The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-10

themselves.
The only recommendation I submit is
tn4t an appropriation Of $500 De pro
vided TO enable the commission TO digest
the material il has collected. and 10 coli
iect and TO digest much more that IS Win
in its reach. ana thus complete its work.
Iris would enable the commission 10
gather in the harvest Of suggestion which
Is resulting from the discussion II has
stirred up The commissioners have served
without compensation. and 90 not
recommend any appropriation foF tnelI
services, but only for the expenses that
will be required to finish the task tnat
they have begun
Improvement Urgent.
To improve our system OF agriculture
seems to me the most urgent of the tasks
which lie before U.S. But it cannot IN my
Judgment, be effected by measures when
touch only the material and technical side
Of the subject. the whole business ana
life Of the farmer must also be taken lntO
account Such considerations led me 10
appoint the commission on country life.
Our object should be TO help develop III
the country community the great Ideals
OF community life as well as OF person5i
character One of the most important ad-
juncts to this end must be the country
church. and I invite your ATTENTION 10
what the commission says OF the country
church and Of the need Of an extension 81
such work as that Of the Young Men
Christian association in country cOInmuni-
ties. let me law special emphasis upon
what the commission says at the very enc
of its report on personal ideals and local
leadership. Everything resolves itself IN
the end into the question OF personally
Neither society nor government can 90
much for country life unless there Is VOL
untary response ia the personal ideals OF
the men and women who live in the coun-
try. In the development Of character, ths
home should be more important than Tue
school, or than society at large Wheh
he uEfr faf nave
met, high ideals may be quite independent
Of income. but they cannot De reailzsu
without sufficient income to PROVIDE ade-
quate foundation. and Wnere tne cOtn-
munity at large is not financially prosper
Gus II Is impossible to develop mgn aN-
srage personal and community ldeai- IN
short. the Fundamental facts OF human
nature apply to men and women VINO hNe
in the country just as they apply 10 men
and women who live in the towns Given
a sufficient foundation OF material well
being. the influence of the farmers and
farmers wives on their children becomes
the factor of first importance IN deter
mining the attitude of the next generation
toward farm life. The farmer should real
ize that the person who most needs con-
sideration on the farm is his wife: ] DO
not in the least mean that she should pur-
chase 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 II Is 10 bear
and rear a sufficient number Of healthy
children, then she is not entitled to our
regard. But IL she does her duty she Is
more entitled to our regard even than the
man who does his duty. and the man
should show special consideration for her
needs
Country Life Best.
I warn my countrymen that the great
recent progress made in city life is not
full measure OF our civilization; for our
civilization rests at bottom on the whole
someness, the attractiveness and the COM
pleteness. as well as the prosperity. of
life in the country. The men and women
on the farms stand for what is funda-
mentally best and most needed in our
American life Upon the development OF
country life rests ultimately our ability,
By methods of farming requiring the high
est intelligence, to continue to feed and
clothe the hungry nations; to supply the
city with fresh blood, clean bodies and
clear brains that can endure the terrific
strain Of modern life; we need the devel-
opment of men in the open country who
will be in the future, as in the past, the
STAY and strength of the nation in time
of war and its guiding and controlling
spirit in time of peace
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The White House, Feb. 9. 1909.