The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1909-09-16
Country and City.

According to carefully compll-
ID statistics and common report,
he trend from the country to the
:ity is very marked. The great
st enthusiasm over the country
lie is shown by city men who
ire weary OF their own routine
md who desire a change. Some
If them merely dream OF the
!hange. Others have the courage
If their convictions, but they are
often sadly perplexed after they
lave become farmers or fruit
-aisers. One trouble is that they
lave waited too long. There are
ew young men among them.
Their reliance is on th,ir savings,
not on their strength for the new
work and their knowledge OF it.
They hope really to retire, to rest
lfter their labors.
The country needs the young
men who may become ambitious,
alert, industrious farmers, who
will make farming their chief in
crest. But there is no way of
orcing them to go to the coun-
-ry, and Mr.. ames !. Hill show
ID in speech that the anchor
ltion of farm life, the opening OF
new and attractive employment
IN the land through the spread OF
irrigation and the growth OF the
iruit industry, the encourage
ment of public men and the wider
dissemination OF agricultural ed
ucation" had had small results so
far.
But as an offset to his alarmist
view OF the state of the nation as
it is affected by the relative de-
cline OF the agricultural popula.
ton something may be said on
the question of opportunities.
Farms will hardly be permanent
V abandoned even in the East if
they hold out a fair hope of COM
fort and profit. Men who are
brought near to starvation in
cities because of the high price of
farm products will not stay on
and starve if there is a chance for
them in the country. We are
speaking now not of few indi-
vidualS but of the mass under
such conditions as Mr.. Hill de
scribes. Given those conditions,
the pressure would be outward /;
the main attraction, that of a de-
cent living, would be in the coun-
try. As land became more valu-
able efforts would be made to get
a bigger yield from it. Ameri-
cans would follow the example of
Europeans in the matter of inten-
sive cultivation,
Such problems work them
selves out, and there is some SOL
ace in the thought that there is
much land in the United States
awaiting the hand OF the cultivat-
or. 1t could do wonders under
improved methods. 1t gives lis a
great advantage over Europe,
and in Europe, with its smaller
reserves, the trend OF the cities
still continues.
We are unable to see in the &C
tua1 conditions any menace of ma
tional disaster, but there may be
value in the emphasis which Mr..
Hill places upon his subject. The
right kind OF farming would be
a good thing for the nation. The
land and its promise under prop
er care already offer inducements
to young men who will take up
agricultural work in the proper
spirit. Successes are possible
where failure is indicated by the
decline in land prices to which
Mr.. Hill refers. They have been
achieved after failures, and prob
ably the positive demonstrations
that the country has opportun-
tiles as an alternative to disheart-
ening struggles in the cities will
exercise a decisive influence upon
many people even If they do not
produce a rapid revolution.