Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-31
THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 81, 1910

fer from periodical financial panics to
sdegree substantially unknown among
the other nations which approach us
in financial strength There IL no
reason why we should suffer what
they escape
1t Is OF profound importance that
our financial system should be prompt
ly Investigated and so thoroughly and
effectively revised as TO make 1t GER
tain that hereafter our currency will
no longer fail at critical times to
meet our needs.
1t is hardly necessary for me to re-
peat that believe in an efficient army
and navy large enough to secure for
us abroad that respect which Is the
surest guarantee of peace. Justice
and fair dealing among nations rest on
principles Identical with those which
control justice and fair dealing among
the individuals Of which nations are
composed, with the vital exception
that each nation must do its own part
IN international police work. National
friendships. like those between men,
must be founded on respect as well as
on liking, on forbearance as well as
on trust In all this it is peculiarly
the duty of the United States to set
good example.
OF conservation / shall speak more
at length elsewhere Conservation
means development as much as 1t does
protection. i recognize the right and
the duty Of this generation to develop
and use the natural resources Of our
land. but do not recognize the right
to waste them or to rob by wasteful
use the generations that come after
us. The natural resources must be
used for the benefit Of all our peo-
fit of few. That is one of the fun
damental reasons why the special In
terests must be driven out OF politics.
OF all the questions which can come
before this nation short Of the actu-
al preservation Of it's existence in a
great war there is none which COM
pares In Importance with the great
central task of leaving this land even
a better land for our descendants than
It is for US and training them into a
better race to inhabit the land and
pass It on.
Conservation is a great moral issue,
for it involves the patriotic duty of In
surfing the safety and continuance of
the nation. Let me add that the
health and vitality Of our people are
at least as well worth conserving as
their forests, waters, lands and min
erals and that in this great WORK the
national government must bear a most
important part
Better Farming Conditions.
I have spoken elsewhere also of the
great task which lies before the farm
ers Of the country to get for them
selves and for their wives and chill
dren not only the benefits of better
farming. but also those Of better bust
ness methods, and better conditions of
life on the farm. The burden of this
great task will fall. as 1t should, main
ly upon the great organizations OF the
farmers themselves.
I am glad it will, for believe they
are well able to handle it. In particu-
lar there are strong reasons why the
departments Of agriculture of the va
rious states, the United States depart
ment of agriculture and the agricul-
tural colleges and experiment stations
should extend their work to cover all
phases of life on the farm, instead of
limiting themselves, as they have far
too often limited themselves In the
past, solely to the question of the pro-
duction Of crops.
Nothing is more true than that ex-
cess of every kind is followed by re-
action. a fact which should be ponder
ed by reformer and reactionary alike.
We are face to face with new concep-
tons Of the relations of property to
human welfare, chiefly because GER
tain advocates of the rights OF proper
ty as against the rights Of men have
been pushing their claims too far.
The man who wrongly holds that
every human right is secondary to his
profit must now give way to the ad-
vocate Of human welfare. who rightly