrote almost constantly. When the score was finished he fell to his bed and slept, as if in a coma, for 17 hours.

It was performed for the first time in Dublin, Ireland, (London would have nothing to do with him then.) Handel insisted that all the proceeds go to charity. He was a changed man. From then on he wrote only for religious music. "The Messiah" was presented 34 times during the life of Handel. He received the praise of kings and paupers alike.

On April the sixth, at the age of 74, he sat listening to an Easter rendition of his greatest achievement, When the chorus began to sing, "The trumpet shall sound," he slumped in his chair. He was carried to his bed, never to rise again.

His wish was to die on Good Friday. This wish was granted him, for it was on the morning of Friday, April 14, 1759, that Handel died.

Although Handel has been dead over 200 years his music lives on and brings happiness to ever increasing millions the world over.

Dropouts A Problem

HELLO FOLKS — Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil: Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, h o p e t h all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth. —Corinthians, Ch. 13.

—o—

I HAD PLANNED for the next few columns another topic. Then it occurred to me that there is a much more important subject that needs to be taken care of before I delve into this other.

The one that I am going to dwell on now is the subject of school dropouts.

In every one of our communities there are young citizens who get discouraged with school, then by quitting it doom themselves, for the most part, to a life of mediocrity and low income.

By quitting at that age they often become discouraged with themselves. They they get a poor outlook on life in general. This affects the community and eventually the nation as a whole.

We cannot afford such an attitude. The very reason we have people on relief rolls and on unemployment is because we haven't developed the attitude of continuous education and re-evaluation.

There is a lot of talk about the Gross National Product and how we can increase it. Here is the only sure way: Get every boy and girl back into school, get them to realize the value of proper attitudes and training. Get them to realize that there are millions of people depending on them to direct the future of society. There are a lot of things each of can do to contribute to solving this problem. Parents are of course most directly concerned and too often we do not give the problem the attention it deserves. As parents we should be constantly on the alert to see that our children are working up to their capacity; that their attitudes toward learning are good and that they respect their teachers and school.

For each one of us we can take an interest in the youth of our community by getting better acquainted with them, by encouraging them to better deeds and let them know that we are expecting great things from them.

We have a lot of senior citizens who could help out with loans to students at low interest rates. The satisfaction derived from such projects would give more real joy than a lot of things the money could be used for. This could give a number of young people the courage to go on to higher learning.

Next week I am going to tell you about three young fellows who could have ended with the ranks of discouraged youth but who by their own efforts practically lifted themselves out of the ruts and are on the way to being real successes.

I am inviting others of you who know of someone in your community, who has picked himself up from mediocrity and gone on to success, to tell about it in this column.

Turkey Relives Biblical Story

HELLO FOLKS! — It is tourist time again and our affluent American society will be contributing to other nations of the world, some of our wealth in the form of American dollars.

Turkey is one nation making a big play for these dollars. At first thought it might seem that Turkey has very little to offer the average tourist. However, I ran across an interesting article, about one site that offers much of interest.

Near the city of Izmer lies the ruined and ancient city of Ephesus. This city at one time was a great center of civilization and culture. Today it lies in ruins. Inhabited only by a few hawkers eager to make a few dollars from the few tourists who travel to this spot.

One of the suburbs of Ephesus which lies high on a hill near what once was the city, is a shrine maintained by the Roman Catholic Church.

According to the information given about this shrine it was the final home of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Tradition has it that when the Christians left Jerusalem John the disciple took Mary, and made a home for her at Ephesus. After her death the Christians maintained the place.

In the city of Ephesus lies ruins of two churches named after Mary and John. The oldest church is the church of Mary. It was built the year 351. Later about 400, to accommodate the growth of the Christian community, the church of John was built on the end of the older church. They were sometimes called the "double church".

They were destroyed about 500 AD by invaders. About 600 AD the church of John was rebuilt.

It is obvious from the pictures that these churches and especially the church of John were extremely well built. Some of the walls, floors and pillars still remain. Imbedded in the floors of the baptismal rooms are the fonts with steps leading down to them.

...a whisper of its past glory.

Tradition has it that, except for the time he was banished to the isle of Patmos, John lived here and directed the affairs of the Church after the death of Peter. He lived to a tremendous age, that was the marvel of all who knew him. It is believed that he lived there until 105 AD.

An interesting sidelight to all this is: Why did Jesus have John take Mary? We know from scripture (Matt. 13:55) that Mary had four other sons and at least two daughters. Did they not accept the divinity of Christ? Or were they not considered by Jesus to be worthy enough to care for his mother?

At any rate it seems that while Jerusalem is the birth place of Christianity; Epheus probably could be called its first permanent home.

Do You Know Interest Pay?

Hello Folks — Usually when a man gets too big for his britches his hat won't fit either.

--

As of today Freeborn can be called the county of 10,000 lakes. My, what a lot of water, I have seen more, I think it was in 1953 we had more during the summer than we have now. This kind of weather does things the politicians could never do — take care of the surplus corn. I don't think there will be much of a surplus next year.

--

How much interest do you pay out in a year? I believe that few of us know, and if we get it figured out we pay a lot more than we realize.

Credit is a wonderful thing when it is used right, but abused it can be. a mill stone and keeps many a man from getting ahead.

There are many ways of figuring interest and some of them are deceiving. One per cent per month sounds pretty reasonable but when it adds up to 12 per cent it gets mighty big. There are a good many people paying much more than that. Most of the time pay plans run around 16 per cent.

...tion it in the contract, It really makes a 'whollaper' of a lot if one gets 'bit' by such a deal.

The best thing is to stay out of debt for anything but a home or business. Then we learn to be thrifty and we are more apt to watch the purchases and see to that they are bought right.

I think it is very important to teach our children thrift and how to buy wisely. They have to learn sometime and it should help by giving them an allowance when they are too young to earn it themselves and see to it that they learn to know that before there can be a penny spent there first has to be one earned. We are all creatures of habit and by teaching the youth the value of a dollar the nation grows stronger and more financially secure.

The credit and finance system is what has aided us in getting the great standard of living that we have but the abuse of it can also be our downfall. Borrowing when money is easy to get and then having to pay it back when the dollar is scarse is a situation that none of us would envy. Let's watch it. Huh.

One day a salesman stopped in and wanted to sell his wares. Had a good product but he didn't want cash. It had to be time payments spread over two years. I insisted on figuring up what the interest rates were and they added up to a mighty 24 per cent per year. No wonder he didn't want to sell for cash. He probably could get his financing for around 6 or 7 per cent, then turn around and get about. four times that for the same money. That is what I call a raw deal. We had better all look out for our own financing lest we get taken into such a deal.

A feed salesman drove in the yard and insisted on selling some feed. He had a grand plan for the farmer, Pay when the hogs are sold.

I asked him what the interest figured out to. His answer was," Oh, just about the same as the bank charges. I took a pencil and figured it out, It came to 11 per cent. The catch was it was on about a 6 months term, The interest didn't sound like much but it counts up when you really go to adding.

Then there is the service charge. I have been told that a lending institution can add a service charge and they don't have to men...

Mama, Please Read A Book

HELLO FOLKS! — Giving children the privilege of telling parents what they can do is placing an awful burden of responsibility where it does not belong and cannot be directed.

--o--

MY SISTER Erna has four handsome sons. One day I heard her say something that impressed me deeply. I asked her to put it in writing which she rather reluctantly agreed to do. Erna's husband Bob teaches in the Albert Lea Schools. Here is what she wrote.

MAMA, PLEASE READ ME A BOOK?
By ERNA BERTHELSEN
"Mama, please read me a book? This is the question often asked by my three-year-old son when I am busy with some household chore. Only a mother can know the joy of seeing a little boy's big blue questioning eyes turn to happiness when the answer is, "Yes, I will."

This little boy knows which day his older brother will bring home a library book just for him. Even our one-year old boy knows the joy of story time as we sit in the big rocker to share this favorite book together. I have learned that in no other age can I make them so happy with so little. So that household chore has been delayed; but two little boys have received the loving attention they needed and Mother has rested.

Five or ten years from now, no one will know that the refrigerator wasn't cleaned, the dishes weren't dried, or the floor wasn't swept, but my boys will know that I took time to read to them."

P. S. — I believe that if every mother everywhere would take a few minutes a day to do the above described duty, wars would soon end, crime would cease and man would soon be at peace with his fellow men.

--o--

I totaled up the rainfall for the month of May. It reads as follows. Three and seven-tenths inches, with almost half of it falling on the 25th and 26th of the month. The only other large amount was on the 5th with 0.7 that day. The month of April gave us 3 inches.

I am aware that this figure is tremendously different than what was received in many other parts of the county and elsewhere. We had only one storm which slowed up field

It Tells On Him

HELLO FOLKS — A woman who has a temper she can't control usually has a husband she can.

--o--

FEW THINGS are needful to make the wise man happy, but nothing satisfies the fool.

--o--

HE CAME HOME from his first day at school.
"Ain't going tomorrow," he said.
"Why not, sonny?"
"Well I can't read, I can't write and they won't let me talk, so what's the use".

--o--

SUMMING UP the farm situation, as I see it, goes like this.

Dairying needs a good house cleaning, both from the standpoint of the dairyman and the government. Present government support prices are all to the benefit of the consumer. It gives them food cheaply. The dairy herds need cleaning up. More than half the cows are not returning the owner enough to be worth the effort. Were they to be cleaned out as fast as they start slowing up in production there would be a serious shortage of milk that would set prices soaring.

Beef finishing is in a tough spot and I don't see any hope for improvement in the near future. The consumer doesn't want his beef fat any longer. The rancher is doing a lot of his own finishing and so is the processor.

Hog raising is the brightest of all the livestock enterprises. There will be rough going there if these finishing units take the country by storm, just as did roto tubes, laying units and the like.

Poultry is on the decline in this area and likely to keep on declining.

Feed grains are in a brighter spot, as are soybeans. Now if we can just get a better program out of congress.

Overall, there is dire need for better farm economics. It is the blind spot in agriculture. Few farmers know what they are getting for an hour's work or for each operation. They would do some changing in their op-

Is Harmful Integration

HELLO FOLKS — One of the farmer's biggest enemies as far as hurting his income, today, is the feed company that has gone into the financing business and aims to tie the farmers into a program that assures the company of a ready market for their products.

Such firms started with the broiler business and from that went into egg raising. I have an idea that they are mostly responsible for the plight the turkey raisers are in today.

Now they are in the swine business. They encourage the farmers to go heavily into debt on a big setup that will keep him tied down for years.

They paint a big glowing picture of the huge profits to be made under such a program. They take what amounts to the most favorable years there are and use these as an example to convince their prospective victims of the advantages of using their program.

Naturally the feed companies are interested in their own well-being. The sharecropper, for that is what the farmer becomes, takes the risk. The fact that these companies are still hard at it is proof enough that they are coming out alright on it. What is bad is that it upsets the supply-demand balance and causes hardship to the whole industry.

Wherever and whenever these companies have have gone into this program they have ruined the markets. I think it is well for anyone interested to be very cautious about going into these programs. It is best to use local credit, start a little smaller and be more sure of doing the right thing.

I think it would be well for farmers to do business with companies that have not gone into the finance business and thereby are not injuring the farmer financially. There are lots of good brands of feeds on the market and it is easy to find one as good and perhaps cheaper than the ones who follow the integration pattern.

These companies are hitting heavily on swine integration now. A lot of this pressure is being done outside the regular swine raising area, probably because it is easier for them to convince their prospective customers where they know less about it. If they have as much success with this venture as they have had with broiler, eggs and turkeys we are in for trouble here in another year or two. This is apt to come at a time when the market is in it's bottom anyway.

This reminds me of the time when the farm implement companies went into the business of convincing the farmer to switch from horses to tractors. They encouraged the homesteaders to plow up the prairie sod and plant crops, showing with glowing pictures how much more could be made that way than by grazing the land. The farmers and many ranchers bit on it and spent years in bankruptcy. The dealers had taken the farmers' and ranchers' horses as down payment on the machinery. Then when the land started to blow and the added supply on the market broke the price the farmers were in a pitiable condition. The dealers and companies, for many years, had equipment on hand that they could not dispose of.

This all took place about the time that row crop tractors came out and probably had a lot to do with precipitating the big depression.

Happiness There If You Look For It

HELLO FOLKS — Happiness is not something at the end of the rainbow or at the end of the road — it is all along the way.

There are more people who lose their jobs because they can't get along with those they work with, than because they cannot do the job.

--o--

THERE IS wide speculation about who will be the next President of the U.S. Seems that most people think the Democats have the upper hand.

My personal opinion is that the Republicans are the ones to have the first say and that if they do the right thing we will have another Republican Administration. Here is how I think it stacks up.

There are a lot of good men in both parties — men who would be good administrators in their own right. The Democrats have a machine that is well oiled and no matter who runs there the candidate will pull a lot of votes.

The Republicans on the other hand are the only unorganized group in the U.S. They have used poor publicity. There is no discipline in the party and too many of them are confused. Therefore there is no rallying point (so far). There are too many of the Republicans who are so un-Republican that they are actually a liability to the party. The hard core of the party is afraid to really come out swinging because they would be hitting their own members, in many cases.

The Republicans therefore must have not only a party man but must have a personality; one who has not had his hands too badly dirtied in the political battles and who will pull a lot of personal votes such as did President Eisenhower.

If the Republicans really want to win this election they must remember that had they not had a personality running in 1952; meaning Dwight D. Eisenhower, they would not now be in power.

That leaves them but one choice. A man who has proved his vote getting power in a Democratic year; a man with peronality, stability, and political acumen, and a man who is respected by all segments of our society — such a man is Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York. I believe he and he alone can win for the Repbulicans. Therefore if they are to win they must. choose him. With any other man they cannot win. Not in 196O
 
That gives them first choice. If they fumble they are out and the Democrats have the say. It would hardly seem likely that they would choose a man who could not reach the people, not again anyway.

I have been an admirer of Nelson Rockefeller for some time, He comes from one of the most stable families in the United States. The Rockefellers are a family who money has not spoiled, a family who has its sights on the real worth in life and who has the inate belief that money is something to be used for the benefit of humanity and not thrown away in selfish squandering.

I have studied some of the Rockefeller reports on the various phases of our economy and I find them devoid of prejudices, broad minded and respectful of all peoples.

On top of this I think Nelson Rockefeller is the one man who would have the prestige to bring the nation's economy into balance without sacrificing political integrity or alienating or irritating some segments of our society.

He has proved his ability to legislate wisely, handle politicians am; do it all efficiently.

Our Influence On Our Children

HELLO FOLKS —
Sons and daughters—in their teens Think their parents—don't know beans.
Which would not be—hard to face
Were it not—so oft the case.

--o--

PARENTS AND people in general wonder what the coming generation is going to amount to.

It is becoming increasingly clear, to anyone who observes, that we are literally creatures of habit. To often we overlook the maxims 'like father like son' or 'like mother like daughter' when we might add, 'only more so.' For the most part our children grow up to be just what we teach them to be; and that teaching happens to be more by example than anything.

Republican parents genera11y have Republican children. Democratic parents generally have democratic children. Roman Catholic parents have Roman Catholic children. Protestant parents generally have Protestant children.

But whether they have good Republican, Democratic, Roman Catholic or Protestant children is another matter.

There are enough proofs given to show that strong tendencies can be built into children by strong parents and weak tendencies can be built into children by weak parents.

Man by nature tends to degenerate. We have to counter this by being continually on guard against our weaknesses — to bestir ourselves when we find weak tendencies in ourselves or our children.

The parent who realizes that he should do this or that or correct this or that in his son or daughter and fails to do so does not only himself and his family a disservice. He is a liability to the whole human race in varying degrees. The reason for this is that anything we do tends to help or hinder all those around us, just as weeds in one farmer's field tend to blow or creep into another farmer's field.

It seems to me that many of our children tend to be better than their parents. I believe the reason for this is that our schools, churches, teachers and public spirited citizens have a great influence on them.

While there arc a lot of signs of a degenerating society, there are more signs of a regenerating society. Perhaps we are entering a period of greater extremes. Certainly we have mounting problems, as our world shrinks, but we are solving them pretty well, I think.

In the surveys taken of teenagers, most of them think that parents do not give them enough leadership. They think parents are too weak. They want parents to restrict them in their questionable. activities. They don't really want to get into bad habits, but without the restraining hand of the parent they full into the traps against their own will.

It all points up the importance of good leadership in all phases of our society. We need our extremes but the extremes must never be in control, whether they be the fanatics of religion or the dross of the mobs.

Demoralizing Advertising

HELLO FOLKS — What, in your estimation, is the most demoralizing advertisement on TV?

We all have our own opinions and they vary with our views. Some will say it is the liquor ads. Others will say something else. To me it is the ads that are slanted to the very young who are in their most formative age. All week They advertise something like this: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Funnnnnn-day.

We have a host of very young who love to watch animated comics; and there is certainly nothing wrong with that, but the real danger is getting across the idea that the Sabbath day is a day of fun Certainly Sunday is not to be day of sadness or even of somberness, but it is meant to be a day of worship, a day of concentrating or things divine. We need to practice that side of it more than we do.

We recently had a demonstration of parents who were concerned over childrens' physical welfare, which is certainly good; yet some of the more insidious dangers we sometimes overlook until it is too late.

I think that if we could fully realize what some of these things really do to our youth we would have letters by the millions flooding in to some of these advertisers, who probably do not realize the real dangers in their actions.

Observing the Sabbath day is a divine commandment that has existed since creation, and was reaffirmed on Mount Sinai and again by the Galilean 2,000 years ago. It has never been revoked to my knowledge and as far as I can see, if ever the day comes that man revokes it, or tries to, then civilization is doomed. For the beacon of civilization is divine law and guidance. When we become so self sufficient that we think we can sup-plant higher laws by our own choosing we are in for a fall.

—o—

IT LOOKS like Freeborn county is in for another good crop. As bad and late as the season was last spring it seems a miracle that the crops turned out as good as they are. It seems that generally the weather evens up pretty well over a year's time at least in this part of the state.

Even the fellows who had some crops drowned out can plow under a good crop of weeds and probably in a couple of years end up with as good an average as otherwise. I had a spot drowned out and it is a good thing for me. This is the first year I lost a crop on it so I tiled it. It has always been hard to work because it was too water logged. Now I can probably get full production from it along with the rest of the land.

One of Three Use Blue Cross Plan

Hello Folks — Minnesota was one of the first states in which Hospitals and doctors sponsored the Blue Cross-Blue Shield Plan.

Seven hospitals in St. Paul contributed $800.00 toward establishment of the plan, This was considered as borrowed funds and later paid back to the hospitals.

It was found that an enabling act was necessary. This was passed by the Minnesota legislature, without a dissenting vote in the Senate and by 7 dissenting votes in the House of Representatives.

The Blue Cross Symbol, which is now being used by all plans, was designed in Minnesota by Mr. E. A. Van Steemwyk.

Today over one million people in Minnesota are covered by Blue Cross — in other words, over one third of the population. It has paid out to hospitals for subscribers, approximately $72,000,000.

Blue Cross is available to farmers through Yarm Bureau. Nearly 100,000 farm people are covered by it.

One of the things that has spurred Blue Cross-Blue Shield is the threat of socialized medicine.

—o—

Heads are like teakettles — the emptier they are, the quicker they boil.


—o—

The higher a man gets in life, the more humble he must walk.


—o—

A fact that many Americans do not understand is that the profit and loss system is as necessary to the American constitution as the pulse is to the body. Destroy that system and you destroy America just as surely as if you stopped the heartbeat of a man. If you try to take out the loss, you also take out the profit.

The enemies of America are fully aware of that fact, which is why they are so anxious to see a controlled system in America. America stands almost alone as the bulwark of freedom — without her the rest of the nations would soon crumble under the weight of aggression and slavery.

The profit and loss system places a man at his best, and therefore, develops character, fore thought, industry and thrift. These things, in turn, create a high standard of living.

One thing the enemies of the capitalistic system fail to tell us is that even at the ebb tide of the cycle, we still enjoy a higher rate of prosperity than can be gotten by a controlled system.

We should not try to stop the pulse beat of our economic system, but even it out, so it will not work too unevenly.

—o—

Voice on phone: "John Flanders is sick and can't attend class to day. He asked me to notify you."
Professor: "Al right, who is this speaking?"
Voice: "This is my roommate."

—o—

"All of you men who are fond of music", the top sargeant called out, "step forward two paces."
Six men responded.
"Now then," said the sargeant, "you six men get busy and carry that piano up to the top floor of the officers' quarters."

—o—

Dave: "Why are the snowflakes dancing?"
Betty: "They're preparing for the snowball."

—o—

Surpluses Are Killing Our Markets
LET'S LOOK AT THE FACTS: During the war, the government helped stimulate needed production for defense. By not removing these factors at the end of the war, overproduction in SUPPORTED farm commodities was invited and surpluses grew, Since the government cannot consume. . .(can only store) huge surpluses accumulated.

These heavy surpluses in the hands of the federal government depress the normal market by lightening consumer demand. Government, under law, was required to purchase supported farm commodities. . .  and government storage bins began to replace usual markets.

As these surplus bins filled, a price support formula approved by Congress in 1949 should have gone into effect. This formula called for dropping price supports 1 per cent for each 2 per cent over normal supply acquired by the government. Congress did not do this — with resulting surpluses.

These surpluses bring acreage controls and allotments. For example, the wheat and corn farmer must take acreage cuts with penalties imposed under law, if they are not obeyed. This limits the basic American freedom to produce and places GOVERNMENT IN YOUR BUSINESS OF FARMING.

Remember, farmers pay taxes, too! Cost of supporting artificial markets comes high, plus the cost of federal supervision on all acreage and marketing controls.

America has grown strong by being able to adjust itself to the changing needs of its own people . .and those of the world. Agriculture will weaken itself if it insists on producing without regard to effective market demand, and WITH government support. The consuming public is aware that surpluses cost the government (us) $7,000,000.00 DAILY to store. . .another $400,000.00 DAILY for handling and spoilage. .totaling $1,100,000.00 DAILY just to keep these things!

Misleading Statements

HELLO FOLKS! — The father of a rapidly - growing youngster mumbled to a friend on the bus:

"He's getting too smart to outargue and too big to spank. I can hardly wait for him to fall in love so's some little girl will take him down a notch"

—o—

THERE ARE a lot of false notions going around that if not corrected are going to be used by self - interested parties to forward their own interests.

One of them goes something like this: "The farmer is the only businessman who buys at prices someone else sets and sells what others offer." Or they say, "Everyone else's prices are set but the farmers. They take what they can get."

Without much thinking such words seem to have some truth to them. On the other hand — are they true?

A man said to me, trying to prove his point, "If you go and buy a sack of tankage you pay what they ask, but when you sell the pig that ate the tankage you take what they offer."

Tankage is no different than any other item. The manufacturers get all they can for their product just as the farmer gets all he can for his hogs, or what ever it be. There is plenty of competition in protein feeds. If tankage is too high priced, we buy soybean meal and fortify it with vitamins. Or we may go to another dealer who has another brand of tankage at a lower price. Surely the price they are asking is probably marked on the bulletin board. And the hog prices they will pay are marked, but that doesn't mean they aren't competitive.

Then they will tell you that the auto manufacturers set their own prices. I have bought several cars and I shop around and get the best deal I can. There is plenty of competition in the auto industry. The salesmen are constantly at each other's throats to get that sale and the lowest offer usually sells.

The same is true of the manufacturer. He knows what the car costs him to produce. To that he adds the necessary profits and any other that he thinks the "traffic will bear." If he feels that he has an especially good seller he will add a few dollars to it. The opposite might also be true. He may have to take off a few dollars for the [time] being.

There are [plent]y of manufacturers who have gone out of business because they couldn't meet the competition in the long haul the car producer also takes what the buyer offers just as the farmer takes the highest offer he gets for the animal. And there is of course no law that says the farmer can't cooperate with other farmers and butcher the hogs themselves if they feel they aren't getting enough for their products.




Tankage - a fertilizer or animal feed obtained from the residue from tanks in which animal carcasses have been rendered.

Farms Cut Food Cost

Hello Folks !

An indication as to how agriculture is progressing; consider the advance in the broiler industry. Ten years ago it took 15 weeks to grow a bird to three pounds. That was gradually shortened to eight weeks and now a new process of feeding and breeeding has been able to get that bird to three pounds in seven weeks.

That means that the same facilities can now produce twice as many chickens as they could 10 years ago. The profit from such progress has been passed on to the consuming public which is a big factor in our increasingly high standard of living.

This efficiency added to the efficiency in production of the feed raised for the broilers, plus the efficiency of other industries accounts for most of the reason the average worker today gets twice as much for his food dollar today as he did 20 years ago.

—o—

Next to being shot at and missed there is nothing quite as satisfying as an income tax refund.

—o—

My wife says figures don't lie but girdles certainly condense the truth.

—o—

A baby is born each eight seconds in the U. S.

—o—

The most valuable time a man has are the hours he spends beyond what is necessary for earning a living. They can be frittered away at nothing; spent on hobbies; used to the disgrace of society or put to the service of one's fellowmen.

My deepest respect go to those who spend these extra hours in service to one's neighbors. We have many such people around about us and could use many more. There is no more satisfying work than that.

I think that success in life can be counted more in time thus spent than it can be in financial gain or social standing.

The one business of life is to succeed. I can't believe that the Lord placed us here to waste our lives. The greatest tragedy in the world is not the devastation that goes with war, nor the cost that goes with crime; nor both of these put together. The greatest tragedy in the world is that human beings, you and I, live so far below the level of our possibilities. It is the lack of this positiveness that causes most of our woes. We can all look hack and see things we should have done that we did not do. These are the seed bed we make for future evil.

We have the basis of this belief from the words of The Great Teacher who gave one of the bitterest denunciations. He ever uttered to the one who hid his talents in the ground, he said "Thou wicked and slothful servant".

In our efforts to better the lives of ourselves and others we need to plan carefully and work our plan. Our efforts have to start at home we can't be at our best if we allow our health, (both mental and phys, cal) to deteriorate, or permit slip shod ways to clutter our lives.

frittered: waste time, money, or energy on trifling matters.

slip shod: (typically of a person or method of work) characterized by a lack of care, thought, or organization.