Barton County democrat., 1904-12-09

ieys are breeding grounds of vice ane
olsease, and should be opened into minor
tial citizens have Joined with the district
commissioners Ia the vain endsavor to
secure laws permitting the condemnation
Of insanitary dwellings. The local death
rates, especially from preventable dis
eases. are so unduly high as to suggest
that the exceptional whoiesomeness Of
Washington's better sections is offset By
bad conditions in her poorer neighbor-
hoods. special commission on hous-
ing and health conditions in the national
capitaP' would not only bring about the
reformation of existing evils. but would
also formulate an appropriate building
code to protect the city from mammoth
brick tenements and other evils which
threaten to develop here as they have in
other cities. That the nations capital
should be made a model for other
municipalities is an ideal which appeals
TO all patriotic citizens everywhere, and
such a special commission might map out
and organize the city's future develop
ment in lines of civic social service. just
Maj. LEnfant and the recent park
commission planned the arrangement OF
her streets and parks
Compulsory School Law.
1t is mortifying to remember that
Washington has no compulsory school
attendance law and that careful inquiries
indicate the habitual absence from school
of some 20 per cent. of all children be-
tween the ages of eight and fourteen 1t
must be evident to all who consider the
problems of neglected child life or the
benefits of compulsory education in other
cities that one of the most urgent needs
of the national capital is a law requiring
the school attendance of all children, this
law to be enforced by attendance agents
directed by the board of education
Public play grounds are necessary means
for the development of wholesome citizen
ship in modern cities 1t is important that
the work inaugurated here through volun-
~
tended through congressional appropria-
ton of funds sufficient to equip and main
tain numerous convenient small play
grounds upon land which can be secured
without purchase or rental. 1t is also de-
sirable that small vacant places be pur-
chased and reserved as small park play
grounds in denseiy settled sections of the
city which now have public open spaces
and are destined soon to be built up solid
ly. All these needs should be met imme-
diately. To meet them would entail ex-
penses; but a corresponding saving could
be made by stopping the building OF streets
and leveling of ground for purposes largely
speculative in outlying parts of the city.
There are certain offenders. whose GRIM
inality takes the shape of brutality and
cruelty towards the weak. who need spe-
cial type of punishment. The wife beater,
| for example, is inadequately punished by
| imprisonment; for Imprisonment may often
mean nothing to him, while it may cause
| hunger and want to the wife and children
who have been the victims of his brutality.
Probably some form of corporal punish
| ment would be the most adequate way of
meeting this kind of crime.
Department Of Agriculture.
The department of agriculture has grown
| into an educational institution with a fac
ulty of 1000 specialists making research
| into all the sciences of production. The
| congress appropriates, directly and indi-
rectly, Sc, 100000 annually to carry on this
| work. 1t reaches every state and territory
| in the union and the islands Of the sea late
| ly come under our flag. Cooperation is had
| with the state experiment stations. and
| with many other institutions and individ-
uals. The world is carefully searched for
new varieties Of grains, fruits, grasses,
vegetables trees and shrubs, suitable to
various localities in our country; and
marked benefit to our producers has re-
suited.
| The activities of our age in lines of re-
| search have reached the tillerS of the soil
| and inspired them with ambition to know
more Of the principles that govern the
| forces of nature with which they have to
deal. Nearly half of the people of this
| country devote their energies to growing &
| things from the soil. Until recent date
| little has been done to prepare these mil
| lions for their life work. In most lines of
| human activity college trained men are
| the leaders. The farmer had no oppor-
| tunity for special training until the con-
/ gress made provision for it 40 years ago.
| During these years progress has been made
| and teachers have been prepared. Over
| 5000 students are in attendance at our state
agricultural colleges. The federal govern
ment expends S10OO0,0O0 annually toward
| this education and for research in Wash
ington and in the several states and terri
| tories. The department of agriculture has
given facilities Tor postgraduate work to
/ 500 young men during the last seven years,
preparing them for advanced lines of work
| in the department and in the state institu-
| tiOnS.
The facts concerning meteorology and its
relations to plant and animal life are being
Systematically inquired into. Temperature
and moisture are controlling factors in all
agricultural operations. The seasons of
the cyclones of the Caribbean sea and
their paths are being forecasted with in
creasing accuracy The cold winds that
come from the north are anticipated and
their times and intensity told to farmers,
gardeners and fruiterers in al southern
localities.
Agricultural Exports.
We sell $3.50, 600 worth of animals and
animal products to foreign countries every
year in addition to supplying our own peo-
pie more cheaply and abundantly than any
other nation is able to provide for its peo-
pie. Successful manufacturing depends
primarily on cheap food. which accounts
to a considerable extent for our growth in
this direction. The department of agricul-
ture by careful inspection of meats. guards
he health of our people and gives clean
bills Of health to deserving exports; it is
prepared to deal promptly with imported
diseases Of animals, and maintain the ex-
cellence OF our focks and herds in this re-
spect. There should be annual census
of the live stock of the nation.
We sell abroad about $500, ,O00,000 worth Of
plants and their products every year.
Strenuous efforts are being made to import
from foreign countries such grains as are
suitable to oar varying localities Seven
years ago we bought three-fourths of our
rice; by helping the rice growers the
gulf coast to secure seeds from the orient
suited to their conditions, and by giving
home demand and export to the islands Of
the Carihhea T.-EHa and other rice