The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-10-31

Land without population is a wilder
ness, and population without land is
mob"
In this terse aphorism James J. Hill
begins his article In the November
Worlds Work on What We Must Do
! to be Fed" in which he sounds a ma
tional warning that the United States
IS face 10 face with the problem of pro-
viding food for the 2OOOo0,O0O of popula-
ton which will inhabit this country in
1850.
"A prosperous agricultural interest is
to a nation what good digestion IS 10 a
man" continues Mr. Hill, declaring that
the farm IS the basis Of all industry
From these simple truisms Mr.. Hill says
that America must dignity agriculture
and place the farmer first among the
national producers or reap disaster
want. and ruin in the century on which
we have entered.
Must Develop Agriculture.
In the following words Mr.. Hill states
| the relation that must maintain between
/ agriculture and other industries
"The soil is the only resource that
renews itself continually after having
produced value. I do not wish 10 be-
little the Importance OF manufacture or
it's relative value IN general growth.
But for many years this country has
made the mistake Of unduly assisting
manufacture. commerce. and other ac-
tlvities that center in cities, at the ex-
pense OF the farm.
"The result is a neglected system OF
agriculture and the decline Of the farm
| ing Interest But all these other ac-
/ tivities are founded upon the agricul-
! tural growth OF the nation and must
continue 20 depeud upon Il. Every manu-
I facturer. every merchant, every busi-
| ness man. and every good citizen IS
deeply interested IN maintaining the
growth and development OF our agri-
| cultural resources
Mr. Hill quotes at length from the
writings OF Samuel Johnson 10 show
that DE predicted for England and Eu-
rope what has befalleu IL, II II neglected
the agricultural interest FOR manufac-
| ture. Though he wrote $50 years ago
| DIT. Johnson predicted that France with
its vines and other agricultural activi-
ties would be a rich nation when Spain
with its American possessions and boat
loads OF gold and silver would be pau
| perized. because Of it's neglect OF the de-
velopment OF the basic element OF all
wealth in the soil.
Mr. Hm declares the United States
run the danger OF making the same mis-
take. though to some extent the evil IS
/ beginning 10 be remedied. He describes
| the condition Of Europe. and points out
/ that the agricultural nations are wrest-
/ ing away the proud supremacy Of Eng
| land. which has stTutted over the seas
and terrOrized the world for a century.
! He designates Germany. France. and
/ Russia as the real leaders of Europe, be-
cause they have not forgotten the basic
element in All permanent growth-agri-
! culture.
Time of Economic Trial.
when the United States shall have
l5O.OO0OOO 70 2COOO0.oCO people they must
be employed; they must earn a living %
continues Mr.. Hin. How will their oc-
I equations and products stand in rela-
ton 70 one another? VIII there be mu-
! tuaI internal support. or mutual de-
| struction and decay? Who viii employ
| these miIlions7 Who will buy the goods
! they produce? In what shape will they
be 10 meet the competition that Eng
land faces to-day?
/ For the sake Of our national future,
/ for the sake of the coming millions who
will be helpless unless each can be fur
nished with n piece Of tnable land as
I a defense against misfortune. we should
see that the speculative abuses which
! these laws have fostered are brought
/ TO an end It should not be possible 20
obtain public land OF any kind anywhere
/ I'm the United States henceforth except
after complying with ali the terms Of
/ the homestead law. I cannot urge too
| strongly upon every man who wishes
his country well and who desires all
] TO be prosperous I'm order that he
may prosper with them. the impOr-
lance and growing necessity OF taking
such care OF our public domain as shall
| preserve the remnant Of II for the use OF
| generations yet unborn
such close and careful cultivation as
will yield the highest profit per acre can
/ best be given TO land when il is cult
waited in comparatively small farms The
| greater the number Of prosperous farm
! ers, the greater will be the prosperity Of
| every business man. 1t takes more la
Dor to earn the same profit from a tract
too large TO be tilted thoroughly
/ Ten farmers, each cultlvating from
! forty to 160 acres at the outside, with the
most approved methods supplemented
where necessary by irrigation can each
earn a profit equal 10 that taken from
two to three times the same area by
slovenly tillage. Ten farmers instead
| of one increase the aggregate volume Of
trade with the merchants of the COM
munity and add in the same ratio TO
the general prosperity.
"Our agriculture viii take place mid
way between the miniature garden-farms
of Japan and the vast estates OF coun-
tries that still support a landed gentry.
1t is far better that it should be so.
The farm life OF the future will have
many advantages-some of them already
beginning 10 be realized-over the iso-
lation Of an earlier day. because the
multiplication of smaller farms has be-
gun to bring good roads. schools. near
neighbors, farm telephones. churches.
libraries, improved mail facilities. and a
social environment which Is impossible
where farms are so big that homes are
far removed from one another.
Farm School for Every County.
''This country has from the beginning
established and maintained a common
school system on the sound principle
that education IS essential TO a right
discharge of the duties of citizenship.
Another element must be introduced into
the educational system. To direct the
minds OF the young to work upon the
land as an honorable and desirable ca
reer, and 20 prepare for them work
when they return there by suitable in
structiOn. is TO promote good citizen
ship and national security. To raise
the productivity of our soil 50 per cent
would be an increase greater in value
than the entire volume OF our foreign
| trade.