Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-15

flcient for our own needs. Within ten
years, possibly less, we are. likely to be-
come a wheat-importing nation; the per
centage of the population engaged IN
agriculture and the wheat product per
acre are both falling; at the same time
the cost Of living Is raised everywhere
by this relative scarcity OF bread, by
artificial increase in the price of all man
ufactured articles, and by habit OF ex-
travagance which has enlarged the view
Of both rich and poor Of what are to be
considered to be the necessaries or lie.
Mr.. Hill declared that never yet has en-
HANGED cost of living, when due to agrl-
cultural decline and inability TO supply
national needs, failed to end in national
disaster He said the farm is our main
reliance and that every other activity
depends on that; that the majority 1all
to realize practically the declining status
Of agriculture in the country. Iney are
misled by the statistics of farm values
and products, mounting annually by great
leaps, into thinking that this absolute
increase implies relative advance o,
this industry as compared with others,
said he. Exactly the opposite is the
case. I refer not merely to the quality
and results Of our tillage, but to the set
ting of the human tide away from the
cultivated field and toward the factory
gate or the city slum.
Flee From Farms to Cities.
"In 1880 only about 3.4 per cent of the
American people lived in towns. At the
time Of the civil war the percentage had
risen to 16. In 1900 more than 81 per
cent of our population was urban. The
change Is portentous, and there is no
doubt that the coming census will show
it to have proceeded in the last ten
years with accelerated speed. In spite
of the warnings of economists, the anne
Iteration of farm life, the opening OF
cfiUQ oYpnlnVnoont tho
land through the spread of irrigation
and the growth Of the fruit industry, the
encouragement Of public men and the
wider dissemination of agricultural edu-
cation, the percentage of our population
which works on the farm constantly de-
clines.
with our annual increase Of over 15
per cent In population from natural
causes and immigration that has not
been less than three-quarters of mill
lion any year since 1902 there will be
from two to two and half million more
| mouths to feed every year. Having in
view this increase in population, the de-
Ginning average yield per acre Of cult
waited land in the United States, after it
has been farmed for few years, the rise
of per capita consumption with a higher
cost of living and the movement of the
working population away from the land
the time Is now approaching when we
shall not only cease to be wheat-selling
| nation, but will find it necessary to i'm
port a portion Of what we consume.
10000 New York Farms for Sale.
Good farms in the Mohawk valley in
New York state forty years ago were
worth from 500 to $3.50 per acre; now
many are sold at from $25 to $50. The
younger generation throngs the cities. and
the land rented by its owners to tenants
careless of everything but immediate
profit, is abused and robbed of its fertil-
ity. In New York state 10000 farms are
for sale. The southern central portion
| shows progressive loss OF population. If
anybody imagines that this process of ex-
hauStion and abandonment or transfer to
other uses is peculiar to the east, let him
look at Iowa, whose average wheat crop
In the five years. 1SS3-1SS7, was 29.6S2. $50
bushels, and in the five years. 1904-19OS,
was 9,976.4ss bushels. In 1908 it was
SO6S, 600"
Vice President Sherman, who unexpect-
edly dropped in" and heard the railroad
magnate's speech, said:
'Mr. Hill made q strong speech, but if
were to talk I would add that while
eastern farm lands have unquestionably
lessened in value, the farm lands of the
west opened up by the railroads of the
country have wonderfully increased in
value
Fidelity Guarantees Deposits.
Lawrence o. Murray, controller Of the
currency, spoke on some Of the problems
Of his Office
II believe" he said. "in just one kind of
guaranty Of deposits. I believe in the
guaranty which comes from the controller
Of the currency doing his duty under the
law, from the bank examiners doing their
duty. from the executive officers and d.
rectors of the banks doing their full duty
In accordance with the oaths of Office
which they take
THAT kind OF guaranty is practfca bile
and does not cost the banks an extra dol
lar nor permit depositors to lose a dol
lar"
President George NJ. Reynolds declared
| in his annual address in favor of a CEN
| trail bank with a capitalization Of not less
than $1OO,OOO,OOO as a means of AVOIDING
financial disasters similar to the panic Of
| 1907.
| (An account OF today's proceeding. Of
the American Bankers' convention Will
be found elsewhere In this issue OF