The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-09

Farmers business or reconstruct l.. social life of farming communities It is, however, quite within its powe to use its influence and the machiner, of publicity which it can control fol ! calling public attention to the need:
 and the facts. For example, 1t is tht obvious duty of the government to cal the attention of farmers to the grow ing monopolization of water power
 that power, on reasonable terms, fol cheap transportation, for lighting theil homes and for innumerable uses il the daily tasks on the farm.
 Farmers Own Work Needed.
 It would be idle to assert that life on the farm occupies as good a posi-
 tion in dignity, desirability and bust
 ness results as the farmers might easily give it if they chose. One o1 the chief difficulties Is the failure o1 country life as it exists at present tc satisfy the higher social and intellec tual aspirations of country people
 Whether the constant draining away of so much of the best elements in the rural population into> the towns is due chiefly to this cause or to the superior business opportunities of city life may be open to question. But no one at all familiar with farm life throughout the United States can fail to recognize the necessity for building up the life of the farm upon Its social as well as upon it's productive side,
 It is true that country life has i'm proved greatly in attractiveness, health and comfort and that the farmers earnings are higher than they were. But city life Is advancing even more rapidly because of the greater atten- tion which is being given by the citi- zens of the towns to their own better ment. For just this reason the intro duction of effective agricultural CO., operation throughout the United States is of the first importance. Where they not only avail themselves much more readily of business opportunities and improved methods, but 1t is found that the organizations which bring them together in the work of their lives are used also for social and in- tellectual advancement.
 The cooperative plan is the best plan of organization wherever men have the right spirit to carry it out. Under this plan any business under taking is managed by a committee. Every man has one vote and only one vote, and every one gets profits ac- cording to what he sells or buys or supplies. 1t develops individual re- sponsibility and has a moral as well as a financial value over any other plan. Farmers Problems the Whole Country's
 I desire only to take counsel with the farmers as fellow citizens. It is not the problem of the farmers alone that I am discussing with them, but a problem which affects every city as well as every farm in the country. It is problem which the working farm CTS will have to solve for themselves, in only less degree all the rest of us, and therefore if we can render any help toward it's solution it is not only our duty but our interest to do so.
 The foregoing will, hope, make it clear why appointed commission to consider problems. of farm life which have hitherto had far too little atten- ton and the neglect of which has not only held back life in the country, but also lowered the efficiency of the whole nation. The welfare of the farmer is of vital consequence to the welfare of the whole community. The strength ening of country life, therefore, is the strengthening of the whole nation.
 The commission has tried to help the farmers to see clearly their own prob lem and to see 1t as a whole, to distin- guish clearly between what the gov ernment can do and what the farmers must do for themselves, and 1t wishes to bring not only the farmers, but the nation as a whole to realize that the growing of crops, though an essential part, is only part of country life. Crop growing is the essential founda- tion, but 1t is no less essential that the farmer should get an adequate return for what he grows, and it Is no loss essential-indeed, it is literally vital that he and his wife and his children shall lead the right kind of life.
 For this reason it is of the first i'm portance that the United States depart ment of agriculture, through which as prime agent the ideas the commission stands for must reach the people. should become without delay in fact a of country life, fitted to deal not only with crops, but also with all the larger aspects of life in the open 
 Three Needs of Country Life.
 From all that has been done and learned three great general and imme- diate needs of country life stand out:
 First.-Efectfve cooperation among farmers to put them on a level with the organized interests with which they do business.
 Second.-A new kind of schools fin the country, which shall teach the children as much outdoors as indoors, and perhaps 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 a par cells post, which the country people are cvcrJwncrc, uat rI6Mcsy, unun