Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-02-11


cells post, which the country people
imous in demanding.
To these may well be added better
sanitation: for easily preventable dis
eases hold several million country
people in the slavery of continuous Ill
health.
Wants $4,000 Appropriated.
The only recommendation submit
is that an appropriation of $4,000 be
provided, to enable the commission to
digest the material 1t has collected,
and to collect and to digest much more
that is within its reach, and thus COM
plete its work. This would enable the
commission to gather in the harvest
Of suggestion which is resulting from
the discussion 1t has stirred up. The
commissioners have served without
compensation, and l do not recon-
mend any appropriation for their serv-
ices, but only for the expenses that
will be required to finish the task that
they have begun.
Given sufficient foundation Of ma
terial we'll being, the influence of the
farmers and farmers wives on their
children becomes the factor of first
importance in determining the attitude
of the next generation toward farm
| life. The farmer should realize that
! the person who most needs considera-
ton on the farm is his wife. do not
in the least mean that she should pur-
chase at the expense Of duty. Neither
man or woman is really happy or
really useful save on condition of
doing his or her duty. If the woman
shirks her duty as housewife, as home
keeper, as the mother whose prime
function it is to bear and rear a suf-
f1cient number of healthy children,
then she is not entitled to our regard.
But If she does her duty she is more
entitled to our regard even than the
man who does his duty; and the man
should show special consideration for
her needs.
warn my countrymen that the
great recent progress made in city life
is not full measure of our civiliza-
ton; for our civilization rests at bot
tom on the wholesomeness, the at
Effectiveness and the completeness as
well as the, prosperity, of life in the
|
farms stand for what is fundamentally
best and most needed in our Ameri-
can life. Upon the development of
country life rests ultimately our abil-
ity, by methods Of farming requiring
the highest intelligence, to continue to
feed and clothe the hungry nations: to
supply the city with fresh blood, clean
bodies, and clear brains that can en-
dure the terrific strain Of modern life !:
we need the development of men in
the open country, who will be in the
future, as in the past, the stay and
strength Of the nation in time Of war,
and It's guiding and controlling spirit
In time of peace.
Theodore Roosevelt
The White House, February 9, 1909
The COMMISSIONS REPORT.
The report of the commission, which
accompanied the message follows:
Washington, Jan. 20, 1909.
To the President
The Commission on Country Life
herewith presents it's report.
Introductory Review or Summary.
The Commission finds that agricul-
ture in the United States, taken to-
ScIiiCi, 10 pIOSpeTOuS commercially
when measured by the conditions that
have obtained in previous years., al
though there are soma regions ir
which this is only partially true. The
country people are producing vast
quantities of supplies for food shelter
clothing, and for use in the arts. The
country homes are improving in COM
fort attractiveness, and healthfulness
Not only in the material wealth that
nrO6ICa ir, ha CIV, y>1E of In
dependent and strong citizenship, the
agricultural people constitute the very
foundation Of our national efficiency
AS agriculture Is the immediate basis
of country lie. so 1t follows that the
general affairs Of the open country
| speaking broadly. are In a condition o,
Improvement.
Many institutions, organizations ant
movements are actively contributing
to the increasing welfare of the oper
country. The most important of these
are the United States Department Of
Agriculture, the colleges Of agricul.
ture. and the experiment stations II
fthe states, and the national farmers
organizations. These institutions ant
J organizations are now properly assum
ing leadership in country life affairs
and consequently in many of the pub
lie questions OF national bearing. With
these agencies must be mentioned
state departments of agriculture. agri
cultural socities, and organizations O
very many kinds, teachers in schools
workers in church. and other religious
associations, travelling libraries, ant
many other groups. all working with
commendable zeal to further the wei.
fare of the people Of the open coun
try.
The Most Prominent Deficiencies.
, Yet 1t is true, Notwithstanding al
this progress a measured by historical
standards, that agriculture is not com
mercally as profitable as it is entitled
to be for the labor and energy that tn,
farmer expends and the risks that h
assumes, and that the social conditions
, in the open country are far short o
their possibilities. We must measur
our agricultural efficiency by the pos
sibilities rather than by comparison
with previous conditions. The farm
| er is almost necessarily Handicapped
in the development Of his business, be
cause his capital is small and the vol
ume of his transactions limited; an,
he usually stands practically alon
against organized interests. In tn
5 general readjustment of modern lif
? due to the great changes In manufac