The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1910-09-01
NEW YORK FARMERS HEAR
ADDRESS BY ROOSEVE,,T
Starting on His Western Tour, the Colonel
Speaks to Agrcu!turists Near Utica, Dwell
ing Especially on Need of Betterng
the Condition of Country Life.


by the working farmer who stolidly re-
fuses to profit by the knowledge of the
day; who treats any effort at improve
ment as absurd on It's face refuses to
countenance what he regards as new
ranged Ideas and contrivances, and jeers
at all book farming I wish 1 could
take representatives Of this type of farm
er down to Long Island, where ! live, to
have them see what has been DONE not
as philanthropy but as plain business
proposition, by men connected with the
Long Island railroad, who believe it pays
to encourage the development of farms
along the line of that railway. They have
put practical men in charge of expert
mental farms, cultivaJing them intensive
ly and using the best modern methods,
not only IN raising crops but in securing
the pest market for the crops when
raised The growth has been astounding
and land only fifty miles from New York,
Wnich during our entire National lifetime
has been treated as worthless has within
the last three or four years been proved
to possess a really high value.
Inc FARMER. however, must not only
make his land pay, but he must make
country life interesting for himself and
for his wife and his sons and daughters.
Farmers should learn how to combine
eHecuVely, as has been done in industry.
am particularly glad to speak to the
Grange, for I heartily believe in farmers
organizations; and we should all welcome
every step taken towards an increasing
cooperation among farmers. The impor-
lance OF such movements cannot be over
estimated; and through such intelligent
joint action it will be possible to improve
the market Just as much as the farm
Country life should be as attractive
as city life. and the country people
should insist upon having their full
representation when it comes to deal
ing with all great public questions. In
other words. country folks should de-
mand that they work on equal terms
with city folks in all such matters.
They should have their share in the
memberships of commissions and coun-
ellis; in short, of all the organized bod
les for laying plans for great enter
prises affecting all the people. I am
glad to see on such bodies the names
that represent financial interests. but
those interests should not have the
right-of-way. and in all enterprises
and movements in which the social
condition Of the country is involved.
the agricultural countryside open
country-should be as well represented
as the city. The man Of the open
country is apt to have certain qualities
which the city man has lost. These
qualities offset those which the city
man has and he himself has not. The
| two should be put on equal terms, and
/ the country talent be given the same
opportunity as the city talent to ex-
| press itself and to contribute to the
| welfare of the world in which we live
The country church should be made
! a true social centre. alive to every need
Of the community. standing for broad
| individual outlook and development
! taking the lead in work and in recrea
! ton. caring more for conduct than fol
dogma. more for ethical spiritual
| practical betterment than for merely
| formal piety The country fair offers
! far greater possibilities for continuous
and healthy usefulness than it at pres
! ent affords The country school should
! be made a vital center for economic
social and educational cooperation; il
; is naturally fitted to be such a center
| for those engaged in commercial farm
ing, and still more for those aged
/ in domestic farming. for those who live
on and by the small farms they them
! selves own. The problem of the farm
! is really the problem of the family thai
| lives on the farm. On all these ques-
! tons there is need Of intelligent study
such as marks the books of Professor
Bailey, of Cornell, and of Sir Horace
| Plunketts book on the Rural Life
Problems of the United States"
Conditions of Farm Life.
One feature Of the problem SHOULD
and an effort made to deal with it. II
is our duty and our business to con
| slider the farm laborer exactly as we
! consider the farmer. No country life
! can be satisfactory when the owners Of
| farms tend. for whatever reason. tc
| go away to live in cities instead Of
| working their farms; and, moreover
it cannot be really satisfactory wher
| the labor system is SO managed thai
there is for part of the year a deman nc
| for labor which cannot be met, ant
| during another part of the year no de.
| mand for labor at all, so that the farm
! ers tend to rely on migratory laborers
| who come out to work in the country
| with no permanent interest in it and
with no prospect of steady employ
| ment. It is exceedingly difficult tc
/ make a good citizen out of a man who
! can't count upon some steadiness and
! continuity in the work which means
to him hts livelihood Economic con-
| ditions on the farm-in variety and
kind of crop-growing. especially as
| distributed in. time. and in housing fol
the men-must be so shaped as to rem
] der it possible for the man who labors
/ for the farmer to be steadily employed
| under conditions which foster his self
respect and tend for his development
Above all, the conditions of farm
| life must always be shaped with a
1
wife and the farm laborer's wife, quite
| as much as to the welfare of the farm
/ er and the farm laborer To have the
| woman a mere drudge is at least as
| bad as to have the man a mere drudge
| It is every whit as important to intro
| duce new machines to economize her
| labor within the house, as it is to In
| troduce machinery to increase the ef-
| fectiveness of his labor outside the
/ house. I haven't the slightest sympa-
thy with any movement which looks
| to excusing men and women for the
| non performance of duty and fixes at
| tention only on rights and not on du-
| ties. The woman who shirks her duty
| as housewife, as mother, is con-
| temptible creature; just as the CORE
! spending man is a contemplate crea-
| ture. But the welfare of the woman is
even more important than the welfare
J of the man; for the mother is the real
| Atlas who bears aloft in her strong
/ and tender arms the destiny of the
| world. She deserves honor and con-
| sideration such as no man should re-
| cei%e She forfeits all claim to this
! honor and consideration if she shirks
/ her duties. But the average American
| woman does not shirk them; and 1T is
| a matter of the highest obligation for
/ us to see that they are performed un-
| der conditions which make for her
| welfare and happiness and for the well
fare and happiness of the children she
] brings into the world.