Okolona messenger., 1909-03-24
Reports on Farmers Condition.


work of the country life commission,
appointed by the president, and much
has been the interest displayed by the
people in general. Recently the
president sent message to Congress
in which was embodied the report of
the country life commission Extracts
from the report are as follows:/
The commission finds that agricul-
ture in the United States, taken to-
gether, is prosperous commercially,
when measured by the conditions that
nave obtained in previous years, al
though there are some regions in
which this is only partially true. The
country people are producing vast
quantities of supplies for food, shell
ter, clothing, and for use in the arts.
The country homes are improving In
comfort, attractiveness, and healthful-
ness. Not only in the material wealth
that they produce, but in the supply
of independent and strong citizenship,
the agricultural people constitute the
very foundation of our national eifi-
cheney. AS agriculture is the imme-
diate basis of country life, so it fol-
lows that the general affairs OF the
open country, speaking broadly, are in
condition of improvement.
Many institutions, organizations,
and movements are actiYMT contrib
uting to the increasing wsWre of the
open country The most important OF
these are the United States depart
ment Of agriculture, the colleges of ag-
riculture, and the experiment. stations
in the states, and the national farm
ers' organizations. These institutions
and organizations are now properly as
suming leadership an country life
affairs, and consequently in many of
the public questions of national bear
ing. With these agencies must be
mentioned state departments of ag-
riculture, agricultural societies, and
organizations of very many kinds,
teachers in schools, workers in church
and other relifious associations, trav-
cling libraries, and many other
groupes, all working with commenda-
BILE zeal to further the welfare of the
people of the open country.
Yet it is true, Notwithstanding all
this progress as measured by histori-
cal standards, that agricultural is not
commercially as profitable as 1t is en-
fitlod IN hn fcr hn 10h ~
that the farmer expends and the risks
that he assumes, and that the social
conditions in the open country are far
short Of their possibilities. We must
measure our agricultural efficiency by
the possibilities rather than by COM
parison with previous conditions. The
farmer is almost necessarily handicap
ped in the development of his business
because his capital is small and the
volume of his transactions limited land
he usually stands practically alone
against organized interests. In the
general readjustment of modern life
due to the great changes in manufac-
lures and commerce, inequalities and
determinations have arisen, and nat
urally the separate man suffers most
The unattached man has problems
that government should understand.
The reasons for the lack of highly
organized rural society are very many,
as the full report explains. The lead.
ing specific causes are:
A lack of knowledge on the part of
farmers of the exact agricultural con-
ditions and possibilities of their re-
gions;
Lack of good training for country
life In the schools;
The disadvantage Or handicap of the
farmer as against the established
business systems and interests, pre-
venting him from securing adequate
returns for his products, depriving him
of the benefits that would result from
unmOnopolized rivers and the conserv.
alton of forests, and depriving the
community, in many cases, Of the
good that would come from the use
OF great tracts of agricultural lands
that are now held for speculative pur-
poses;
Lack Of good highway facilities;
The widespread continuing deple-
tion of soils, with the injurious effect
on rural life;
A general need of new and active
leadership
Other causes contributing to the
general result are: Lack of any ade-
quate system of agricultural credit,
whereby the farmer may readily se-
cure loans on fair terms; the short
age of labor, a condition that is ofteA
complicated by intemperanee among
iworkmen; lack of institutions and in
ceDtives that tie the laboring man to
the soil; the burdens and the narrow
life of farm women; lack of adequate
supervision of public health.
Some of the remedies lie with the
National Government, some OF them
with the states and communities in
their corporate capacities, some with
.voluntry organizations, and some with
individuals atcing alone.