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1916

present Carter.

THE WEEK

Superintendent of Prisons, Mr.
He says, in part:

You have forbidden that the public shall have full knowledge of what is going on in their own penal institutions, yet this very secrecy which you would enforce is the very thing that made possible the graft and brutality of the old system. ...

Without the head of the institution being consulted, my office is disorganized. . . .

The Governor who appointed you is antagonistic to the system that is being carried on at Auburn and Sing Sing Prisons; he has tried to use you and your office for political purposes....

I have been finally and reluctantly forced to a realization that without his acquiescence the shameful attacks made upon me in Westchester County would never have been initiated or gained headway. . . .

Governor Whitman, upon being informed over the telephone of Mr. Osborne's resignation, made the following statement:

I am much surprised. I supposed that he was devoted to his work and anxious to remain in it. Warden Osborne has had the support of the administration from the first.

We believe that Mr. Osborne weakens his case by the vague charge against Governor Whitman that he has been insincere in his support of Mr. Osborne and that "without his acquiescence the shameful attacks made upon me in Westchester County would never have been initiated or gained headway." Such a charge as this ought not to be made against the Governor of a State, especially at a time when he is coming before the people for re-election, without specifications and evidence in support of them, and Mr. Osborne furnishes neither. Yet the fundamental issue between the old and the new penology which Mr. Osborne has so dramatically raised, first by his experience within prison walls and then by his administration of Sing Sing, will not be forgotten by the public.

Mr. Osborne has made many serious sacrifices for the cause of prison reform. We hope that leaders in prison reform will bring such pressure upon the authorities as will insure a continuance of an honest and humane prison discipline, administered not for the satisfaction of vindictive justice, but for the cure of crime; and that in Mr. Osborne's successor will be found a man who is willing to carry on the fight against the prison bureaucracy and the forces of reaction to a finish.

NEW YORK DAIRY FARMERS AND MR. DILLON

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In last week's issue of The Outlook we reported the serious strike of the farmers of New York State against the retail milk distributing companies of New York City. Since the publication of that account of the strike it appears that the farmers have gained considerable ground. Not only have most of the smaller concerns given in to their demands, but it appears that the efforts of the farmers in keeping milk away from the larger distributing agencies have been continuously successful.

Any one who has been at all familiar with the milk situation in New York State knows that the producers have in the past failed to secure a price for their milk which would adequately recompense them for their labor and for the efforts made necessary by the increasingly stringent provision of the health laws of New York City. The farmers have been practically asked by the city to increase the cost of their milk, while at the same time that agency, which wisely compelled them to improve their business methods, had little or no power to help them to secure an adequate return for the labor to be performed.

As readers of The Outlook know, the farmers, represented by the Dairymen's League, have been carrying on their fight through the agency of a bureau of one of the departments of the New York State Government itself. A portrait of the head of this bureau, Mr. J. J. Dillon, appears elsewhere in this issue. Mr. Dillon, previous to his acceptance of this office at the hands of Governor Glynn, was engaged for many years as publisher of the "Rural New-Yorker." The function and the purposes of his bureau Mr. Dillon summarized at the time of his appointment as follows:

The Bureau of the Department of Food and Markets is to find a profitable market for the products of the farm in the State of New York, and at the same time to devise such an economic system of distribution of farm food products that, through the savings thus brought about, the farmer may receive more and the consumer may pay less.

He has worked out his original purpose with an aggressiveness which has won him both friends and enemies. He played a large part in the work of compelling the licensing of commission merchants, in the establishment of a system of open auctions for farm products and a system of publish

ing authoritative statements as to the true prices paid for farm products in the markets of New York State.

THE HISTORY OF THE
DAIRY STRIKE

In considering Mr. Dillon's work and the strike of the Dairymen's League, it may be interesting to give here a brief résumé of what the farmers have attempted in this latter direction.

It was on August 28 that the directors of the Dairymen's League voted to make the New York State Department of Food and Markets exclusive agents for the sale of milk for the members of the League. At this time it was agreed that a minimum uniform price for milk approved by the Board of Directors of the League should be adopted to cover a period of six months beginning with October 1, 1916. At this time the Dairymen's League consisted of some thirteen thousand farmers, controlling nearly one hundred and ninety thousand cows. The price set by the directors of the League was such as to afford the farmer, when the interest on his investment had been paid, less than a hired man's wages, as figured by various competent and disinterested authorities.

On September 6 the plans of the Dairy men's League were approved by a large gathering of farmers at Utica, New York. At this meeting the farmers pledged themselves to "loyally support the plan of the Dairymen's League and the Department of Food and Markets " and to refuse to sign contracts for the delivery of milk after September 30 or to deliver any milk after that date unless sold through their representatives."

A week later the Dairymen's League had grown to some fifteen thousand members, controlling two hundred and fifteen thousand cows, and the membership was daily increasing. The attempt of the large milk producers to force a compromise proved a failure. The farmers neither abandoned their League nor did they succumb to the compromise in price and terms offered by some of the larger

concerns.

By the latter part of September contracts for milk began to be made at the League prices. The first to succumb to the League demands were the small dealers and the minor distributers. Evidence shows that business men and local bankers throughout the State were enlisted on the side of the

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farmers. Against those farmers who failed to join the League pressure was brought in the shape of a boycott. As the "Rural New-Yorker described it, "the hesitating producer who likes to pussy-foot with the big dealers is told by the blacksmiths that his horses cannot be shod in their shops. If he is so intent on independence, he has a chance to carry his independence to the limit. He must shoe his own horses. In many ways this independent producer is learning that the industry has a claim on him. In some places it looks as if he would not be able to buy a hat in his own town-certainly not on credit."

As we go to press the amount of milk reaching New York through channels approved by the League is steadily increasing. The small dealers in the city who have already signed League contracts are in some measure beginning to cut into the trade of the large firms which are unable to secure their full supply of milk.

One of the most promising developments is an agreement signed by the officials of the Dairymen's League and certain of the distributers to appoint an investigating committee to determine the cost of producing milk. This committee is to investigate. the cost of producing milk during the difficult months of January, February, and March. If they report that the League's demands are too high, prices will be modified for that period to the dealers who have signed contracts. Mr. Dillon describes as the ideal condition both for dealer and farmer a system under which the farmer would produce milk at cost, plus a reasonable profit, and the distributer would sell milk at cost, plus a reasonable profit. Such a system would permit the consumer to profit by the extra supply of cheap summer milk.

A NOTABLE ANGLICAN PRELATE

On another page appears the portrait of the present Bishop of Worcester, England. Dr. Yeatman-Biggs. When Englishmen hear his name mentioned, they are likely to think, first of all, of his athletic record. He played on the Winchester football team when he was at that famous school; he shot two years in the Wimbledon eleven; and was President of Athletics for his college (Emmanuel) at Cambridge, of which he is now Fellow.

He was trained for holy orders by the well-known Master of the Temple, Dr.

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THE WEEK

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One might expect that such a man would regard the present war, from one point of view, as a great game which should be played in the traditional English spirit of sportsmanship, and would have a consequent conviction that Germany had not been sportsmanlike. Exactly this we find reflected in an interview with the Bishop published in the New York "Times." "We are playing the game like sportsmen," he asserted, but at the same time said:

I see no evidence of hatred in England. You know, we English are not good haters. You may discuss the war for hours with Englishmen of all classes and hear no abuse of our enemies. ... We believe in playing the game fairly and in winning by every proper means, but we don't believe in vilifying our opponents. . . . While the English blame the military class of Germany for the war, and not the German masses, it is, however, not easy to draw very fine distinctions between one class and another in a united nation.

Speaking of sport, the Bishop mentioned some notable changes in England. As to cricket, he remarked:

Every one knows what a prominent place in English life cricket formerly held. Yet cricket has now been abandoned in England except by soldiers and school-boys. All of the cricket fields are closed, save those at boys' schools and those situated conveniently for soldiers. . . . The same is true of golf. . . . Golf links where before the beginning of the war players used to stand in long lines waiting for chances to play are now absolutely deserted.

The most striking among recent developments, in the Bishop's opinion, is the spiritual and religious awakening in England. Concerning this he spoke as follows:

There is no doubt, it seems to me, but that England is at the dawn of a great religious revival that will spread in all directions. . . . This revival, in all of its extent and influence, may not reach its height for years, for no great religious movement comes suddenly. . . .

One of the evidences or symptoms of this re

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ligious intensity is the enormous increase in the number of people who make use of retreats. ... Each of these retreats is either a week-end retreat for busy men and women or else lasts from three to four days, and, except in the first and last hour of each, there is no social intercourse among those participating in them. There are

half a dozen services and three addresses each day, and the remaining time is spent in silent prayer and meditation. .

Another evidence of the spiritual awakening is in the number of soldiers presenting them. selves for confirmation. ..

A third evidence is the increased attendance at communion services. ... And, similarly, the attendance at week-day services has greatly increased.

War has had a religious influence upon the men at the front; what the Bishop of Worcester reports indicates that the religious influence of the war has already extended to the people at home.

THE PLATTSBURG TRAINING CAMPS

On October 5 the last of the Plattsburg Training Camps for the season of 1916 was brought to a conclusion. The smallest camp of the year, it was perhaps in many respects one of the most interesting. Since there were less than a thousand men present, it was feasible to move the Tenth Training Regiment (the official designation of the September camp) conveniently over territory where it would have been less easy to maneuver the larger camps of July and August. The less cultivated region northwest of Plattsburg made a most excellent ground for carrying on the field training of the regiment. At this time of the year the crops were largely gathered and much territory was opened to the troops which was unavailable in earlier camps. The regiment's hike lasted some eleven days, the longest that any of the training regiments have attempted.

The Tenth Training Regiment is the first to profit by the provisions of the present military law. Those men of the Tenth Regiment who took the Federal oath to obey and respect the officers appointed over them for a period of thirty days will be reimbursed for their uniforms, their sustenance, and their traveling expenses to and from the camp. Those who attended the earlier camps during the summer are also to be reimbursed for their legitimate expenses. But the Tenth Training Regiment was the first actually to receive any payment; for at

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