Willmar tribune., 1910-08-31
ROOSEVELT TALKS
TO THE FARMERS
First Address of His Tour Deliv-
cred Near Utica, N. Y.
PROBLEMS or COUNTRY LIFE
Danger Seen In the Growth Of Cities
plea Made for the Farm
Laborer and the Farmers
Wife.

Utica, N. Y, Aug. 23.-Theodore
Roosevelt arrived here this afternoon
with his party in the private car Re-
public for the first stop and address
Of his tour through the west. A tre-
mendous crowd was at the station
to greet the former president and he
was given an enthusiastic welcome.
The entire party boarded trolley
cars at once and proceeded to Orisk-
any, nine miles outside the city, and
thence to Summit park, mile further
on, where Mr.. Roosevelt spoke to the
farmers Of Herkimer and Oneida
counties. The agriculturists were out
in great numbers and brought with
them their entire families, making the
affair gala event. Mr.. Roosevelt is
extremely popular with the farmers
because of the deep interest he has
shown in the problem of lettering
farm life conditions, If for no other
reason: He was listened to with
closest attention and his remarks were
accorded frequent applause. He spoke
as follows:
| There are no two public questions OF
more vital Importance to the future of
this country than the problem of conser-
Of rural life. Moreover, these two prob
lens are really interdependent, for nei-
ther Of them can be successfully solved
save on condition that there Is at least
a measurable success in the effort to
solve the other. In any great country
the prime physical asset-the physical as
set more valuable than any other-is the
fertility Of the soil AL our industrial
and commercial welfare, all our material
development Of every kind, depends in
the last resort upon our preserving and
increasing the fertility of the soil. This
| of course. means the conservation Of the
soil as the great natural resource; and
| equally, Of course, 1t furthermore implies
the development Of country life, for there
cannot be permanent improvement of
the soil If the life Of those who live on
1t, and make their living out OF 1t. Is
suffered to starve and languish, to be-
come stunted and weakened and Inferior
to the type Of life lived elsewhere. We
are now trying to preserve, not for ex-
p1oitation by individuals. but for the per-
manent benefit Of the whole people, the
! waters ana the forests, and we are do
ing this primarily as a means Of adding
to the fertility of the soil; although in
each case there is q great secondary use
both Of the water and of the forests TO-
commercial and industrial purposes. In
! tho same way 1t IS essential for the farm
ers themselves to try to broaden the life
Of the man who lives in the open country:
every adjunct and aid to development
which has been given to the life Of the
man Of the cities. Therefore. friends, the
conservation and rural life policies are
really two sides Of the same policy; and
down at bottom this policy rests upon
! nor nation can prosper unless. in dealing
with the present, he steadily take thought
, for tho future. ..
Problem Of Cities Growth.
In one sense this problem with which
we have to deal is very. very old. Wher-
ever civilizations have hitherto sprung up
they have always tended to 60 through
certain stages and then to fall. No nation
can develop a real civilization without
cities. Up to certain point the city
movement is thoroughly healthy; yet it is
strange and lamentable fact that al
ways hitherto after this point has been
reached the city has tended to develop
at the expense Of the country by draining
the country OF what Is best in it, and
making an insignificant return for this
civilization in it's later stages has tend
ed really to witness those conditions un-
der which "the cities prosper and the
men decay" There are ugly signs that
these tendencies are at work in this ma
ton of ours. But very fortunately we
see now what never before was seen in
any civilization-an aroused and alert
public interest in the problem. recog-
milton Of its gravity and a desire to at
| tempt its solution.
The problem does not consist merely
in the growth Of the city. Such growth
in itself is good thing and not bad
| thing for the country. The problem con-
sists in the growth Of the city at the ex-
pense Of the country: and. even where
this IS not the case, In SO great an equal
ity Of growth In power and interest as to
make the city more attractive than the
| country, and therefore apt to drain the
country Of the people who ought to live
therein.
| The human side Of the rural life prob
! lem is to make the career OF the farmer
| and the career Of the farm laborers as at
tractive and as remunerative as corre-
spending careers in the city. Now, I am
we'll aware that the farmer must himself
| take the lead in bringing this about. A
century and quarter ago the wise Eng
lish farmer, Arthur Young, wrote of the
| efforts to improve French wool: "A cult
vator at the head OF 4 sheep farm of 5000
| or 1900 acres would in a few years do
| more for their woods than all the aca-
denaicians and philosophers will effect in
| ten centuries" It is absurd to think that
| any man who has studied the subject on
ly theoretically is fit to direct those who
| practically work at the matter. But.
friends, T wish to insist to you hereto
you practical men, who own and work
your farms-that 1t Is an equally perni-
cfous absurdity for the practical man ia
refuse to benefit by tho work Of the STU
dent. The English farmer have quoted
| Young, was practical farmer. but he
was also a scientific farmer. One reason
why the great business men of todav-
the great Industrial leaders-have gone
ahead, while the farmer has tended to
sag behind others, is that they are far
moro willing, and indeed eager to profit
by expert and technical knowledge-the
knowledge that can only come as a re-
suit Of the highest education. From
railways to factories no great Industrial
concern can nowadays be carried on
save by the aid of swarm of men who
have received high technical educa-
ton In chemistry, in engineering. in cleo
trtcity, In one or more Of scores of spe-
ctal subjects. The big business man. the
big railway man, does not ask college,
trained experts to tell him how to run
his business; but he does ask numbers Of
then each to give him expert advice and
aid on some one point indispensable to
his business. He finds this man usually
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