The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-02-12


they do business.
Second-A new kind of schools in
the country, which shall teach the
children as much outdoors as indoors
and perhaps more, so that they will
prepare for country life and not, as at
present, mainly for life in town.
Third.-Better means of communica-
ton, including good roads and par
GELS post, which the country people
are everywhere, and rightly unani-
nous in demanding
To these may well be added better
sanitation, for easily preventable dis
eases hold several million country peo-
pie in the slavery of continuous ill
| health.
Organization Is Necessary.
The commission points out-and 1
concur in the conclusion-that the
| most important help that the govern
ment, whether national or state. can
give is to show the people how to go
about these tasks of organization. ed
ucation and communication with the
best and quickest results. This can
be done by the collection and spread
Of information. One community can
thus be informed of what other COM
munities have done and one country
of what other countries have done
Such help by the peoples govern
ment would lead to comprehensive
plan of organization, education and
communication and make the farm
| ing country better to live in. for in
tellectual and social reasons as well
as for purely agricultural reasons.
The government through the de
partment of agriculture does not cul-
tivate any mans farm for him. but it
does put at his service useful knowl-
edge that he would not otherwise get.
In the same way the national and
state governments might put into the
peoples hands the new and right
knowledge of school work. The task
of maintaining and developing the
schools would remain, as now, with
the people themselves.
Money Fer Expenses Asked.
is that an appropriation of $4,000 be
provided TO enable the commission to
digest the material it has collected
and to collect and to digest much
more that is within its reach and thus
complete it's work. This would enable
the commission to gather in the har-
vest of suggestion which is resulting
from the discussion it has stirred up.
The commissioners have served with
out compensation, and 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.
To improve our system of agricul-
ture seems to me the most urgent of
the tasks which lie before us. But it
cannot, in my judgment, be effected
by measures which touch only the ma
terial and technical side of the sub
ject. The whole business and life of
| the farmer must also be taken into
account Such considera tons led me
to appoint the commission on country
life. Our object should be to help de-
velop in the country community the
great ideals Of community life as well
as of personal character. One of the
most important adjuncts to this end
must be the country church, and l in
vite your attention to what the COM
mission says of the country church
and of the need of an extension of
such work as that of the Young Mems
Christian association in country COM
munities. Let me lay special emphasis
upon what the commission says at the
very end of it's report on personal
ideals and local leadership. Every
thing resolves itself in the end into
the question of personality. Neither
society nor government can do much
for country life unless there is volun-
tary response in the personal ideals of
the men and women who live in the
country
Plea For Farmers Wives.
In the development Of character the
home should be more important than
the school or than society at large.
When once the basic material needs
have been met, high ideals may be
quite Independent of income, but they
cannot be realized without sufficient
income to provide adequate founda-
ton, and where the community at
large is not financially prosperous 1t
is impossible to develop high aver
age personal and community ideal. In
short, the fundamental facts of hui
man nature apply to men and women
who live in the country just as
they apply to men and women
who live in the towns. Given sufti-
cient foundation of material we'll be-
ing, the influence of the farmers and
farmers wives on their children be-
comes 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 consideration on the
farm is his wife. do not in the least
mean that she should purchase ease at
the expense of duty. Neither man nor
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 1t is to
hoor opd roo,. c,Iffio ionf number or