The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1909-02-17

c;aIIy as Profitable as 1t Is En-
titled to 6e-HishIy Organized
Rural Society Recommended as De.
sirabe step-PossibIe for Congress
to Remove Many Of the Handicaps
Washington.-The report of the
commission on country life, made to
the president, was read in both houses
Of congress. Substantially the re.
port was as follows:
To the President: The commission
on country life herewith presents its
report. The commission finds that
agriculture in the United States, taken
together. is prosperous commercially,
when measured by the conditions that
have 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, shelter,
clothing, and for use in the arts. The
country homes are improving in COM
fort. attractiveness and healthfulness.
Not only in the material wealth that
they produce, but in the supply of in
dependent and strong citizenship, the ag-
ftcultural people constitute the very
foundation of our national efficiency.
AS agriculture is the immediate basis
Of country life, SO it follows that the
general affairs of the open country,
Of improvement.
Most Prominent Deficiencies.
Yet it Is true. notwithstanding all
this progress as measured by his
torical standards, that agriculture is
not commercially as profitable as it is
entitled to be for the labor and energy
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 handi-
capped in the development of his BUSH
ness, because his capital is small and
the volume of his transactions limited:
and he usually stands practically
alone against organized interests. In
the general readjustment of modern
life due to the great changes in manu-
features and commerce, inequalities
and determinations have arisen, and
naturally the separate man suffers
most. The unattached man has prob
lens that government should under
stand.
The reasons for the lack Of a 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-
gions;
Lack OF good training for country
life in the schools;
Lack of good highway facilities;
The widespread continuing deple-
ton 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 Sc
cure loans ON fair terms: the short
age Of labor. condition that is often
complicated by intemperance among
workmen; lack of institutions and in
the soil; the burdens and the narrow
life of farm women; lack of adequate
supervision of public health.
Nature Of the Remedies.
Some of the remedies lie with the ma
tional government. some of them with
the states and communities in their
corporate capacities, some with volun-
tary organizations. and some with in
dividuals acting alone. From the great
number of suggestions that have been
made. covering every phase of country
life, the commission now enumerates
those that seem to be most funda-
mental or most needed at the present
time.
Congress can remove some of the
of the farmer. and it can
also SET kinds nf yyNr1< N
such as:
The encouragement OF a system of
surveys of all agricul-
tural regions in order to take stock
and to develop a scientifically and
economically sound country life:
The establishing Of a nationalized
system Of extension work in rural
through all the land
grant colleges with the people at their
homes and on their farms:
A thorough-going Investigation by
experts of the middleman system of
handling farm products. coupled with
a general inquiry into the farmers
in respect to taxation,
rates. cooperation or
and credit, and the gem
eral business system;
An inquiry into the control and use
Of the streams of the United States
with the object of protecting the peo-
pie in their ownership and of saving
to agricultural uses such benefits as
should be reserved for these purposes;
The establishing Of a highway en-
service, or equivalent organi-
zation. to be at the call Of the states
n working out effective and econom-
cal highway systems:
The establishing of system of
parcels post and postal savings
And providing some means or
agency for the guidance of public
opinion toward the development of a
'eal rural society that shall rest di-
'ectly on the land.
Other remedies recommended for
by congress are:
The enlargement of the United
states bureau of education. to enable
t to stimulate and coordinate tho ed
lcation~l work Of the nation;
Careful attention to the farmers
interests in legislation on the tariff.
N regulation Of railroads. control or
equation of corporations and of spec
llation, legislation in respect of riv-
RS, forests. and the utilization of
wamp lands:
Increasing the powers of the fed