The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-06-01

Farmers. The towns were small and
were for the most part mere sea.
coast trading ard fishing ports
The chief industry of the country
was agricult,ge. and the ordinary
citizen was IN some way connected
with it. In eve y great crisis of
the past a peculiar dependence has
had to be placed upon the farm.
ing population; and this depend
cnce has Hitherto been justified i.
But ii can not be justified in the
future if agriculture is permitted to
sink in the scale as compared with
other employments. We can not
afford TO lose that preeminently
typical American. the farmer who
owns bis own farm.
Yet it would be iilc TO deny
that I'm the last half century there
has been in tho eastern half of our
country n falling off in the rela-
tive condition Of the tillers of the
soil, although signs are multiplying
that the nation has walked up TO the
danger and is preparing to grappIc
effectively with it.. East of the
Mississippi and north Of the Ohio
and the Potomac there has been
on dhe whole an actual shrinkage
IN the number of the farming pom
ulation since the civil war. In the
States of this section there has
been growth of popuation-in
some an enormous growth-but the
growth has taken place IN the cities
and especially in the larger cities.
This has been due to certain econo-
mic factors. such as the extension
of railroads, the development of
machinery, and the openings for
industrial success afforded by the
unprecedented growth of cities.
The increased facility of commune
eaton has resulted in the with
drawaf from rurpl communities of
most Of the small, widely distrib-
uted manufacturing and commercial
operations of former times. and the
substitution therefor of the CEN
triized commercial and manufac-
turing industries Of the cities.
"The chief offset 10 the varionS
tendencies which have told aga'rs
the farm has hitherto come in the
rise of the physical sciences and
their application to agricultural
practices or to the rendering of
country conditions more easy and
pleasant. But these countervailing
forces are as yet in tlieir infancy.
As compared with a few decades
ago. the social or community life Of
country people in the east COM
pares less well than it formerly did
with that of the dwellers IN cities.
any country communities have lost
thd.r social cOherence, thelr sense
Of community interest. In such
communities the country church, for
instance, has gone backward both as
a social and religious factor. Now
we can not TO" strongly insist upon
thefact that il is quite as unfor-
tunate to have any social as any
economic falling off. 1t would be q
calamity TO have cur farms Occu-
pied by a lower type of people
than the Woodworking, self-rcspect-
ing, Independent and essentially
manly and womanly men and wO-
men who have hitherto constituted
the most typically American, and
on the whole the most valuable,
element in cur entire nation. Am
bilious natIve-bon young men and
women who now tend away from
the farm must be brought back to
it, and therefore they must have
socNl rs we'll as economic oppor-
tunitic'. Everything should be
done TO encourage the growth in
the open farming country of such
institutional and social movements
as will meet the demand of the
best type of farmers. There should
be libraries. assembly halls, social
organizations of all kinds. The
school building and the teacher in
the school building should, through,
out the country districts be OF
the very highest type, able to fiji
the boys and girls not merely tC
live in, but thoroughly to enjoy
and to make the most of the coun,
try. The county church must be
revived. All kinds of agencies
From rural free delivery to the bi
cycle, and the telephone, should be
utilized tc the utmost; good road.
should be favored; everything
! should be done TO rlake it easiel
for the farmer to lead the mos
active and effective intellectual DO
litical, and economic life.
There are regions of large ex
tent where all this, on most of thi,
has already been realized, ant
while this is perhaps espeeiall,
true of great tracts Of farminl
country west Of the Mississippi
with some of which / have a fairl,