The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1906-09-18
J. ]. HILLS WARNING.
He Calls Attention to Some Of the
Weaknesses of This Country.

weaknesses OF This Country.
Commercial West: 1t is a good
| thing for a nation to have a few men
| with courage enough to go against the
current of popular fallacy and national
| jingoism, and point out once in while
| the dangers that threaten. In the
| midst of the general prosperity shout
| ing, Mr.. Hill has the courage and fore
sight to point a warning in emphatic
terms, even to the point of showing
us that many of the very factors of
| our so-called prosperity are, in fact,
| simply methods of exhausting our her
| itage of natural resources
The great American forest resources,
except small patch on our Pacific
coast, are practically gone. Forty
years at the present rate promise to
use M the remnant OF our iron and
coal, already long on the road to
| bankruptcy. Our wheat fields, which
in the days of virgin fertility yielded
twenty five to forty bushels per acre,
| have dropped through exhaustion of
native fertility to twelve bushel av-
erage. The farms of the Atlantic
coast and of the middle states have
lost in both fertility and market val
study of thorough going agriculture,
such as today IS practIced in all Eu-
rope, except Russia and possibly Tur-
| key.
In the meantime, our population
| continues to swell both by native
gains at the rate of Is per cent every
decade and by immigration at the rate
| of 100000 people per annum. Even
year, the United States will have 200,
| 100000 people in 1850; yhile, If i'm
| migration ceases entirely, we shall
| have by natural increase 10000, 900
| in 1860. Whether we have $50, 200, 900
or 20O,OO0,0OO, the problem is, what
shall we do with them? How shall
we house and feed them; with for
ests going and practically gone, and
with the wheat crop nearing the point
of no surplus for export?
OF course, the meat in the cocoanut,
as extracted for us by Mr.. Hill, is
this-that the reliance of this nation,
as of all Others is the soil, and that
| this nation, IL 1t would permanently
prosper and endure, must speedily
| realize It's danger and need, and apply
itself to scientific and intensive Gull
| ture OF the soil.
France, which harvests double the
| crop per acre obtained on the aver
age American farm, supports 100000
900 people within a domain one third
smaller than Texas Prussia sustains
35,000,000 on territory smaller than
| California. England and Scotland
combined are smaller than Minnesota,
| and yet support a population about
| three ifths that of the United States.
Japan Is smaller than Montana, and
cultivates an area of about one-sey-
enth that of Montana; and yet on the
products OF these $4,000 square miles
of highly cultured farms and gardens
there live 45,000,000 thrifty and indus
trious people who so recently showed
their superiority on land and sea over
the great ill-governed empire of Rus
STA.
The lesson of the hour, therefore, as
expounded by Mr.. Hill In his address
to the farmers and business men of
Minnesota at the state fair last Mon
day, is--study and practice soil till
age and every branch of thorough ag-
riculture. We must do that, If we
would fulfill our mission as world
power and as the world-refuge for
the oppressed and needy. Mr.. Hill
would have the government establish
a model farm in every congressional
district. and, IL need be, have the
states follow up the programme with
model farm in every county. He
would reclaim the arid lands, drain
the swamps, practice scientific for
estry and establish good roads in
every hamlet. He would take down
the tariff wallis which shut off the inn
portations of raw materials from other
countries. He would cease exporting
our native fertility to build up the in
dustries OF other countries by ex-
haustion of our own resources He
would husband the remnant Of our ma
tional domain by distributing 1t among
actual, settlers on the basis of forty
acres apiece. In short, he would call
halt on the wild career of waste and
exhanstion, which marks the country
and the times, and put our house in
order for an enduring and prosperous
| future.