The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-02-09

! partment of Agriculture, through
which as prime agent the ideas the
commission stands for must reach the
| people, should become without delay
! in fact Department of COuntry Life,
J fitted to deal not only with crops. but
also with all the larger aspects of life
| in the open country.
From all that has been done and
| learned three great general and Inn
mediate needs of country life stand
out:
! First, effective cooperation among
] farmers, TO put them on level with
| the. organized interests with which
| they do business.
Second, a new kind of schools in the
country, which shall teach the children
| as much outdoors as indoors and per
haps 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 we'll be added better
sanitation; for easily preventable dis
eases hold several million country peo
pie in the slavery of continuous I'll
health.
The commission points out, and l
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, edu-
cation and communication with the
best and quickest results. This can
be done by the collection and spread
of information. One community can
- H,,4 -
munities have done, and one country
of what other countries have done.
Such help by the peoples government
would lead to a comprehensive plan
of organization, education, and COM
munication, and make the farming
country better to live in, for intellec-
tual and social reasons as we'll as for
purely agricultural reasons.
The Government through the De-
pa;rtment of Agriculture does i no3
cultivate any mans farm for him. But
it does put at his service useful
knowledge that he would not otherwise
get. In the same way the National
and State Governments might put IN
to 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.
The only recommendation l submit
is that an appropriation of 5000 be
provided, to enable the commission
to digest the material 1t has collected,
and to collect and to digest much more
that is within it's 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 it has stirred up. The
commissioners have served without
compensation, and / do not recon-
mend amy appropriation for their SER
vices, 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
can not in my judgment, ibe 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 consideration led me
to appoint the Commission on Coun
try Life. Our object should be to help
develop 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 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 its repout ON personal
ideals and local leadership. Every
thing resolves itself in the end into
the question of personality. Neither
society no. 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. In the development OF
character, the home should be more
important than the school, or than so
ciety at large. When once the basic
material needs have been met, high
ideals may be quite Independent of IN
come; but they can not be realized
without sufficient income to provide
adequate foundation; and where the
community at large is not financially
prosperous it is impossible to develop
high average personal and commu-
nifty ideal. In short, the fundamental
facts of human nature apply to men
and women who hive in the country
| just as they apply to men and women
| who live in the towns. Given suffic-