The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1909-09-16

Life for the congested life in the
city, In his speech late yesterday be-
fore the American Bankers Associa-
ton, has caused more than usual
/ interest to attach to his words. This
| is not the first time Hill has made
similar statements and given SINH
lar warnings, but never more clear
ly expressed or in a more forceful
| way. Mr.. Hill said:
The idea that we feed the world
| Ia being corrected; and unless we
can increase the agricultural popula-
ton and their product, the question
or a source OF food supply at home
| will soon supersede the question of
market for our own products
abroad" This was the warning CIV
en- by James j. Hill at the conven5
ton OF the American Bankers AS
ISOLATION today, during a discussion
OF the decline of agriculture and it's
consequences. Mr. Hills subject
was National Wealth and the
| Farm"
Food Supply Threatened
| 1--WE have" said the speaker, cal
most reached a point where, owing
to increased population without in
creased production per acre, our
| ANou
| ctent for our, own needs; within ten
years, possibly less, we are likely to
become wheat-importing nation;
the percentage Of the population en-
| gaded In agriculture and the wheat
product per acre are both falling;
at the same time the cost Of living
Is raised, everywhere by this relative
scarcity OF bread, by artificial in
crease In the price Of all manufac-
tured articles, and by a habit Of ex-
| travagance which has enlarged the
view Of both rich and poor of what
are to be considered the necessaries
of life. These plain facts should dis
turb and AROUSE NOT only the econO-
mic student 6us 7the men who are
most intimately. related to the
wealth Of the nation and most con-
cerned that it shall not suffer loss
| or decreases"
Enhanced Cost Of Living
Mr. Hill declared that never yet
has enhanced cost of living, when
due to agricultural .decline and in
ability to supply national needs,
failed to end in natf0h6l disaster.
Mr.. Hill said thesAsRnsei 10 our main
reliance and that every other activ-
ity depends on that He asserted,
!
pie fail to realize practically the de-
Ginning status Of agriculture in the
country.
"They are m1sled by the statistics
Of farm values and products, mount
| Ing annually by great leaps, into
thinking that this absolute increase
implies relative advance Of this
! industry as compared with Others"
said he. Exactly the opposite Is
the case. I refer not merely to the
quality and results Of our tillage,
but to the setting Of the human tide
away from the cultivated field and
toward the factory gate or the city
slum. This is something whose con-
sequences for evil are as certain as
If the aggregate deposits in all the
banks Of this country were decreas-
ing by a fixed percentage every ten
years, while their loans were in
creasing by another percentage just
as stable. You would know what
catastrophe that assured by and BY
The Danger in the City
1T means the same thing, in kind
and consequences, when the agricul-
tural population, the producers and
depositors in the great national
treasury Of wealth, is declining
year by year, while the city popula-
ton, which thrives only by drawing
drafts upon the land and cannot live
a year after these cease to be hon
| ored; rises at it's expense. Yet not
only Is such a crisis approaching,
but 1t Is being fastened by legisla-
tive stimulation in favor Of other
| industries while overlooking this.
"1n 1870 only about "a per cent
of the American people lived in
towns. At the time Of the Civil
War the percentage had risen to 16.
In 1900 more than 81 per cent OF
our population was urban. The
change is portentous; and there is
no doubt that the coming census
will show 1t to have proceeded In
the last ten years with accelerated
speed. In spite Of the warnings Of
economists, the amelioration Of
farm life, the opening Of new and
attractive employment on the land
through the spread Of irrigation and
the growth Of the fruit industry, the
encouragement Of public men and
the wider dissemination of agricul-
Ftural education, the percentage Of
our population who work on the !
farm constantly declines. If that
proceeds too far, it is as If, dry-rot
had eaten through the timbers sup
porting some great structure. We
should consider now the change &C. I
conplished and that impending. I
The Drain On the Soil n
with our annual increase of
over 1.5 per cent in population from .
natural causes, and immigration ;
that has not been less than three
quarters Of million any year since
1902, there will be from two to two
and half million more mouths to
Feed every year. Having in view
this increase in population, the de-
clining average yield per acre Of
cultivated land In the limited Statoa !