NOT THE WORK WANTED.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 46, 24 October 1913, Page 4

NOT THE WORK WANTED.

According to a New Orleans paper, . men anlcss compelled by some ur- . gent condition:, will not return to ■ agricultural labor when once they have, ] got awav from it. and this is seen in . the «»reat scarcity of labor for bar- ; vesting the wheat crops of the \\ est | •uul fathering the cotton of the South. ( lu a"recent issue of the "World's Work " Governor Eberhart, of Minnesota tells of a visit he made to Minneapolis, the great flour milling city) of the world, when the harvest was pressing, to get laborers to help in saving the wheat crop. The farmers were at their wits' ends to save their crops: It was said that the citywas full of the unemployed who were looking everywhere for jobs. He found "them, "as he says, "seated on the park benches in all sections of the citv and overflowing to the curbstones." Work, it seemed, could not |be found. Some of the men were on the verge of starvation, and the charitable organisations of the city were taxed to their utmost capacity to pro-, vide for them." He picked out his men and told them he wanted their help. They were eager for the chance and said they could do anything. He spoke of the service he had in mind in the country and on the farms, when instantly their faces fell and they were as glum as they had been before. Their answer was: "We don't want to go to the country, boss. We don't want to live on a farm. There's nothin' for us there—no fife, no entertainment, no lights,—nothin' but monotony and work. We'd rather stay in the city and starve than go to the country an' have nothin' to do but work. No, sir. we stay right here." And stay they did.