The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-04
MIR. Hills Address.

The grandeur and the difficulty of
Mr.. Hill 8 speech is that he calls us to
consideration of the future. Not the
future merely of ourselves, but of our
children and our grandchildren. Now
the most that a man thinks about his
children is that he will save and scrape
and leave them something to begin life
upon. He does not for moment take
into consideration the character of his
try, what effect it is having on the nat
ural stock of wealth of the country.
The farmer does not hesitate to raise
crops which inevitably denude his land
of it's strength. He thinks first of the
crop and what it will bring and how he
will invest the results so as to build a
fund to divide among his children.
The lumberman does not hesitate to
run amuck among the forests, tearing
down like. a, mailman. His first and
only idea is to make fortune for him
self and his successors.
The ambition of these classes, which is
typical of all classes, has always been
considered highly moral and satisfac-
tory. But Mr.. Hill points out the in
adequacy of their system even for the
purposes they have in mind. It is pos
sible that by these very processes of
making their children rich they may
leave them poor. Accumulated wealth
has a way of disappearing. If it has
not, where are the treasures Of Nineveh
and ~Tyre?7 Where is the wealth of
Romeo Their accumulations Of stored
wealth are gone and all they have left
is an example of their successes and
their, failures, their wisdom and their
follies. 1t will be so with us if we do
not take to heart the lesson Mr.. Hill
seeks to inculcate-that of trusteeship
for the future. =. =. =.
He shows that in less than fifty years
this country will have a population of
200,000,000. and national resources ac-
tually less than we have today. The
public lands, except those which can be
made tillable by irrigation, are gone.
The forests are practically gone; the
mineral wealth is going. Mineral
wealth cannot be reproduced. Forests
can be reproduced very slowly. Land
cannot be rolled, extended or made any
more than it is. But land can be taken
care of, and this is the very thing we
are not doing. /" American agriculture, -
said Mr.. Hill, sttmeans: the extraction
from nature Of the greatest immedi-
ate returns at the lowest possible out
lay*of labor or money, with sublime dis.
regard of consequences -. +
eff. We comprehend { our problem,
Alright, - he--~-added;. 'saH this will
change. A larger comprehension of
agriculture as our main resource and
our most dignifed and independent oc.
cupation will for the future direct to
their just aim in the Improvement of
methods, and in the increase of yield
the wisdom and the science and the
willing labor Of the millions who NAV
thus transmit to,nposterity an : unim
paired inheritance. $780,
It is a mathematical fact, he asserted
that within twenty years our wheat
crop will not suffice for home consump
tion and seed, without a bushel for ex
port. To meet this condition, Mr.. Hill
pointed to the examples set by highland
Germany and France. In England, with
a soil naturally inferior to our own; the
farmer raises twice as much per acre a,
loes the, American farmer. In France
she disparity is still greater. These
things have been accomplished by sci
entific study. labor under the. sterr
pressure of necessity. Mr.. Hills ad
monition to the American farmer is not
to: skim his land and leave it ,impoover
ished for his children to rehabilitate
but to take care Of it as he goes along
to get for himself the enlarged crop:
which have been proven possible il
England and France and to leave thu
soil fresh and vital for his successors.
There are many well-digested ani
carefully considered thoughts in thi.
address that it is impossible to do Jus
tice to them all, but the central ides
is that agriculture is the primal tie be
tween nature and man. If we are wise
we will make it always our first nation
al consideration.
ID