Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1907-06-05
PRESIDENT R00SEVATS lansing ADDRESS,
Delivered the Ffh Anniversary Of the Michigan Asricu
turaI College at Lansins-fity thousand People Hear
The President Talk at the Capital City

the trained nina IN the trained DOu..
To provide such training, to encourage
in every way the production of the
men whom IL alone can produce, is 20
show that as nation we have a
true conception OF the dignity and i'm.
portance of labor. The calling OF the
skilled tiller of the soil. the calling
OF the skilled mechanic, should alike
be recognized as professions, just as
emphatically as the callings OF law.
yer, OF doctor, Of banker. merchant.
or clerk. The printer, the electrical
worker. the houe painter. the foundry
man should be trained just as care
fully as the stenographer or the drug
clerk. They should be trained alike
in head and in hand. They should
should get over the idea that TO carr
twelve dollars a week and call il sal
airy" is better than TO earn twenty-five
dollars a week and call 1t wages.
The young man who has the courage
and the ability TO refuse to enter the
crowded field of the so-called profess
sions and TO Fake to constructive in
dustry is almost sure of an ample re-
ward in earnings, in health, in oppor-
tunity to marry early, and TO establish
a home with reasonable freedom from
worry We need the training. the
manual dexterity, and industrial intel.
ligence which can be best given in a
good agricultural, or building, or tex
tile. or matchmaking, or engraving,
~ ho nj CD Ia,
one OF our prime objects TO put the
the wage-worker who works
Nth his hands, and who ought to work
IN constantly larger degree with his
head. on higher plane Of efficiency
and reward, so as to Increase his
effectiveness in the economic world,
and therefore the dignity, the remu-
neration. and the power OF his posi-
ton in the social world. To train
boys and girls IL merely literary ac-
complishments to the total exclusion
OF industrial, manual and technical
training tends TO unfit them for in
dustrial work: and in real life most
work is industrial.
"The problem OF furnishing we'll
trained craftsmen, or rather journey
men fitted in the end to become such,
is not simple-few problems are
simple in the actual process OF their
solution-and much care and fore
thought and practical common sense
will be needed. in order to work it
out in a fairly satisfactory manner. It
should appeal to all our citizens. |
am glad that societies have already
been formed to promote Industrial ed.
ucation, and that their membership
includes manufacturers and leaders Of
labor unions, educators and publicists
men of conditions who are interested
in education and in industry. II IS
such cooperation that offers most
hope for a satisfactory solution Of the
question as to what is the best form
of industrial school. as to the means
by which il may be articulated with
the public school system, and as to
the way to secure for the boys trained
therein the opportunity 10 acquire in
the industries the practical skill which
alone can make them finished jour.
neymen.
Farmer is Ideal American.
"There is but one person whose wei
fare is as vital to the welfare of tn
whole country as is that Of the wage
worker who does manual labor; an
that is the tiller of the soil-th
farmer. If there is one lesson taught
by history it is that the permanen.
greatness Of any state must ultimate
" depend more upon the character oil
it's country population than upon any
thing else. No growth OF cities, nC
growth Of wealth can make up for r
loss In either the number or the
character OF the farming population
In the United States more than ii
almost any other country we should
realize this and should prize our coun
try population. When this nation be
gan its Independent existence il was
as a nation OF farmers. The town.
were small and were for the nsos
part mere seacoast tra6tng and fish
ing ports. The chief industry OF thu
country was agriculture and the or
binary citizen was in some way con
nected with It. In every great crisi'
of the past a peculiar dependence ha
had to be placed upon the farmin:
populations; and this dependence ha
hitherto been justified. But IL ca
not be justified in the future II agricul
ture is permitted to sink in the seal
as compared with other employments
We can not afford TO lose that pre-
eminently typical American-th
farmer who owns his own farm.
yet IL would be idle to deny tha
I'm the last half century there IA
been in the eastern half of our couf
try a falling off in the relative cor
dition OF the tillers OF the soil. a
though signs are multiplying that III
nation has walked up to the DANCE
and is preparing TO grapple effectivel
with Il. East Of the Mississippi an
north of the Ohio and the Potoma
there has been. on the whole an a,
tual shrinkage in the number OF tn
farming population since the civ
war. In the states OF this sectio
there has been a growth or pOpuli
tion-in some an enormous growth
but the growth has taken place !
the cities, and especially in the large
cities. This has been due to certai
economic factors, such as the extel
sion OF railroads. the development {
machinery, and the openings for In
dustrial success afforded by the un
precedented growth of cities. The in
creased facility OF communication hai
resulted in the withdrawal from rura
communities Of most of the small
widely distributed manufacturing anC
commercial operation OF former times
and the substitution therefor OF tn
centralized commercial and manufac
turing Industries OF the cities.