WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en 00:00:02.001 --> 00:00:08.000 Dig your hand in the land and listen to my story. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.001 Feel the cotton, wheat and corn, the riches and the glory. 00:00:13.001 --> 00:00:17.001 Feel the sweat and strain of those who worked before me. 00:00:17.001 --> 00:00:21.001 Dig your hand down in the land. 00:00:22.001 --> 00:00:24.001 Dig your hand in the land. 00:00:25.001 --> 00:00:30.000 Touch the toil and sorrow in the soil, where the greenbacks never 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.001 grow and where I borrowed. 00:00:32.001 --> 00:00:36.000 Dig down and tell me where's my seed for tomorrow. 00:00:36.001 --> 00:00:40.000 Dig your hand down in the land. 00:00:44.001 --> 00:00:50.001 The small working farmer earns his living on the land. 00:00:51.001 --> 00:00:56.001 He works the soil to feed and clothe this country, and he buys much of the 00:00:56.001 --> 00:01:01.001 nation's goods, one-fourth of the American people live by the land. 00:01:02.001 --> 00:01:06.001 The small farmer has a big stake in the life of America. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:10.001 Good morning. How are you? 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:15.001 Morning. Fine morning. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.001 But hot, you know, how'd enough to sweat the life out of a man? 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:25.000 Well, have you thought it over? 00:01:27.001 --> 00:01:29.001 Nope. I'm not selling now. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:32.001 Eh, that's not common sense. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:37.000 Land prices are higher than they'll ever be. 00:01:38.001 --> 00:01:41.001 Sell now and you're through with slaving yourself and the wife 00:01:41.001 --> 00:01:43.000 and the rest for the land. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.000 Nope. I'm not selling now. 00:01:47.001 --> 00:01:50.000 Boom's on now, but the bus is coming. 00:01:51.001 --> 00:01:53.001 You know what happened to prices then? 00:01:54.001 --> 00:01:56.001 You'll be hanging on by a button. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.001 At least it'll be my own button. So long. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:12.000 From all sides, the small farmer is pressed by powerful, organized forces. 00:02:12.001 --> 00:02:15.001 Big farms, big money, big business. 00:02:16.001 --> 00:02:21.000 Against these forces, the small farmer does not stand much chance alone. 00:02:22.001 --> 00:02:23.001 Here's your lunch, Joe. 00:02:25.001 --> 00:02:27.000 Did you talk to him? 00:02:28.001 --> 00:02:30.000 Well, maybe you ought to hear him out. 00:02:32.001 --> 00:02:35.000 You ought to listen to him once, Joe. 00:02:35.001 --> 00:02:37.001 Maybe this is a good time to tell. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.001 I got no time to talk now. 00:02:39.001 --> 00:02:41.001 I'll eat later. 00:02:53.001 --> 00:03:07.001 There seems to be no way out. 00:03:08.001 --> 00:03:10.000 I chose a good man. 00:03:11.001 --> 00:03:15.000 But all this figuring can't stop is milking the cows for the mortgage. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 There's no end to payments to the banks and the machinery companies. 00:03:25.001 --> 00:03:29.000 Jimmy, she's not like a spirit weath. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.001 The tractor parts still come before a decent piece of floor covering 00:03:40.001 --> 00:03:42.000 or a bed of stove. 00:03:46.001 --> 00:03:49.001 You've got to sell. 00:03:50.001 --> 00:03:53.000 You've got to sell and go to town where Jimmy can have a chance. 00:04:19.001 --> 00:04:22.000 There's Joe and Jimmy and myself. 00:04:23.001 --> 00:04:25.001 Used up and tied down to the farm. 00:04:26.001 --> 00:04:27.001 And what have we got to face? 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:29.000 [...] 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:32.001 More and more work. Nothing to show for it. 00:04:33.001 --> 00:04:34.001 We've got to sell. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.000 We've got to sell and move to town. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.000 There's no escape from the round of work and worry on the farm. 00:05:26.001 --> 00:05:29.001 No crop is grown without grind and sweat. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:36.000 Life on the farm wouldn't be much if it weren't for the crops ripening and the 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.000 knowledge that they mean cash and security for the family. 00:05:40.001 --> 00:05:45.000 There was a time when a farmer could put up a fence and feel safe on his land. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:51.000 But changes are taking place in the world outside, and the shadows of new 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:56.000 problems spill across the rail and dig into the roots of his land and warn him 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.001 he's no longer safe in his isolation. 00:06:19.001 --> 00:06:25.000 Every farm kid has one special day in the week. That's the day the 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.001 family makes a trip to town. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.001 Matter of fact, it's a special day for everybody. 00:06:32.001 --> 00:06:38.001 There's the neighbors to meet and the stores full of brand new things to look at. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:43.000 It's like a tonic for the whole family after a week of hard work. 00:07:26.001 --> 00:07:30.000 Remember the bad years after the first world war? 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:37.000 The same signs are popping up again, skyrocketing prices and land booms. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:43.000 And in spite of all the hard work, not enough money to buy the things you want 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.000 and the things you need. 00:07:54.001 --> 00:07:57.000 It's the old question all over again. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:02.000 How can one man stand alone in the world of inflation and 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.001 scarcity, boom and bust? 00:08:07.001 --> 00:08:09.000 They ought to think of us farmers. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.001 Here Jim, these strikers are not entirely to blame. 00:08:13.001 --> 00:08:16.000 They have their clients and family to look after. And maybe the 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:17.001 machinery crust has something to do with it. 00:08:18.001 --> 00:08:19.001 Don't forget they're our best customers. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.000 And besides, the more a wheel squeezes, the more grief it'll get. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:26.000 You know, what do you think about that? 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.000 Well, tell you the truth. Right now I feel like selling out. I 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:32.001 just can't find feed anywhere. 00:08:33.001 --> 00:08:35.001 Looks like the small farmer is getting a squeeze. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 That's just it. We think we're safe behind our fences. 00:08:40.001 --> 00:08:46.001 But if we want to ship our produce, we have to pay the trucker, the packager, 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.000 the crater and the hauler. 00:08:49.001 --> 00:08:53.000 All this costs money. It comes out of our pocket. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.000 When farmers get together, they swap ideas. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.001 Common worries and common problems come right out 00:09:01.001 --> 00:09:03.000 when they talk things over together. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:10.000 We are trying to do business with individuals in an organized world. 00:09:10.001 --> 00:09:12.000 The workers and the fittest are organized. 00:09:13.001 --> 00:09:15.000 They have their units to speak for them. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:19.000 We are way behind. We are way behind. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:24.000 The question 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.000 is always the same. 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:31.001 How can the small farmer get along? 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:39.000 And sometimes when a man leaves, he's got something new to turn over in his mind. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:49.001 Hi. Hello, Joe. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:53.000 Sam, I forgot. Are you coming to the soil conservation meeting tonight? 00:09:53.001 --> 00:09:56.000 No, I don't think I can make it. I'm so very busy 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.001 that I don't believe I can get down. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:02.001 I'd like you to meet Lee Smith, the farmer's union organizer in these parts. 00:10:03.001 --> 00:10:05.000 Hi. Hello, Mr. Taylor. How are you? 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.001 It's been plenty warm the last few days, hasn't it? 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:08.001 Sure has. 00:10:08.001 --> 00:10:09.001 I'll be back in a minute. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:10.001 [...] 00:10:10.001 --> 00:10:11.001 See you later, Leo. 00:10:12.001 --> 00:10:14.001 I'll give you a hand with that, Mr. Taylor. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:16.001 I sure can use it. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.000 You're going to treat these seed oats? 00:10:21.001 --> 00:10:22.000 That's right. 00:10:22.001 --> 00:10:23.001 Where do you keep the treatment? 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.000 Over there in the corner. 00:10:25.001 --> 00:10:27.001 You got some mighty fine oats here, Mr. Taylor? 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:28.001 Yes, they are. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.001 Do you raise enough feed to carry you through the year? 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.000 No, I don't. I only raise a fraction of what I use. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.000 Right now I can't seem to get the machinery. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.000 And I suppose after a while when I will be able to, 00:10:40.001 --> 00:10:42.000 I won't be able to pay for it. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.000 Well, you know, farming is a gamble any place these days. 00:10:45.001 --> 00:10:48.000 You got to watch out for your prices and repairs, and you got to 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.001 gamble with the weather anywhere you are. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.001 That's the reason why we want to get the family type farmers together. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:57.001 You know, you can't count on making a living for the wife and kids if you try to 00:10:57.001 --> 00:10:59.001 do it all by yourself. 00:10:59.001 --> 00:11:02.001 Well, that all depends on how you look at the thing. 00:11:03.001 --> 00:11:05.001 Now, what can this organization do for me? 00:11:06.001 --> 00:11:08.000 Well, let's put it this way. 00:11:10.001 --> 00:11:15.000 The Farmers' Union program is based on a triangle, cooperatives, 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.000 legislation, and education. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:24.001 Now, if you join a farmers' union cooperative, it helps to equalize your cost of 00:11:24.001 --> 00:11:26.001 production against your income. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:28.001 Then there's legislation. 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:32.001 That means fighting for laws to keep the farm for the 00:11:32.001 --> 00:11:34.001 family and the family for the farm. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.001 Education is to give the children a real chance to stay on the land, not only 00:11:39.001 --> 00:11:43.001 better schools, but learning what we're up against and what we have to do. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.000 Doesn't that sound reasonable to you, Mr. Taylor? 00:11:46.001 --> 00:11:48.001 Well, I don't know. 00:11:50.001 --> 00:11:52.000 Sounds a little too polished for me. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:54.001 Sounds like grief through a tin horn. 00:11:55.001 --> 00:11:57.000 How about this other part here? 00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:59.000 That has something to do with cooperatives. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:02.000 That's in dollars and cents. Maybe I can understand that a little better. 00:12:02.001 --> 00:12:05.001 Well, you see, the farmers' union has always organized cooperatives. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.001 It helps the farmer to get together to fight for security on the land. 00:12:10.001 --> 00:12:13.000 Now, suppose you belong to a farmers' union cooperative. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:14.001 This is the way it would work. 00:12:18.001 --> 00:12:21.001 Any cooperative starts with you and your neighbors. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:28.001 It may be a purchasing co-op to buy things together, or a marketing co-op to sell 00:12:28.001 --> 00:12:33.000 your produce, or a service co-op, the same ideas back of it. 00:12:33.001 --> 00:12:37.000 Whatever you sell the cooperative way, you get the most for your work. 00:12:37.001 --> 00:12:41.001 It means maximum return because handling costs are cut 00:12:41.001 --> 00:12:43.000 down and the middleman is cut out. 00:12:43.001 --> 00:12:48.001 If you buy through a purchasing co-op, you get the best possible price and 00:12:48.001 --> 00:12:52.001 quality, because it's your own business. Yours and your neighbors 00:12:52.001 --> 00:12:54.000 run for your own good. 00:12:55.000 --> 00:13:00.000 After money has been set aside for operating expenses and education, you get a 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.001 patronage refund in proportion to what you bought or sold. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:10.000 That's your dividend, and your vote makes an equal partner with an equal share. 00:13:12.001 --> 00:13:17.001 Cooperation does mean working together, but you still run your own business. 00:13:19.001 --> 00:13:23.000 You and your neighbors decide who runs the feed mill 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:24.001 and what kind of feed he sells. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:29.001 You don't have to take what someone else decides is good for you. 00:13:30.001 --> 00:13:34.000 In fact, you can cooperate in almost anything, the machines you 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.001 need, the plans you make. 00:13:35.001 --> 00:13:40.001 And it all adds up in dollars and cents, dollars and cents which you keep and 00:13:40.001 --> 00:13:42.001 which keep your land for you. 00:13:45.001 --> 00:13:47.000 Say Lee. Yes, Joe? 00:13:47.001 --> 00:13:51.001 This cooperative idea all sounds pretty practical, but how's a small farmer 00:13:51.001 --> 00:13:53.000 going to stay in his land during the bus? 00:13:53.001 --> 00:13:55.000 Well, I'd say that was up to you. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:56.000 Well, how's that? 00:13:56.001 --> 00:14:01.000 You've got something more powerful than all the money of the corporations, the 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.000 big trusts in their lobbies in Washington. 00:14:03.001 --> 00:14:06.001 You've got the vote, and that's what counts. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.001 Whether it's the vote that elects the President of the United States or the 00:14:11.001 --> 00:14:15.001 County Chairman of AAA, it's your vote that does it. 00:14:17.001 --> 00:14:24.000 You make it count by getting together, deciding 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.000 what's best for all of you, and getting it across to others. 00:14:27.001 --> 00:14:31.001 It takes the hand and help of all of you, working to convince 00:14:31.001 --> 00:14:33.001 others of your point of view. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:40.001 It takes work, action, to bring your needs before the government. 00:14:43.001 --> 00:14:50.001 That means going to see your senator about a new hospital your county may need, 00:14:51.001 --> 00:14:56.000 talking to the REA administrator about bringing power into your community. 00:14:57.001 --> 00:15:02.000 Helping your national president and the representatives of your organization in 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:04.000 Washington fight for your needs. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.000 It means having to argue your case right before congressional committees and 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.000 fighting for the things you need, like the Missouri Valley Authority. 00:15:12.001 --> 00:15:16.000 And it all stems from your vote, your action. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.000 And that's the way it shapes up, Joe. 00:15:21.001 --> 00:15:26.000 Cooperatives, legislation, and the base of the triangle is education. 00:15:26.001 --> 00:15:29.000 Mr. Smith, does that mean that Jimmy will get better schooling? 00:15:29.001 --> 00:15:31.000 I've been worried about his school here. 00:15:31.001 --> 00:15:34.001 We're fighting for better educational facilities all the time. 00:15:35.001 --> 00:15:39.000 But it's also up to you. Education doesn't stop when you leave the 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:41.001 classroom. Education goes on all through life. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:42.001 That right, Joe? 00:15:43.001 --> 00:15:43.001 Yep. 00:15:44.001 --> 00:15:47.001 Education for farmers is a practical affair. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.001 New problems come up which need immediate answers. 00:15:51.001 --> 00:15:54.000 Education doesn't come off the blackboard alone. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:59.001 A lot of it comes from inside the farmhouse, from neighborly discussions 00:15:59.001 --> 00:16:01.001 of neighborly problems. 00:16:02.001 --> 00:16:07.000 It means giving time to help others understand how to get things, like cheaper 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.000 electricity and better medical care. 00:16:09.001 --> 00:16:12.001 What happens outside the farm will affect the farmer, too. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.000 Education means young and old learning to think and work together 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.000 for security on the land. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:25.000 It means preparing the young people for the responsibilities ahead of them. 00:16:27.001 --> 00:16:33.001 At summer camps, the young people learn through economics and other studies how 00:16:33.001 --> 00:16:37.000 life is changing and how they can influence those changes. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:44.001 Education is the base of understanding, which is built against the prairie skies, 00:16:44.001 --> 00:16:48.001 a system of grain elevators owned and operated by farmer producers. 00:16:48.001 --> 00:16:54.001 This is the idea which has created creameries, oil refineries, credit unions, 00:16:55.000 --> 00:17:00.000 insurance companies, a cooperative hospital, and great wheat terminals to store 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.000 and distribute an abundant harvest to this country and the world. 00:17:04.001 --> 00:17:10.000 These are dreams made real by half a million people in thousands of cooperatives, 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:15.000 all built by farmers through cooperation, legislation, and education. 00:17:18.001 --> 00:17:20.001 Well, Joe, does it all add up and make sense? 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:27.000 Seems to make sense to me. 00:17:50.001 --> 00:17:57.000 Dig your hand in the land, turn your eyes on a new horizon, dig your hand in the 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:03.001 land, there's a new sunrise in to shine on that seed, to help us organize 00:18:03.001 --> 00:18:07.000 and keep our hands down in the land. 00:18:10.001 --> 00:18:15.001 The local meeting is the means to action, the grassroots from which 00:18:15.001 --> 00:18:17.000 the whole program grows. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:22.001 The meeting is like a piece of farm equipment. Keep it in good repair and it 00:18:22.001 --> 00:18:25.000 works well for you. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:30.001 This meeting of farmers, union, local, three will please come to order. The 00:18:30.001 --> 00:18:32.001 secretary will please call the roll. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:34.000 Abbott? Yes. 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:36.000 On the roll? Yes. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:38.000 Silverbrand? Yes. 00:18:38.001 --> 00:18:39.001 Freeman? Yes. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:41.001 Ashcroft? Yes. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.000 Eggley? Present. 00:18:43.001 --> 00:18:44.001 Jackson? Yes. 00:18:45.001 --> 00:18:46.000 Landon? Here. 00:18:46.001 --> 00:18:47.001 Minnett? Here. 00:18:48.001 --> 00:18:49.001 Olsen? Here. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.000 Gregory? Here. 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:02.000 Discussion is not enough. Ideas are not enough. The only value of ideas and 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:08.000 discussion is to act upon them. Time is precious to men who work from sun to sun. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:18.000 And the small farmer knows that, but he also knows that the time he takes 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:24.001 to think and plan and play his part in his local organization 00:19:24.001 --> 00:19:31.000 is the best guarantee he has for his future on the land, his 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:33.001 future and his children's. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:41.001 For here too, he plants today the seed for tomorrow. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:56.001 Dig your hand in the land, turn your eyes on a new horizon, dig your hand in the 00:19:56.001 --> 00:20:03.001 land, there's a new sunrise in to shine on that seed, to help us organize and 00:20:03.001 --> 00:20:11.001 keep our hands down in the land, keep our hands down in the land.