Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-02-10
BACK TO SOIL, he SAYS.
James j. Hills Solution Of Pro
blem Of High Prices.
Better Farming DeManded.-Earth Ii
Not OvcrpopuIntcd, the Railroad FL
nancier and Philosopher Declares.
-Incrensed Production Will Pre-.
vent Food shortage.


H1Ck 10 SOIL.
That is the slogan Of James ]. HILL
sage, philosopher, and master railroad
builder, which he would have employed
as the rallying cry for all persons inter-
ested in the solution Of the problem OF
the high cost of living.
THE problem is not local; neither Is 1t
national" said Mr. Hill Yesterday III
Is International All Christendom 10 |
wrestling with II. Obviously the world |
has reached an economic crisis. We are |
not producing foodstuffs cnonsh We |
must enlarge the farmiu. area ~ the |
earth; we must apply S"i,ntific princi- !
pies TO farming; we mus adapt our
selves to conditions as best we can |
while We are going through the SLOW |
tedious process Of making the soil yie'o
more abundanty."
EARTH IS LARGE ENOUGH.
"rhe Malthusian theory of the too
rapid Increase OF population for suos'st-
ence on normal productiveness would
seem to have some bearing on the pre-
sent world wide situation" was suggest
ed to Mr.. Hill.
"Nonsense.' ne exclaimed. "AEricul-
turally speaking. the earth is not over
populated anywhere. There IL congestion
in the cities. The problem u TO relieve
this congestion and scatter the unpro-
ductive population to the farms. Then
when We get them there we must teach
them how to farm better than nine
tenths Of our farmers now know. be-
lieve statistics would show that now over
half Of the farms in the United states
are more than half under cultivation
every year. BY this I mean that our
present methods are - loose ana slip
shod and exhaustive Of the soil that 1t
becomes necessary FOR the average man
to let about half OF his tilable land lie
! tallow every year in order that it may
| recuperate.'
| But the people are intensely con-
| cerned over how to bring quick relief TO
the existing situation" Mr. Hill was re-
| minded.
| Il am aware of that" he said NO
body is more interested than | am. I
| frankly confess, however, that 7 don't
know what can he done to bring early
| relief. ! fear there Is mighty little that
| legislation can do. The statutes already
are crowded with laws intended to avert
| lust such condition the country is
now suffering from. But they have
done precious little good II any
| SAYS WE LIVE TOO HIGH.
| within the last ten years the cost Of
everything we have to buy has increased
about 50 per cent. Population has not in
creased in any such ratio.
so what's the natter? For one thing.
we live too high. When some ladise
down at Washington the other day
asked me to tell them how to stop the
| high cost of living | told them that il
they would tell me how to stop the cost
of high living. I might be able to an
swer their question. The one is as grave
and pertinent as the other"
Nj. Hill paced the floor for a moment
in deep meditation. Turning suddenly to
his interviewer, he inquired:
| Does your wife 10 her own market
ing? Does she go herself to the butcher,
the baker, ana the candlestick maker,
and Select what she wants after pricing
the articles or does she send the cook
or the butler? Maybe she gives her
orders by telephone Most housewives In
tho cities employ one OF the other Of
these methods in keeping the lardcr re-
. ! pcnished. Both are expensive and waste
, full.
But this is the telephone age-the aU-
tolnoble age ! observe President Taft
characterized it some time ago. Each is
a symbol of the tirres. Each denotes
that we are Twins high"
But M. Hnl." it was urged. "you do
not live high. do not live high; very
few OF those We know weh live high. So
/, who is it that IS living too high
{ SHOULD STOP Orr RUSH.
The millions who don't have the in
clirution o., the time to think. replied
!, Mr.. Hill. III as nation We could STOP
| our rush for a few days and give our
, selves over to solid thinking, 10 casting
, about us to see what is going on, the
81 problem would soon solve itself. There Is
y extravaganza everywhere ana In every
, thiLg--extravagance in government. in
industry. IL speech. and in promise.
I'VE are wasting our heritage more
a shameessly than any people in the his
tory of the world. II has been come easy
and go easy with us for so long tlme
p that We don't know hoW else to i've But
=, | other nations seem almost as eXt'aFa'
f, | CANT as we are or else the articles We
!. import from foreign countries-snch AZ
sugar. coffee, ten. and rice-won'n no
q have kept pace with the increased cos
Of our home productions.
"1'his shows that the soil elsewhere II
not being made to yield sufficiently. In 6
., word, our best thinkers everywhere mus
turn their thoughts to the propiein o.
increasing the productiveness OF the sol
before We can arrive at the solution
l. LET'S TURN TO THE FARM.
i Manufacturing, mining. industry, ant
J. transportation have been absorbing Loo
n much OF tho thought OF the worlds lead
o ers for half a century. We have thos
10 subjects we'll in hand now; there ~ no
'e much more to he learned IN any or them
s, And so let's turn to and solve the farn
II problem. 1t Is simpler than any pr III
/ others. but 1t is harder to make pracuca
II use Of the solution.
l. We know how 10 make two blades o
/ grass grow where only one grew before
81 but We haven't the men and women on
g. on the farms to do the work. So tn
. chief feature OF tho problem Is how I
! get the people back to the soil Inc
have got TO come to It II We would sur
Vive. The sooner the better.
In the present posture of affairs
aoht know how any OF the necessarie
or life can be cheapened to the consun'
- en- 40 know that they will be great
X cheapened and We will all be better OF
d when We add millions to our agriculture
n population. The movement from the cit
l. back TO the country will start befol
n long, ana We shall Immediately feel /