The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-17
-
VALUE QE LAND /! Nd!
=. OWNING TILLER
"a -.
He is the Most Valuable
of All Citizens
So SAYS MIR. P|NCH0T

UU UnfU uIII. iUUuU
Address of the United States Forester
and Chairman of the National Con
servation Commission Delivered a,
the National Irrigation Congress al
Spokane.
Spokane, Wash, Aug. 1O-The chief
feature of The National Irrigation Con-
gress today was the address of Clifford
Pinchot, head of the United States
Forestry Bureau. He was very vehe-
ment in his opinion of the land laws.
There were many noted on
todays program. They were:
Mr.. Pinchot, r. E. Campbell, F. D.
of h Department of the Interior;
George S. Long, E. T. Allen, United
States Forester; Bailey Willis, of the
United States Geological Survey; w.
G. Barrett, director of the Interna-
tional Board of Republics; DR.. w. j.
MCGEE, secretary of the Inland Wa
terways Commission; j. N. Teal, of
the Joint conservation committee; n.
w. Harris, Chicago; Samuel Hill, pres
ident of the Washington Good Roads
Associations; Samuel Lancaster, High
way Expert.
Mr.. Pinchot's address was as fol-
lows:
Home Building for the Nation.
The most valuable citizen of this
or any other country is the man who
owns the land from which he makes
his living. No other man has such a
stake in the country. No other man
lends such s~teadineSS and stability to
our national life. Therefore no 9TH
er question concerns us more init
roatoIV than the question of homes.
Permanent homes for ourselves, our
children. and our natiOn-this is the
central problem. The policy Of ma
tional irrigation is Of value to the
United States in very many ways, but
the greatest of all is this, that national
irrigation multiplies the men Who own
the land from which they make their
living. The old saying, "WhoeVer
heard of a man shouldering his gun
to light for his boarding house. re-
fleets this great truth, that no man is
so ready to defend his country, not
ONLY with arms, but with his vote, and
his contribution to public opinion as
the man with a permanent stake IN
it. as the man who WIS the a
from which he makes his living.
Our country began as a nation or
farmers. During the periods that
gave it character, when our
ence was won and when our Unlon
was preserved, we were p~re-eTnlnently
a nation of farmers. cannot, and
we ought not. to continue exclusively,
or even chiefly, an agricultural coun-
try. because one man can raise fOOd
enough for MANY. But the farmer who
owns his land is still the backbone OF
this nation; and one of the things we
want most is more OF him.
The man on the farm is valuable
to the nation. like any other citizen,
inst in proportion to his intelligence,
ohi1jfyy and n4trjOflSm Duh
unlike the other citizens, also IN pro-
portion to his attachment to the soil.
That is the principal spring OF his
~steadiness, his sanity. his simplicity
and directness, and many OF his other
desirable Qualities. He is the first OF
hOme-makers.
The nation that will lead the world
will be a nation Of homes. The OBJ
sect of the great conservation move
ment is just this, TO make our country
a permanent and prosperous nome Tor
ourselves and for our children, and
for our children'S children. and it is
a task that is worth the best thought
and effort of any and all Of us.
TIC achieve this or any other great
result, straight thinking and strong
action are necessary. and the straight
thinking comes first. To make this
country what we need to have 1T, we
must think clearly and directly about
our problems, and above all we must
understand what the real problems
are. The great things are few and
simple, but they are too often hidden
by false issues, and conventional. un-
real thinking. The easiest way to hide
a rea! issue always has been, and al
ways Will be. to replace it with q false
one.
The first thing we need in this coun-
try, as President Roosevelt so we'll set
forth in that great message which
told what he had been trying to do
for the American people, is equality
of opportunity for e!ery citizen. No
man should have less. and no man
ought to ask for any more. Equality
of opportunity is the real object of
our laws and institutions. Our insti-
tutions and our laws are not valuable
in themselves. They are valuable