Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1910-09-09
N. D. BANKER WANTS TO
SEE MORE FARM "HOMES''

Kari J. Farup OF the First National bank Of
Park River: N. d.. delivered the following ad-
dress. entitled The Debt Which the Twentieth
Century Must Pay" before the convention of the
N. u. State Bankers association recently held at
Fargo:
think am we'll within the truth when ! say
that at the beginning of the nineteenth century
at least 80 per cent of the worlds population ac-
Nuired its living directly from the soil. There
was. even at that period. certain amount of
trade and coninercialism but communication
being very difficult ard there being manufact-
uring to speak of. it was. of course very limited
In 1929 Mr.. Stevenson the prize offered by
the English government for the most successful
locomotive making the journey from London to
Manchester. and from that time on, in the brief
span of. ! think eightyone years. have de-
veloped all almost universal railroad system, get
ting every part of the world into iron grip.
The railroads. the steamboats, OH the high seas
and the enormous impetus given to the manu-
featuring industries by the advent Of steam pow
er have changed all the conditions that existed
at the beginning Of the century. The farmers
rapidly found it more convenient to market their
raw products and purchase the finished article;
and right in that lies the cause for the rapid
growth Of cities. The change he said to
have taken place particularly i'll the last half Of
the nineteenth century. III fact. know that
men within my hearing that. like myself,
can remember the first suit OF clothes they wore
which was made OIL the farm. This change that
has taken place during the latter half Of the
nineteenth century has certainly prepared for us
who have been living during that perind a very
interesting life if we have. ever, i'll small mea-
sure, observed the events around us. heard one
man say recently that he thought he had lived III
the most interesting time more interesting than
that Of anyone who has or ever will come
because it did not seem possible to him that any
future period could make such progress as has
been made during his lifetime. I am not sure
about that. However, we will let him have his
way.
All this progress has. of course. tended to
draw from the country to the cities think the
statistics of fifty years ago. take i'll 1860 show 80
per cent approximately OF the worlds population
living in the country and 20 per cent in the
cities. believe if the census OF 1910 could he
taken all over the world we would find that to-
day more than so per cent are living i'll the cities
We have heard great deal of talk recently about
the reasons for the high cost of living 1t has
even gone so far as to demand congressional in
vestigation. guess the reply to that will lie
political one, but that doesn't matter. However
that may be. cannot understand how we can
continue to draw from the producing part Of the
worlds population and add to the consumers
without disturbing in a measure the equilibrium.
We will consider. for few moments. what the
inventions OF the last only ten twenty-five
years have done III that direction How many
employed i'll the making and operating Of
telephones? How many in the making. selling
and running of automobiles and all kindred i'll
ventions for convenience and luxury? How
about our methods of trade and commercialism
1 am old enough to remember the time when the
city OF London had large number OF public
squares. So did every other city i'll the world.
think the American cities well. On these