Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-12-10
SATURDAY :. DECEMBER 10, 1904
PRESIDENTS MES SAGE
CONTINUED FROM SECOND PAcE.)
SATURDAY

lOSIO0 y Detler SECTIONS rs onset by
bad conditions In her poorer neighbor-
hoods A special commissioner on
housing and health conditions I'm the
national capitaP' would not only bring
about the reformation Of existing evils.
but would also formulate an appro-
pirate building code to protect the
city from mammoth brick tenements
and other evils which threaten to de,
velop here as they have I'm other cities.
That the nations capital should be
made a model for other municipalities
IS an ideal which appeals to all pa
triotic citizens everywhere, and such
special commission might map out
and organize the city's future devel-
opment In lines of civic social service,
Just as Major L'Enfant and the recent
park commission planned the arrange
ment OF her streets and parks.
1t Is notifying to remember that
Washington has no compulsory school
attendance law and that careful inQui-
ries indicate the habitual absence from
school Of some 20 per cent OF all chill
dren between 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
che 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 d.
Fected by the board of education.
Public Fairgrounds are necessary
means for the development of whole
some citizenship In modern cities. 1t is
important that the work inaugurated
here through voluntary efforts should
be taken up and extended through con-
gressional appropria ton of funds suffi-
Client to equip and maintain numerous
convenient small Fairgrounds upon
1and which can be secured without
purchase or rental. 1t is also desirable
that small vacant places be purchased
and reserved as small park play
grounds In densely settled sections of
tho city which now have no public
open spaces and are destined soon to
De built Up solidly. All these needs
should be met Immediately. To meet
them would entail expenses, but cor
responding saving could be made by
stopping the building Of streets and
ieveling of ground for purposes largely
speculative in outlying parts OF the city.
There are certain offenders whose
criminality takes the shape OF brutal
iISy 9iIi1 cruelty toward the weak who
need special type of punishment The
wife beaten, for example, is made
Quately 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 pun
fshment would be the most adequate
way OF meeting this kind OF crime.
Agriculture.
The department of agriculture has
grown into an educational institution
with faculty of 1000 specialists
making research into all the sciences
OF production. The congress appropri-
ates, directly and Indirectly, $4,000. 900
annually TO carry on this work. II
reaches every state and territory In the
Union and the islands of the sea lately
come under our flag Cooperation is
mad with the state experiment stations
and with many other Institutions and
individuals. 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 resulted.
The activities Of our age i'm lines OF
research have reached the tillers of tho
soil and inspired them with ambition
10 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 en-
ergies TO growing things from the soil.
Until recent date little has been done
TO prepare these millions for their life
work. In most lines of human activity
college trained men are the leaders.
Tho farmer had no opportunity for
special training until the congress
MADE provision for it forty 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 government eXpends $4,000
OOo annually toward this education
and for research in Washington and in
the several states and territories. The
department of agriculture has given
facilities for 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 institutions.
The facts concerning meteorology and
its relations to plant and animal life
are being systematically inquired into.
temperature and moisture are control
ing factors in all agricultural opera
ions. The seasons of the cyclones of
the Caribbean sea and their paths are
being forecasted with increasing accu-
racy. The cold winds that come from
the north are anticipated and their
umes and intensity told to farmers,
gardeners and fruiterers In all south
ern localities.
We sell S250,oO0OOo worth of ami
malS and animal products tn foreion