The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-06-01
PRESIDENT THINKS
BABY CROP is BEST
continued from First page.)

workingman Of the countries Of great
Tcst Industrial efficiency. BY tho tariff
and by our i1nmigratlo laws we can
always protect ourselves against the
competition Of pauDer labor hero at
home; but when we coatend for tho
markets Of the world we can get no
protection, and we shall then find that
our most formidable competitors arc
the nations in which there is the most
highly developed business ability the
most highly developed Industrial skill.
and these arc tho qualities which we
must ourselves develop.
The Dignity of Labor.
Eve have been fond, as nation. of
speaking OF the dignity Of labor.
meaning thereby manual labor. Per-
sonally, don't think that we begin
10 understand what a high place man
ual labor should Ike; and It never can
take this high place unless /. offers
scope for tho best type Of man. We
have tended to regard education as a
matter OF the head only, and the result
Is that q great many of our people.
Themselves the sons Of men who
worked with their hands. seem to think
that they rise In the world II they got
into position where they do no hard,
manual work whatever; where tn cir
hands will grow soft and their work
Ing clothes will be kept clean. Such
q conception Is both false and mis-
Ichievous. There are, of course, kinds
of labor where the work must be
purely mental, and there are other
kinds Of labor where, under existing
conditions, very little demand indeed
is made upon the mind though am
glad to say that think the proportion
Of men engaged in this kind of work
| Is diminishing.
The Wage Worker.
There is but one person whose well
| fare Is as vital to tho welfare Of the
whole country as Is that of the wage
worker who does manual labor; and
THAT is tho tiller of the soil-the
farmer If there 'is one lesson taught
by history it is that the permanent
greatness Of any State must ultimately
depend moro upon the character of its
country population than upon anything
else. No growth. OF cities, no growth
Of wealth, can make UP for loss in
| either the number or the character ol
the farming population. In the United
States more than in almost any other
country we should realize this and
should prize our country population.
When this nation began It's indepen-
dent existence 1t was as nation OF
| farmers. The towns were small, and
were for the most part mere seacoast
trading and fishing ports The chief
| industry OF the country was agricul.
ture, and the ordinary citizen was in
some way connected. with It. In every
great crisis OF the past a peculiar de-
pendence has had to be placed upon
/ the farming population, and this de-
tpendence has hitherto been justified
! But 1t cannot be justified In the future
] IT agriculture Is permitted to sink in
the scale as compared with other en-
/ Judgments. We cannot afford to lose
that pre-eminantly typical America n
the farmer who owns his own farm.
y he cornel-stonos Of our uaexam-
Ipled prosperity are. on the one hand
the production Of. raw material, ana
Its manufacture and distribution on
the other. These two great groups
iof subjects are represented in the ma
ftional government principally by the
1 departments Of Agriculture and OF
Commerce and Labor. The production
OF raw material from the surface of
the earth is the sphere In which tho
| department of Agriculture has hitherto
ach ievcd such notable results.
Need OF Cooperation.
Farmers must learn the vital need
OF cooperation with one another.
Next to this comes corporation with
the government. and the government
can best give it's aid through assoc
Citations of farmers rather than
through the Individual farmer; for
there is noygreater agricultural prob
lem than that OF delivering to the
farmer the large bodylof agricultural
/ knowledge which has been accumu-
lated by the national and State gov
|, ernments and by the agricultural col
i leges and schools Nowhere has the
i government worked to better advan-
/ tage than in the South, where the
work done by the Department If Agri-
1 culture in connection with the cotton
i growers OF the Southwestern States
i has been phenomenal in its value.
1.-THE farmers in the region affected BY
the boil weevil, in the course Of tho
.lefforts to fight it have succeeded In
i developing a most scientific husbt ndry
Iso that in many places the boil weevll
became blessing in disguise.
Farmers Must Combine.
"The people OF our farming regions
must be able to combine among them
SELVES. as the most efficient means OF
protecting their industry from the
'Ihighly organized interests which now
Isurround them on every side. A vast
.Ifield Is open for work by cooperative
associations OF farmers IN dealing VII tn
the relation OF the farm ito transporta-
4 ton and to the distribution and manu-
fracture of raw materials. It Is only
Through such combination that Ameri-
I can farmers can develop, to the full
i their economis and social power.
i denomination of this kind has, In Dem
mark. for instance, resulted In bring
ling the people back to the land. and
1 has enabled the Danish peasant ia
compete in cxtraord mary fashion, not
only at home, but in foreign countries,
lwith all rivals.
Must Help the Women.
i IT have hearty sympathy with the
movement to better the condition OF
the average tiller OF the soil, Of the
,Inverage wagcworker, and T. have an
4 even heartier sympathy and applause
a| for tho movement which ilFto better
the condition of their respective wives
There Is plenty that Is hard and rough
and dsagreeable In tho necessary work
OF actual life; and under the best cir
cumstances, and no matter how tender