Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-02-09
Missouri Farmers Notions
of What His Fellows Need

| Appendix A, which accompanies the
| message. reads as follows:
! One of the most illumina ting-and In
cidentally one of the most interesting and
| amusing-serfes of answers sent to the
commission was from a farmer in Mis-
souri,.
| He stated that he had a wife and eleven
| living children. he and his wife being each
ffty-two years old; and that they owned
| $50 acres Of land without any mortgage
| hanging over their heads. He had himself
| done well. and his views as to why many
of his neighbors had done less well are
entitled to consideration.
These views are expressed in terse and
vigorous English: they can not always be
| quoted in full. He states that the farm
homes In his neighborhood are not as
good as they should be because too many
| Of them are incumbered by mortgages:
| that the schools do not train boys and
| girls satisfactorily for life on the farm.
because they allow them to get an idea
| in their heads that city life is better, and
that to remedy this practical farming
To the question whether the farmers
and their wives in his neighborhood are
satisfactorily organized. he answers: "Oh.
| there is a little one-horse grange gang in
our locality, and every darned one thinks
they aught to be a king.
To the question. Are the renters of
farms in your neighborhood making
| satisfactory living?" he answers: mo; be-
| cause they move about SO much hunting
better job"
Pension for Mothers.
To the question. els the supply OF farm
labor In your neighborhood satisfactory"
the answer is: mo: because the people
have gone out of the baby business"
and when asked as to the remedy he
answers, Give pention to every mother
| who gives birth to seven living boys on
American SOIL
To the question care the conditions sur
| rounding hired labor on the farm in your
neighborhood satisfactory to the hired
men?" he answers: Yes, unless he is
drunken cuss." adding that he would like
to blow up the stillhOuses and root out
whisky and beer.
To the question, Are the sanitary con-
ditions on the farms in your neighborhood
satisfactory" he answers: mo: toto
careless about chicken yards (and the
like and poorly covered wells, in one
well on neighbours farm / counted seven
snakes in the wall Of the we'll. and they
used the waiter daily. his wife dead
now and he is looking for another"
He ends by stating that the most i'm
portant single thing to be done for the
betterment of country life Is good
roads," but in his answers he shows
very clearly that most important of all
woman.
The humor of this set of responses
must not blind us to the shrewd common
sense and good judgment they display.
The man Is q good citizen: his wife is a
good citizen: and their views are funda-
mentally sound.
Money Could Be Applied.
Very much Information OF the most val
liable kind can be gathered II the commits
sion is given the money necessary to en-
able it to arrange and classify the infor-
nation obtained from the great mass of
similar answers which they have received.
But there is one point where the tes-
timony is a whole in fiat contradic-
ton to that contained above. The gen.
eral feeling is that the organizations of
farmers, the grangers and the like. have
been of the very highest service not only
to the farmers, but to the farmers wives,
and that they have conferred great social
as we'll as great industrial advantages.
An excellent little book has recently
been published by Miss Jennie Buell.. call
ed "One Womans Work for Farm
Women" 1t is dedicated ITO farm
women everywhere" and is the story Of
Mary A. Mayos part in rural social
movements 1t is worth while to read this
little volume to see how much the hard
working woman who lives on the farm
can do for herself when once she is given
sympathy, encouragement and occasional
1no1