The Confession of an Outlaw – April 15, 1926

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from Tom Giessel

The Kansas Union Farmer
Thursday, April 15, 1926

A crow sat on an old elm tree, and he was black as black could be I told him it was my belief that he was just an outlawed thief. “O yes, I am a thief.” Said he, “but there are bigger thieves than me; its true, I eat a little corn, and chickens too just newly born; and all the farmers plainly know that I am just a robber crow. Old farmer Jones will sweat and toil to dig his harvest from the soil, and then will open wide his heart and give away the larger part; he’ll grab his gun and waste a day to drive a thieving crow away, while robbers in the market place will boldy meet him face to face, and strip him of his hard earned wealth; although they do it quite by stealth; they’ll grab his hand and pat his back, and show him how to hold the sack so he can catch a measly snipe; all that is left from what they swipe. I’m just a crow; and when I steal, I do not try to make folks feel that I deserve an honest place among the honest human race; what grub I need, I boldly take; and I despise a pious fake who hides behind a crooked law, the steal which fills his greedy maw. I’m just a crow; and when I eat, I know that I will have to meet the danger of a trap or gun, or poison which I may not shun; while farmers freely give two thirds of all they raise to those sleek birds, the middlemen who buy and sell” The crow was silent for a spell, then farmer Jones came into view and blacky winked at me and flew; and as he went, these words he spoke, “Go tell old farmer Jones the joke.”
– A.M. Kinney

2 thoughts on “The Confession of an Outlaw – April 15, 1926”

  1. Kansas had 300 coops in 1950. There are 80 today. The Kansas farmer is the biggest agent of the middleman getting more consolidated. The Kansas farmer consolidated his middle man not some big bad corportation

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